Ashton Kutcher's "Two and a Half Men" debut is expected to be one of the highest rated episodes of all time and it's about to get bigger. Producers have approached Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife, Denise Richards, to appear in the season premiere.
“Denise is an excellent actress who can do everything. Comedy, drama, and let's face it, she’s not bad to look at either,” a show insider tells me. “Having her make a surprise appearance in the debut episode would be genius and the producers of the show are brilliant for suggesting it."
CBS President, Leslie Moonves has already said he has extremely high expectations for Kutcher's debut, even suggesting that ad rates could rival the highly rated AFC Championship game on CBS -- which brought in more than 50 million viewers. But if you add Richards to the mix, it could go even higher. The last time a scripted series was watched by more than 50 million people was the "Friends" series finale in 2004
“The fact she is his ex-wife and talented can’t fail to work,” one producer tells me. “Initially Denise said no out of respect for Charlie but everyone is hoping she changes her mind. She did two episodes a while back but nothing would be bigger than turning up on Ashton’s debut episode.”
The premiere episode, which has already been shot out of sequence so as not to give the entire plot away, could easily edit in a small cameo from Richards.
The most-watched episode of "Two and a Half Men" so far came when it followed the series finale of "Everybody Loves Raymond," raking in 24 million viewers. But with Kutcher's six million-plus twitter followers, the curiosity factor, and now the chance to see Richards on her ex-husband's fame-cementing show, who knows how big this could get.