‘Two And A Half Men’ Series Finale Spoilers: Did Charlie Sheen Return? Chuck Lorre Explains ‘Funny’ Ending

That’s all folks! Last night the hit CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men” ended it’s 12-season-stint. And yeah, you could say Chuck Lorre, mastermind behind the successful comedy, ended the finale with a bang (or two).

The episode kicked off with fans sitting on the edges of their seats, waiting for the highly speculated (and anticipated) arrival of “Two and a Half Men” alum Charlie Sheen. However, they didn’t get the guest cameo they craved. Instead they were greeted with the familiar faces of Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Stamos and Christian Slater.

Although Sheen, a former cast member of the series, didn’t appear in the finale episode, his character Charlie Harper was constantly referenced throughout the last installment. For instance, viewers learned that Charlie never actually died -- a story line that was previously used to explain the actor’s disappearance from the series.

According to the plot, Crazy Rose (Melanie Lynskey) was keeping Charlie alive in her basement for the past four years after he cheated on her during their Parisian honeymoon with a French maid, a mime and a bisexual goat. So, as punishment Rose saw fit to keep Charlie locked away. But somehow the savvy, bowling shirt-donning character managed to escape, which is when a man who resembled Charlie ended up at the doorstep of his old home. Before Charlie was able to confront Walden (Ashton Kutcher) and Alan (Jon Cryer) and reveal his existence, a piano dropped on his head -- killing him.

The camera then cuts to the smiling creator who quotes Sheen’s famous phrase, “Winning,” before a piano falls on top of him, too.

According to Lorre, who knew viewers would be disappointed with Sheen’s absence from the last episode, he had every intention to bring Sheen’s character back during the show’s series finale. He even had a script written out for the actor!

“Our idea was to have him walk up to the front door in the last scene, ring the doorbell, then turn, look directly into the camera and go off on a maniacal rant about the dangers of drug abuse,” Lorre said in a statement obtained by TVLine. “He would then explain that these dangers only applied to average people. That he was far from average. He was a ninja warrior from Mars. He was invincible. … And then we would drop a piano on him. We thought it was funny. He didn’t.”

The showrunner added that Charlie had his own idea of how he wanted the show to end -- and it was with a “heart-warming scene” that would set up Sheen’s return to primetime TV in his new sitcom called “The Harpers,” which stars him and Jon Cryer. “We thought that was funny, too,” Lorre quipped. But ultimately the creator went with his original story line, which he was going to run with or without Sheen.

What did you think of the series finale of “Two and a Half Men”? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts!