Two and a Half Men: Will Ashton Return Next Fall?

At the Television Critics Press Tour, the stars of CBS' Two and a Half Men, along with EP Chuck Lorre (Mike & Molly, Big Bang Theory), sat for a Q&A; panel for the show, with Ashton Kutcher sporting a new haircut and shaved face – the opposite of what we've seen from his TV character Walden Schmidt.

"It's related to the show completely," Kutcher admitted. "Tune in Monday. These guys wrote a script that dictated that I cut my hair and shave my beard. It's a great episode." Kutcher then revealed that the reason he had long hair when he got the job on Two and a Half Men was that he liked to keep his hair long when he wasn't working because he never knows what kind of role he might be asked to play, and didn't want to have to wear a wig if his hair was too short.

With Kutcher currently only signed on for one season, of course many want to know if he'll be returning to the show next Fall, which he seemed more than willing to do. "Yes, the deal I have for the show was structured as a test. A trial. Sort of 'can we get it going again?' And so I think that people are responding to it. And for me, having a show that people like and people want more of will dictate my decision. I have a few films that I want to do during the hiatus, but as you can see right now I'm looking at it as a hiatus because right now I love working with these guys and would love to come back if we could work it out." Again though, no deal is in place yet.

The former That 70's Show star then spoke about why he decided to return to TV. "Since I stopped doing That 70's Show I've always wanted go back and to do television. I remember Robin Williams coming to the set of That 70's Show back in the day, he was visiting Kurtwood Smith, and I remember him saying to him 'I just wish I could go back and do a sitcom again.' And I never forgot hearing that. So when I go this opportunity I thought it was unbelievable."

"Being able to act a lot is really fun," Kutcher said of why he loves working in TV. "When you do a feature, it's just a couple months and you spend most of the time waiting for lighting set ups. Here we get to rehearse every day. We get to be in the stage every day. And work on our craft. And it's awesome. For me, I love doing that. I love performing and trying to find nuance in a character. Being able to work on that craft every day is really fulfilling."

Speaking to the fact that some fans have likened Kutcher's Two and a Half Men character to Kelso from That 70's Show, the actor said "I think that they're very different characters. I that that there's a childlike quality that we intentionally brought to the characters in an effort to soften the guy a little bit. Plus, he was going through this broken-hearted phase. I think Walden is far less of a ladies man than Kelso was. I think he's quicker, smarter and brighter. That being said I'm sure I have my own comedic tone and delivery that I've learned over the years and I'm sure there are similarities in the way I deliver comedy."

Chuck Lorre then spoke about his first meeting with Kutcher. "The first time I met Ashton, the launched into conversation about the computer code for Skype. He was excited about Skype. Not the hype around Skype. The code that made Skype possible. That was fascinating to me because that's a whole new kind of guy, and a kind of guy who wasn't on television. Certainly not on a comedy.

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