FX Orders 90 More Episodes of \'Anger Management\'

By DAVE ITZKOFF

Here's something no one has been able to say about Charlie Sheen for a while: now he knows what he'll be working on for the next two years, or, at least, where he's supposed to go when he's working. On Wednesday, FX said that it had committed to an additional 90 episodes of “Anger Management,” the sitcom that has served as Mr. Sheen's comeback vehicle after his - didn't you hear? - tumultuous departure from “Two and a Half Men.”

“Anger Management,” which is loosely adapted from the Adam Sandler comedy, stars Mr. Sheen as a therapist still nursing his own unresolved issues. The series is produced by Lionsgate Television and syndicated by that studio's subsidiary Debmar-Mercury; Mr. Sheen is also one of its executive producers. As part of a deal struck when “Anger Management” was announced last year, FX committed to showing 10 episodes to start, and an additional 90 if the series met certain (unspecified) rating s thresholds.

At its debut in June, “Anger Management” drew nearly 5.5 million viewers before leveling off to about 2 million viewers for first-time broadcasts of new episodes. FX said on Wednesday that the series had averaged 4.53 million total viewers during its run (and 2.5 million viewers in the coveted 18-to-49 demographic) and that the ratings targets had been met.

Chuck Saftler, executive vice president of FX Networks, praised Mr. Sheen and the “Anger Management” series creator Bruce Helford in a statement, saying: “Bruce Helford has created a sitcom that works extremely well in our pre-10 p.m. programming lineup. Charlie Sheen and the entire cast did an amazing job in the first ten episodes, which were produced in a very tight window. I have no doubt that the producers and cast will be able to pull off the Herculean task of producing 90 episodes over the next two years.”

Mr. Sheen has said that he intends for “Anger Management” to be the “swan song” to his acting career, after which he will focus on raising his children. “When I'm done with this business it's just going to be about soccer games and amusement parks,” he told The New York Times in June. “And when this ends, I'm done.”