TMG Takes Charlie Sheen's 'Anger Management' for German-speaking Europe

COLOGNE, Germany – Herbert Kloiber's Tele München Group has picked up rights in German-speaking Europe for Anger Management, Charlie Sheen's sitcom follow-up to Two And A Half Men.

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In a deal with Lionsgate, which is producing Anger Management for FX in the U.S. and selling the show worldwide, TMG took rights to the new series for Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. The deal is one of the largest in the international market for a new, untested sitcom.

The series, loosely based on the Revolution Studios’ 2003 feature Anger Management starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, is set to begin shooting in March for a June debut on FX.

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Sheen stars as ex-baseball pro Charlie, who has some anger management issues. Shawnee Smith plays his ex-wife and Selma Blair is cast as his therapist. Bruce Helford (The Drew Carey Show) is the sitcom’s show runner and will head up the writing team as well as executive producing together with Sheen and Revolution topper Joe Roth.

FX has put in an unprecedented 100 episode order for Anger Management, subject to the first 10 episodes hitting an agreed ratings benchmark.

The TMG deal was negotiated by Lionsgate’s Jim Packer and Peter Iacono of Lionsgate and TMG managing director Dirk Schweitzer. It marks the third major international deal for the sitcom, which has already sold to Canada and Latin America.

U.S. sitcoms that deliver top ratings internationally – as Two and a Half Men has in many territories – are a rare and valuable commodity for global broadcasters. Anger Management is expected to be among the hottest titles at the international television market MipTV in Cannes in April.