Charlie Sheen is returning to Two and a Half Men…kind of!

Sheen's character Charlie Harper, who died off-screen in the beginning of this season of the CBS comedy, is returning to pay his brother Alan (Jon Cryer) a visit after he lands in the hospital. Of course, given Sheen's less-than-ideal parting with the series, there's a twist: he's not playing the character, Kathy Bates is!

Yes, really! So how is this gender-bending casting switcharoo going down?

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It's a ghost invasion!

The Harry's Law actress is set to guest star as Charlie Harper on the April 30 episode of Two and a Half Men. The catch? She's playing the ghost of Charlie who returns in the form of Bates to visit Alan after he suffers a minor heart attack and lands in the hospital.

While this does seem to be one pretty random casting choice, there is a connection between Bates and Two and a Half Men: Harry's Law and the CBS sitcom are both produced by Warner Bros. Sure, it's a stretch, but it's still a connection.

We're sure Sheen isn't sweating this casting coup too much: he's busy filming his new series Anger Management for FX.

This will be Alan's second trip to the hospital this season: he ended up in a mental institution alongside Gary Busey after having a mental breakdown.

What do you think of this casting news? Are you excited to see Bates play Charlie Harper? Sound off in the comments!

北京时间3月20日消息，据国外媒体报道，查理·辛(Charlie Sheen)在《好汉两个半》(Two and a Half Men)中的角色将于4月30日回归，但这个角色将不由查理·辛本人扮演，取而代之的是女演员凯西·贝茨(Kathy Bates)。

查理·辛的角色查理·哈勃(Charlie Harper)在本季的开端去世。在他的兄弟艾伦(Alan)因心脏病发作住院之后，查理·哈勃的鬼魂到医院去探望他。

凯西·贝茨是《鞋店律所》(Harry's Law)的主演，她和《好汉两个半》也不是一点关系都没有，这两部电视剧都是由华纳兄弟(Warner Bros)制作的。正在忙于拍摄《愤怒管理》(Anger Management)的查理-辛估计不会介意制片公司的这个决定。

这将会是艾伦本季第二次住院，在前几集中他曾在精神病院呆过一段时间。