Ashton Kutcher hired for "Two and a Half Men"? - Celebrity - Salon.com: In most cases, Ashton being attached to a project makes me groan. With "Two and a Half Men" though, I'm almost like, "It could be worse?" After all, if he's terrible I could just continue to not watch the program. What would be really great though is if the show pulled an "Other Darrin" switch and had Ashton just take over as Charlie Harper, with none of the cast acknowledging that their costar is no longer being played by a giant pile of cocaine and sadness.