Charlie Sheen, shown here at his roast, helped fuel record ratings directly or indirectly for both CBS's "Two and a Half Men" and Comedy Central's roast franchise. CREDIT: Comedy Central

CBS’s’ “Two and a Half Men” killed off Charlie Sheen’s character with laughs and not a tear in sight, roping in a whopping 28.7 million viewers in the process, by far the largest ever for the show.

Among 18 to 49 year olds, it pulled in a 10.7 share, which is comparable to “American Idol” during its better days.

Charlie Harper, Sheen’s character, died in Paris when he fell in front of an oncoming train, according to his stalker, who may or may not have pushed him. Ashton Kutcher’s character enters as an Internet billionaire distraught that his girlfriend broke up with him and buys Harper’s home (since Alan is broke and can’t afford to stay there.)

TV reviewers were generally kind toward Kutcher, even if his character evokes a bit of his Kelso days on “That 70s Show.”

Plus, it will be interesting to see how ratings will settle once all the hoopla over and curiosity Kutcher’s arrival abates.

Comedy Central piggybacked on Sheen’s departure by doing a roast of him featuring the likes of Mike Tyson and Jon Lovitz. In the end, it became the biggest roast ever on the network, pulling in 6.4 million viewers in its first viewing. It beat the previous record set by Jeff Foxworthy in 2005, which drew 6.1 million viewers.

In the meantime, there are rumors that Sheen is close to settling with Warner Brothers, who owns ‘Two and a Half Men,” over his firing earlier this year.

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