Maybe it had something to do with the connection to his father, but encountering Charlie Sheen at press tour was almost like coming face to face with Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.

The Warlock dude had been snuck in to the Fox party for the Television Critics Association, skipping the red carpet and sticking to a smoking zone out back of the Castle Green party venue in Pasadena.

FX PR boss John Solberg got a few of us the triple-top-secret password that led up back behind the building to a dark corner of the lawn. There was Sheen sitting at a patio table, with the executive producer of Sheen's upcoming FX comedy Anger Management, Bruce Helford, to his right. Sheen's agent was there, with a huge lug of a security guard standing directly behind Sheen. It was hard to make out who was who at first, as one's eyes adjusted to the moonlit scene.

Kiefer Sutherland, at the Fox bash to promote his upcoming series Touch (sneak preview Jan. 25), snuck back to give Charlie a hug. The two raised hell back in the day and, as Sheen said later, have known each other since shooting Young Guns in 1988. Both have survived some crazy times, and it would have been interesting to have been in on that conversation.

As it was, listening to Sheen calmly and reasonably stick-handle around the last 12 months was a surreal experience. In many ways, it was the most sober chat at TCA.

He still seems to have a hate on for Two and a Half Men showrunner Chuck Lorre, sneaking in shots left and right. He kept emphasizing how wonderful it is to be collaborating with a reasonable guy like Helford. The veteran showrunner -- Drew Carey, George Lopez, Roseanne -- is probably the right guy for this job.

Afterwards, Sheen did venture into the Castle Green building long enough to pose for a picture with Cloris Leachman. The Raising Hope star had worked with Sheen on Two and a Half Men.

I threw my full take on Charlie Sheen's Anger Management session to the Canadian Press wire (click link above).

Read more by Bill Brioux at tvfeedsmyfamily