Charlie Sheen is rounding up his paycheck.
The Two and a Half Men man is close to a deal with Warner Bros. Television, the producers behind his hit CBS sitcom, that will see him receive a hefty salary hike to $350,000 per episode for the fourth season, making him the tube's highest-paid sitcom star, per the Hollywood Reporter.
Sheen has reportedly been earning in the low six figures, but the raise is still a far cry from the $1 million per episode he reportedly was demanding. Sheen sought compensation equaling that received by the Friends castmembers, who each pocketed a million-dollar paycheck per show during the NBC sitcom's final season. While Kelsey Grammer was paid $1.6 million per episode of Frasier, Ray Romano holds the record, raking in $2 million per show during Everyone Loves Raymond's swan song year.
News that Sheen was seeking a pay raise surfaced in July as his team entered into talks with Warner Bros. to extend his contract and shortly after the studio sold syndication rights to Tribune Broadcasting and FX. With an Emmy nomination on his résumé and Two and a Half Men continuing to rank as TV's most-watched comedy, Sheen figured he was due more.
Citing insiders close to the negotiations, the Reporter says that CBS agreed to pick up part of the salary, a move that has become increasingly routine these days among productions seeking to keep talent on high-rated shows.
If the deal goes through as expected, the onetime Young Gun will rake in roughly $8.4 million for 24 episodes this season. Costars Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones had also been seeking wage hikes, but there's no word on whether their paychecks will be bumped up.
CBS, Warner Bros. Television and Sheen's personal publicist declined to comment.
Following a pleasure-seeking jingle writer (Sheen) whose carefree bachelor life is interrupted when his brother (Cryer) and nephew (Jones) move in to his Malibu beach house, Men averaged 15 million viewers for the 2005-06 television season. Last week, the show kicked off its fourth year with similar success.
Of course, the extra cash might come in handy during Sheen's divorce from Denise Richards. Although he remains under court order to stay away from his estranged wife and their two daughters, his undoubtedly high-priced lawyers say they hope to work out an amicable settlement.