Ashton lands on 'Two and a Half Men'

The hit television comedy "Two and a Half Men" is replacing troubled star Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher.

Producer Warner Bros., which makes the series for CBS, said Friday it had signed the comic actor for next season. The deal apparently came together quickly, following reports that negotiations with film actor Hugh Grant for the role had fallen through.

Kutcher is familiar to television audiences through his role on Fox's "That 70s Show," film roles like the romantic comedy "No Strings Attached" and production of shows like MTV's "Punk'd."

Warner and CBS had been shopping for a name actor who could keep the highly lucrative sitcom afloat without Sheen. Within recent days, negotiations with British film star Hugh Grant fell apart because of reported creative differences.

There was speculation Wednesday that Kutcher could parlay his nearly 6.7 million Twitter followers and even bigger Facebook fan club into continued healthy viewership for "Two and a Half Men."

But Kutcher's effort to use social media to boost "The Beautiful Life," which he produced for the CW network, proved lackluster: The 2009 series, which was a venture between CBS and Warner Bros., was canceled after just two episodes.

It's been more than two months since Warner fired Sheen in the show's eighth season, a move that followed the hard-living actor's bouts of wild partying, repeated hospitalizations and a bitter media campaign against his studio bosses who shut down production.