Charlie Sheen's Comedy Central roast: A 'winning' move?

Remember Charlie Sheen? It wasn't so long ago that the ousted Two and a Half Men star's imploding career and personal life was all over the news. But now, with even his notoriety fading, Sheen's going back on TV — as the "subject-cum-victim" of Comedy Central's popular Roast series on September 10. Is it really a good move for Sheen to follow luminaries like Donald Trump and David Hasselhoff into a lion's den of trash-talking celebrity guests and comedians?

This is a win for Sheen and Comedy Central: The roast is more than just an excuse to resurrect the Sheen catch phrase "winning," says Jen Chaney in The Washington Post, though it's the first time in a while it might fit him. It's also "an incredibly smart programming move" by Comedy Central, which will air the roast on the same night that Ashton Kutcher debuts as Sheen's replacement on Two and a Half Men. Sheen will relish the chance to "steal some buzz" from his replacement.

"The Charlie Sheen roast: Five people we’d like to see participate"

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Sheen is too easy a target for a roast: "This is a really dumb idea," says Brian Moylan at Gawker. People are still curious about the new Two and a Half Men, but nobody really cares about Sheen anymore. And even those who might want to watch him "flounder publicly" will be disappointed: "Sheen is the world's easiest target," and there's no real comedic value in pointing out that a human "trainwreck" is a royal disaster.

"The Comedy Central roast of Charlie Sheen is a bad idea"

It will be Sheen's night to win or lose: The inevitable "crass, offensive, and often hilarious insults" would have worked better four months ago, says Angela Hickman at Canada's National Post. "But the celebrity roast has no expiration date." It does have a weak point, though: "For a good roast, the celebrity on the spit needs to be in on the joke." So far, Sheen hasn't been too keen to laugh at himself. If he doesn't rise to the occasion, it will be a long night for everyone.

"Charlie Sheen is going to get roasted"