Comedy Central’s Charlie Sheen roast termed a 'comic intervention'

September 13, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Photo by: Allen J. Schaben

MCT

Photo

Actor Charlie Sheen is the butt of many jokes during Comedy Central's Roast of Charlie Sheen at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, Saturday, September 10, 2011. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

By Greg Braxton

Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES

Figuratively, plenty of tiger blood was spilled this weekend during Comedy Central’s Charlie Sheen roast, which mercilessly skewered the outspoken star whose high-flying career was derailed thanks to an unprecedented multi-platform public meltdown this year.

But literally, it was “Jackass” blood that flowed during the Saturday night taping as Steve-O broke his nose after deliberately ramming his face into the fist of fellow roaster and ex-heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson.

That a modern-era roast turned into bloodsport only served to highlight the bizarre nature of the evening, something that one roaster termed a “comic intervention.” The event drew an enthusiastic and packed house of fans and industry insiders at Sony Studios in Culver City — and perhaps most bizarrely included Sheen’s estranged wife, Brooke Mueller.

While escaping bodily harm, Sheen was nevertheless subjected to a comic fusillade of taunts, jeers and personal attacks from a strange mix of roasters that included roast master Seth MacFarlane, William Shatner, Kate Walsh (“Private Practice”) and comedians of varying stature (Jon Lovitz, Patrice O’Neal, Anthony Jeselnik).

An edited version of the roast will air Monday, the same night as the season premiere of CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” — the top- rated comedy from which Sheen was bounced after substance-abuse problems, legal run-ins and a highly publicized fight with his boss, executive producer Chuck Lorre. Ashton Kutcher has stepped in for the troubled star, whose character reportedly will be killed off this season.

Introduced to ear-splitting riffs by rock guitarist Slash, Sheen was seated on an elaborate stage equipped with missiles — an obvious nod to his “violent torpedo of truth” stage tour in the spring. Members of the dais wasted no time ripping into Sheen.

“How much blow can Charlie Sheen do? Enough to kill two and a half men,” fired off Lovitz.

“Don’t you want to live to see your kids take their first 12 steps?” asked Jeffrey Ross, who was dressed as deposed Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi. “How do you roast a meltdown?”

The cable channel’s roasts are a far cry from the Dean Martin-hosted televised roasts of the ’70s, where a kinder, gentler humor prevailed.

The roasts, which Comedy Central began producing in 2003, have become one of the cable network’s most popular offerings. While vicious in nature, the “roasts” are billed as tributes to the roastee.

After being called a drug addict, an abuser of women, a connoisseur of porn stars and prostitutes, a horrible actor and a reckless loser who threw away one of the most lucrative gigs in prime-time TV, Sheen finally took the stage. When he did, the star revealed a moderate version of the defiant star who continually beat his chest that he was “winning.”

“Once again, I have come out unscathed,” declared Sheen, who seemed notably healthier than the gaunt, wild-eyed persona on display during this year’s media blitz in which he talked of being “a warlock” and surrounded himself with “goddesses.”

Said Sheen: “You can’t hurt me. Hell, even I can’t hurt me.”