Actor Ashton Kutcher will play Walden Schmidt, "an Internet billionaire...

Actor Ashton Kutcher will play Walden Schmidt, "an Internet billionaire with a broken heart," when he arrives as the new star of "Two and a Half Men" next month. (Jan. 20, 2011) Credit: AP

Walden Schmidt.

Walden Schmidt?

Yes, Walden Schmidt.

Any other questions? Ashton Kutcher's character has a name and background and even story, we learned this morning at the TV Critics' tour in Beverly Hills. He's an entrepreneur — an Internet billionaire, to be exact, who has had some love problems. The exact words of Nina Tassler, CBS chief, were “broken heart.“

Heartbroken over what? A bad Internet connection? A cherished dog laid to rest? A woman or better yet, a man, has left him lovelorn?

We were left to guess, but Tassler did say it would all be revealed over a two-episode arc when the show returns in September. That show — it almost doesn't need to be said — is “Two and a Half Men.“

Meanwhile, she refused to confirm that report from Deadline.com that Charlie Harper — formerly Charlie Sheen — would be laid to rest in the season opener.

When asked whether CBS would initiate policies that would prevent erratic behavior by actors in a CBS show, she responded: “That'd be every actor in Hollywood.“

Meanwhile, she insists “Two and a Half Men” minus Charlie “will be as irreverent as it's always been. Program practices people are already in high alert.“

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