When the news came out that Ashton Kutcher would step in to fill the void left by Tiger Blood drinking Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men a lot of you reacted with a hearty WTF? Kutcher is usually typecast as the doofus that he is and the show is lacking a scoundrel, not a guy who retweets old Internet hoaxes and thinks they’re accurate and cool.

From what I’ve read about the planned retooling of the show, Ashton won’t step in to replace Charlie’s character entirely, but will just play some new guy who comes in to try and balance out the show. There are some decent supporting players on Two and a Half Men, and they won’t have to give up their jobs for a while now that Ashton is around. One of them is men co-star Jon Cryer, who has issued a statement that he’s so excited to work with Ashton and continue to pull in the big bucks for acting on a mediocre sitcom.

“I want to express my enormous gratitude to Charlie Sheen for eight great seasons. I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done together, and I will miss him,” the actor, 46, says in a statement. “But I’m also looking forward to this new beginning.”

As for Sheen’s replacement – whom the warlock himself called “a sweetheart and a brilliant comedic performer” – Cryer, again, had only kind words, even if he seemed to be stretching the truth a little.

“Ashton is an extraordinarily talented guy, and his presence will be an asset to our show,” he says. “We are old friends from our male modeling days, and we’re both looking forward to being judged for our comedic artistry, as opposed to our exceptional physical beauty.”

Cryer adds: “I’m jazzed about the news this morning that Two and a Half Men is coming back! For all the rest of the cast and crew I’m sure they are equally excited.”

[From People]

Charlie Sheen sort-of praised Ashton to TMZ, and then tried to warn Ashton that his boss wouldn’t put up with it if he went off the rails and started trash talking everyone who pays him millions of bucks to act like himself:

Charlie tells TMZ, “Kutcher is a sweetheart and a brilliant comedic performer … Oh wait, so am I!!”

Charlie continues, taking a shot at the show, saying, “Enjoy the show America. Enjoy seeing a 2.0 in the demo every Monday, WB.” Essentially, Charlie is saying the age group that supported him is going to tune out.

Charlie adds, “Enjoy planet Chuck, Ashton. There is no air, laughter, loyalty, or love there.” Of course, Charlie is referring to his nemesis, “Men” creator and Executive Producer Chuck Lorre.

[From TMZ]

Boo f’ing hoo, Charlie. You don’t make a million plus an episode anymore and have been replaced with a relatively sober kid known for his asinine narration while pulling pranks. Ashton is cheaper than Charlie too. People has his salary at between $600k and $750k an episode. Men producers really missed the boat when they let Hugh Grant slip through their fingers, but Hugh dodged a pretty big bullet too. Ashton thinks he’s making bank and starring on a hit series when he’ll soon become a punch line. I guess he should be used to it by now.

Ashton is shown filming in NY on 3-16-11. Credit: PacificCoastNews.com. Charlie Sheen photo is from Twitter