Two and a Half Men

The tide is turning at "Two and a Half Men" after Ashton Kutcher's mega-trailer pissed off several crew members -- in fact, we're told, Ashton is quickly becoming extremely popular on set.

Filming kicked off this week -- and a source close to production tells TMZ, "Everything so far is smooth. A little too soon to tell, but Ashton seems very likable and professional. We're all very happy to be working with him."

As we previously reported, Ashton rolled into Warner Bros. studios recently with a MASSIVE trailer -- and some die-hard Charlie Sheen supporters on set thought it was way "over the top."

TMZ has done more recon and has gotten the real lowdown on HOW Charlie Harper died -- and it isn't pretty.

Sources at Friday night's taping tell us ... Harper married Rose -- the neighbor/stalker he flew to Paris with last season -- but things went downhill quickly when she found him in the shower with another woman.

In the episode, we're told Rose speaks at the funeral and recounts what happened to Charlie ... saying the day after the shower incident she and Charlie were waiting for a Paris subway when Charlie "slipped" and the subway literally blew him apart in a "meat explosion."

The strong inclination was that Rose pushed him and got away with it.

The season premiere of "Two and a Half Men" will leave NO DOUBT -- Charlie Sheen's character is dead and gone ... for good.

TMZ has spoken with sources on set for last night's taping of the premiere. Now, we don't want to be douche bags and give it all away -- so we'll just say that in one brilliantly written scene, the producers make sure there's absolutely no way for 'Charlie Harper' to return to the show in the future.

Although ... he definitely leaves his mark on the episode.

As for Ashton Kutcher's debut -- we're told he and Jon Cryer had good chemistry ... and he went out of his way to interact with the audience. At one point Ashton even snuck into the crowd and surprised a woman with a back rub.

At least one audience member said Ashton seemed dry and didn't quite own the character. Can't please 'em all.

Charlie Sheen hasn't just come to terms with his death on "Two and a Half Men" -- the actor tells TMZ, he'll be CELEBRATING it ... with his very own at-home screening of Charlie Harper's funeral next month.

The Warlock tells us, “I will be watching my fake funeral, attended by my fake ex-girlfriends, from my very, very real movie theater, with my very real hotties in tow."

As we previously reported, the new season of "Men" kicks of on September 19th with Charlie Harper's requiem -- and every memorable chick Harper ever banged on the show will be attending.

It's gonna be a Full House at Charlie Harper's funeral service on "Two and a Half Men" ... because one of the stars in attendance will be none other than Uncle Jesse himself ... John Stamos!

Sources connected to the production tell TMZ ... Stamos -- who was once rumored to be Charlie Sheen's replacement on the show -- will say a couple of words at the service ... raunchy words.

We're told Stamos' character will reveal he and Harper were CLOSE friends ... the kind of friends who once three-way'd a chick together.

Sources tell us Jenny McCarthy will also be at the funeral -- she famously played one of Harper's ex-girlfriends who broke up with Charlie after she got tired of having sex with him.

Melanie Lynskey will also return as "Rose" -- who was last seen going to Paris with Harper in the very last episode featuring Charlie Sheen.

The stage is finally set for Charlie Harper's funeral on "Two and a Half Men" ... which features a tribute to the iconic WARDROBE Charlie Sheen made famous on the show -- and TMZ has the pics!

Harper's trademark bowling shirt and shorts hang at the front of a what appears to be a chapel -- surrounded by flowers. There is no sign of a coffin or an urn.

Ashton Kutcher will play "an Internet billionaire with a broken heart" on the rebooted version of "Two and a Half Men" -- this according to the President of CBS Entertainment.

His name will be Walden Schmidt -- but unlike Charlie Harper, Walden will share no family connection to the other characters.

Looks like Charlie Sheen's character will be six feet under when "Two and a Half Men" returns this fall.

After TMZ reported Sheen's Charlie Harper will be killed off ... and now, according to Deadline.com, Harper's funeral will take place at the beginning of the September 19 show.

The episode will reportedly open with a memorial service attended by Harper's many girlfriends. Charlie's beach pad -- the home he shares with Alan and Jake -- will then go up for sale and real-life celebs are all potential buyers.

According to the report, Ashton Kutcher's character will likely buy the house and somehow Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones stay in the picture.

R.I.P.

Ashton Kutcher is getting the ROYAL treatment on the set of "Two and a Half Men" ... with a MASSIVE kick-ass trailer all to himself -- but to some Charlie Sheen supporters who still work on the show, it's a bit much.

The mansion on wheels is two stories of awesomeness -- with satellite TV hookups, customized everything ... and "pop out" sections which expand to make the trailer EVEN BIGGER!

Problem is ... there are still plenty of Team Sheen people working on the show ... and we're told they feel the mega-trailer is "over the top" and makes Kutcher come off like a "diva."

But he IS the star of the biggest show on TV ... and Charlie had a pretty big trailer too when he worked on the show.

The generic billboard -- which replaced Charlie's old one in June -- went down an hour ago ... and in its place ... a brand new poster with the entire new cast.

Sources connected with the show tell TMZ ... Chuck Lorre's plan is to make sure Charlie Sheen can NEVER come back on the show. Although the first show won't be filmed until August 5, producers have been kicking around scenarios, which include Charlie driving a car over a cliff.

Of course, it would be art imitating life, because two of Charlie Sheen's cars went down a cliff on Mulholland Drive.

As for how Ashton Kutcher enters the picture, there's been talk that he buys Charlie's house after Charlie kicks the bucket.

Sources tell us ... the first script still isn't locked and Lorre often makes changes until close to taping, but it's pretty clear -- Charlie Harper is pushin' up daisies.

Charlie is suing Warner Bros. for $100,000,000 claiming the studio had no right to 86 him from the show.

Charlie wanted the judge to rule the arbitration clause in his contract -- which says the dispute would be handled privately, behind closed doors -- is invalid. But the judge said the arbitration agreement is indeed valid, but left it to the arbitrator to decide if the matter would be resolved in private or in a public courtroom. So Charlie can press his request for a public trial to the arbitrator.

During the last original episode that aired February 14, Harper and his stalker/neighbor Rose were headed for the airport to catch a flight to Paris.

Sources connected with the production tell TMZ ... it's likely Lorre will use the flight to rid the show of Charlie Harper once and for all. And get this -- the flight was never intended to be a cliffhanger -- it just happened that was the last episode shot before Charlie Sheen melted down.

Of course, the obvious scenario is a plane crash. But our sources say that's not going to happen because producers are not going to make the other passengers sacrificial lambs -- even though they don't really exist.

The billboard went down less than an hour ago and it was replaced by a generic logo for the show. We're told a picture of the new cast -- with Ashton Kutcher, of course -- will follow soon.

TMZ has obtained Charlie's contract for Season 7 (2010 - 2011). The document -- dated May 17, 2010 -- requires Warner Bros. to pay Charlie $10 million within 10 days of the date Charlie signed. Charlie was then obligated to pay the money back during the first 13 episodes.

To repay the loan, Sheen -- who was getting a base pay of $1.25 million a show -- had $769,230.77 deducted from each paycheck for the first 13 episodes. But then there's this pesky issue of interest. Under the deal, the interest -- calculated at the prime commercial rate -- would be deducted from the 14th paycheck.

Charlie was fired after the 16th episode, so Warner Bros. got its $$$ back.

As for why Charlie needed the money ... unclear. With his profit participation, Charlie was raking in more than $2 million an episode, but it seems he was still burning a hole in his pocket.

In the 11-page letter, obtained from sources connected to Charlie, Warner Bros. states, "Your client has been engaged in dangerously self-destructive conduct and appears to be very ill."

The letter then goes on to describe Charlie's hijinks, including trashing the Plaza Hotel in NYC, coke binges, on-set failures because of drug fatigue, and diatribes against "Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre.

The letter also notes that Charlie derailed production when he went into rehab, and then he fired his sobriety coach. In fact, Warner Bros. claims it was so concerned about Charlie's well-being, "Warner Bros. had an airplane waiting" to take him to a treatment facility ... but Charlie would have none of it.

As for why Charlie got fired, the letter says there is a clause in his contract saying they can fire a performer who commits "a felony offense involving moral turpitude."

The letter says, "There is ample evidence supporting Warner Bros. reasonable good faith opinion that Mr. Sheen has committed felony offenses involving moral turpitude (including but not limited to furnishing of cocaine to others as part of the self-destructive lifestyle he has described publicly) that have 'interfere[d] with his ability to fully and completely render all material services required' under the agreement."

In short, that's why Charlie was fired.

Charlie's lawyer, Marty Singer, has demanded Warner Bros. pay Charlie for the eight canceled episodes -- or else.