CBS and Warner Brothers immediately pulled the plug on the season and issued a joint statement: “Based on the totality of Charlie Sheen’s statements, conduct and condition, CBS and Warner Brothers Television have decided to discontinue production of ‘Two and a Half Men’ for the remainder of the season.”

CBS executives said that a human calculus was underway, that both companies were concerned about Mr. Sheen’s survival, not their business interests. But the business interests  hundreds of millions in broadcast and syndication revenue will be lost if the show is gone for good  continued to prevail even as he terrorized the women in his life.

CBS officials will not come near to making any statements on the record because they are convinced, given the antagonisms in the air, that the matter will end in court. They did point out that for a guy who was supposedly ready and willing to go to work in a week, Mr. Sheen has a funny way of showing it.

In addition to attacking Mr. Lorre and generally acting like a megalomaniac to almost anyone with a microphone, Mr. Sheen said that recovery programs are for losers and said that he had somehow managed to cure himself of the scourge of addiction “with his mind.” That usually doesn’t work out too well in my experience.

“There’s lots of stars who have problems,” said Tony Angellotti, a veteran Hollywood publicist. “But when they walk back on that set, they are expected to pull it together because so much is at stake, and most of them pull it off. He said the kind of things that make it hard for him to work with the boss of the show.”

And that is the real human calculus here: the companies are being forced to pick sides between Mr. Sheen and Mr. Lorre. In a town that lives for hits and can’t seem to find them, Mr. Lorre has helped create not only “Two and a Half Men,” but “Grace Under Fire,” “Cybill,” “Dharma & Greg,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Mike and Molly.”

So the message from CBS and Warner Brothers seems clear: abuse yourself and the women around you to your heart’s content, but do not attack the golden goose.