FX puts new shows from Charlie Sheen and Russell Brand right next to Louie and Wilfred

By Sean O'Neal | February 28, 2012 | 9:29pm

Aux Features TV

America’s long winter of discontent with the lack of sitcoms in which Charlie Sheen plays a slightly fictionalized version of himself has officially reached its summer, as FX has announced a June 28 debut for Sheen’s Anger Management, placing it right alongside the returning Louie and Wilfred on Thursday nights. As the network’s press release reminds us, Anger Management, though loosely based on the Adam Sandler-Jack Nicholson movie, has been adapted to suit Sheen’s unique sensibilities—specifically, naming Charlie Sheen’s character “Charlie,” so as to remind both viewers and Sheen of who he is, as well as making his anger management counselor a former would-be baseball player whose career implodes after a very public outburst, in case you are still not yet aware that you are watching Charlie Sheen. The show will run back-to-back premiere episodes beginning at 9 p.m. ET, then settle into its regular 9:30 p.m. slot thereafter—potentially for an automatically renewed 90 episodes beyond these initial 10, should America once more fall all over again for “Charlie Sheen,” and Charlie Sheen doesn’t hurt anybody or die.

Wilfred and Louie will follow Anger Management at 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., respectively, creating a comedy block that ends—or is taken to another, cheekily whimsical level, depending on your feelings about him—with the premiere of Russell Brand’s late-night show, Strangely Uplifting, in the 11 p.m. slot. As previously reported, Strangely will find Brand interacting with a live audience while he discusses the current events and pop culture of the day, as filtered through his comedic persona and lots of emphatic arm gestures. FX has not yet announced plans to stage a promotional bumper in which Charlie Sheen, Russell Brand, Jason Gann’s man-dog from Wilfred, and Louis C.K. are forced to stand together awkwardly while smirking at the camera like, “These guys, right?” but it should.