Ashton Kutcher Rules as Highest-Paid Actor on Television

And guess who the Two and a Half Men star booted from the top spot? Yup, Charlie Sheen

By Natalie Finn Oct 17, 2012 11:43 PMTags
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Ashton Kutcher, on his own, is worth way more than your average two and a half men put together.

The 33-year-old actor-producer-investor and his $24 million tops Forbes' latest list of the highest-paid actors on TV over the last 12 months. And you get one guess as to who Kutcher displaced as No. 1.

That's right, former Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen, who was the biggest money-maker pre-meltdown with $40 million but fell off the list entirely this year.

Despite his absence from prime-time this year (yeah, we're still not over it, either), Hugh Laurie comes in second on the list with $18 million, the British thesp obviously having collected a pretty penny for the final season of House.

Men of a Certain Age was canceled, but Ray Romano's Everybody Loves Raymond is still pretty ubiquitous via syndication, resulting in an $18 million payday for its star and coexecutive producer.

Tied for third place are 30 Rock standout Alec Baldwin and Mark Harmon, whose NCIS is frequently the most-watched scripted show on TV, with $15 million.

Last Man Standing didn't make any critic's list of favorites last season but it did help Tim Allen secure fourth place with $14 million. And Jon Cryer, who just won his first lead-role Emmy for Two and a Half Men, rounds out the top five with $13 million.