The battle for fans' affections is being tirelessly waged between Charlie Sheen - who famously left 'Two And A Half Men' in hot-headed, inglorious circumstances - and Ashton Kutcher, the star who stepped into his shoes on the show, and has revelled in continued success.
It's a war that may well come to a head if Charlie gets his way. Only two days ago, he mused on returning to the show for this year's finale in what producers have confirmed will be the show's last season (12th), telling Extra, “I would definitely do it, yeah, yeah. If they'll still have me, I will be there. Yeah, I owe it some measure of closure. I owe it to the fans… I just think it makes sense.”
Charlie has even got as far as coming up with an idea of how he would return to the show he left behind so abruptly.
He says, “I have a brilliant idea, but don’t want to give it away. It’s the type of moment I think people would talk about for a long time and it wouldn’t get in anybody's way.
"Think it would be a nice tip of the hat… they know I want to do it and I know they're open to it, so, guess we're just a meeting away from making it happen."
Charlie Sheen has had subsequent success with his show 'Anger Management'
Of course, Charlie's got his own thing going on now. 'Anger Management' has been a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, with some committed fans moving with him to the new show…
But Charlie remains, for good or for bad, a lot more famous for what he gets up to AWAY from the TV studio, typified by a selection of recent headlines…
And, if in doubt...
Ashton Kutcher joined replaced Charlie in 2010, and has been named the world's highest-paid TV actor for three years running
Meanwhile, Ashton's playing a cool game, revealing he's no longer listening to Charlie's musings about the show he now calls his own.
During an appearance with chat show host Conan O'Brien, the actor - named by Forbes as the world's highest paid TV actor for the third year in a row - said in an uninterested tone, "I just kind of stopped listening to things Charlie Sheen says." He continued, "Charlie Sheen has kind of become like a parent on 'Charlie Brown' to me. It's like 'Wah-wah-wah, wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah."
Do YOU want to see Charlie Sheen returning to 'Two And A Half Men'? Share your thoughts below...
'Anger Management continues on Tuesday evenings on Comedy Central on Freeview. All TV trends data referred to in this article has been supplied by Virgin Media, which provides access to up to 260+ channels including Freeview Channels, Virgin Movies, Sky Movies and Netflix.
Meanwhile, if Charlie Sheen can laugh at himself, so can other people...