Charlie Sheen Played A Very Familiar Role In His One CSI Appearance

In 2008, CBS aired a surprising crossover project between two very different shows.

For one episode of each series, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Two and a Half Men” swapped writers, bringing a murder mystery to the sitcom and a touch of comedy to the police procedural. While this was not a full crossover, each of the shows included cameos from the other’s cast. George Eads, who played crime scene investigator Nick Stokes on “CSI,” appeared on “Two and a Half Men,” while the three leads of “Two and a Half Men” – Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones — made a brief cameo appearance as themselves on “CSI.”

The “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” episode “Two and a Half Deaths” was written by “Two and a Half Men” co-creators Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn. The episode saw the CSI team investigating the death of sitcom star Annabelle (Katey Sagal), based on real-life star of “Roseanne,” Roseanne Barr. While being shown around the backlot of the studios where Annabelle’s series was filmed, Gil Grissom (William Petersen) and LVPD Captain Jim Brass (Paul Guilfoyle) spotted Sheen, Cryer and Jones on a smoke break. The three actors were dressed in the same costumes worn in the “Two and a Half Men” crossover episode, “Fish in a Drawer.”

Sheen and his co-stars only appeared in one shot, in non-speaking roles, for which they were not officially credited. For “Two and a Half Men” fans, though, this is a fun blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo that canonizes the existence of Charlie Sheen in the world of “CSI.”

While his one “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” appearance saw Charlie Sheen playing himself at a studio connected to a murder case, his sitcom character gets caught up in a different murder investigation on the corresponding episode of “Two and a Half Men.” In “Fish in a Drawer,” Teddy Leopold (Robert Wagner) is discovered dead immediately after his marriage to Evelyn Harper (Holland Taylor). George Eads from “CSI” appeared on the episode as one of the wedding guests.

The episode took inspiration from “CSI” for its depiction of forensics, playing the investigators’ use of a UV light in Charlie’s bedroom for laughs. Throughout the episode, “Two and a Half Men” characters were questioned by the police about the murder. It was eventually revealed that Teddy and his “daughter,” Courtney (Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg), were actually partners and con artists called Nathan Krunk and Sylvia Fishman — Teddy, or Nathan, died of a heart attack while sleeping with Sylvia.

“Fish in a Drawer” was penned by “CSI” writers Sarah Goldfinger, Evan Dunsky, Carol Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar. It aired three days before “Two and a Half Deaths.”