Kutcher to take Sheen’s spot

Pressed by a deadline to keep TV’s most popular sitcom alive after it was derailed by Charlie Sheen’s personal troubles, CBS and Warner Bros. Television said that Ashton Kutcher will replace Sheen in Two and a Half Men.

The show resumes production this summer and will be on CBS’ schedule in the fall, with Kutcher playing a new character, not Sheen’s Charlie Harper. The deal apparently came together quickly, following reports this week that talks with Hugh Grant to join the show had fallen through.

Kutcher is not as well known as Sheen but is 12 years younger and has a huge Twitter following.