(Image source: CBS)

BY BRICE SANDER

You're watching multisource politics news analysis from Newsy.

Who’s winning now? The ninth season of Two and a Half Men premiered Monday, netting 27.7 million viewers. The New York Times explains just how big that audience is.

“…that single episode was seen by more people than any game of last year’s World Series, more than the college basketball finals, and more than the title game in the National Basketball Association finals … of course that means it was also the most-watched episode of ‘Two and a Half Men’ ever.”

So how’d Sheen’s replacement, Ashton Kutcher, do? Access Hollywood’s got reaction to the premiere.

BILLY BUSH: “We asked the AH Nation if the new Two and a Half Men is better and it was a close race- 39% said the new show was not as good, 31 said it was even better and 30% said just as good. Let's face it, nobody really knows. It was a heck of a debut and we’ll find out in the weeks to come.”

A writer for the Washington Post suggests the real draw for the Two and a Half Men premiere wasn’t the new star, but the ousted Sheen, arguing he’s the real winner here.

“Also making money off Sheen on Monday night: Comedy Central, as 6.4 million tuned into the first airing of a Sheen roast. That’s the franchise’s biggest audience ever … all these Sheen-fueled ratings are very good news for Lionsgate ... which is developing a new comedy series starring Sheen....”

The panelists at The Joy Behar Show seem to agree, but don’t necessarily buy Sheen’s newfound humility.

NICK LACHEY: “I think he looks great in all this. I mean I think he’s obviously, coming from the ashes so to speak and, now, he seems to be saying all the right things and, and handling himself in all the right way, you know. I think he handled the roast, from what I saw, brilliantly."

PANELIST: “So he’s trying to make amends- he also has his new show that he’s trying to sell, Anger Management, so he- he knows he needs to kind of turn his life around and get people to change their opinion of him.”

TMZ doesn’t buy it either, suggesting there’s another reason why Sheen’s playing nice. Well, about 100 million reasons.

“Charlie Sheen will immediately get $25 million in his settlement with Warner Bros. in his ‘Two and a Half Men’ dispute -- but over time he'll get 5 times that amount ... in the next 7 - 10 years, the settlement will produce $100 million for the actor in syndication profits.  Not bad when you don't have to show up for work.”

Transcript by Newsy.