It’s official: The Drew Carey Show creator Bruce Helford will guide Charlie Sheen in his return to series television with Anger Management. I’ve learned that Helford has closed his deal with Lionsgate TV to come on board the project as writer/executive producer/showrunner. Helford, who has created two successful sitcom starring vehicles in the past — ABC’s Drew Carey and George Lopez — was one of several veteran showrunners that Sheen met with and someone the actor connected with right away. Based on the 2003 Jack Nicholson-Adam Sandler movie about a mild-mannered man (Sandler) ordered to attend group anger-management sessions led by a volatile therapist (Nicholson), Anger Management will star Sheen as an updated version of Nicholson’s character. The project is being produced by Lionsgate TV, Joe Roth’s Revolution Studios and Sheen manager Mark Burg’s production company Evolution Management.
With Helford officially locked in and Sheen’s legal spat with Warner Bros. TV over his firing from Two and a Half Men heading to a settlement, Lionsgate and its subsidiary Debmar-Mercury, which is distributing the series, are expected to take out the show to potential buyers within the next week to take advantage of Sheen’s renewed popularity coming off his highly rated Comedy Central roast.
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