Lorre 'grateful' for 'Men' rebirth

It was a grateful Chuck Lorre that came to TCA on Wednesday to address the rebirth of "Two and a Half Men" after the blowup last year with former star Charlie Sheen. Lorre opened the sesh by emphasizing "we are grateful to be here." He and co-creator Lee Aronsohn also stressed that they knew it was a long shot to relaunch the show with Ashton Kutcher. "It's been a fun, exciting, challenging, terrifying experience," Lorre said. "We've been laughing a lot." The questions about Sheen were kept to a minimum. Of the prospect of a reconciliation, Lorre said: "I wish him well. I'm glad he's sober, happy and healthy." Aronsohn made a point of noting that the talk of strife between Lorre and Sheen during the show's eight seasons of production was misstated. "I never saw that," he said. "All of that came up after Charlie left the show. What's been built up as a feud never really existed." Lorre mostly deferred questions about the show's future next season to CBS execs. He said he felt the show had the legs to continue creatively "based on what's going on now in the writers' room -- absolutely." Kutcher was a little coy when pressed about the question of returning, as he only signed for the current season when he was recruited last spring. He said he was viewing the postseason period as "a hiatus" and said he's "interested in coming back if we can work that out." Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com