Charlie Sheen jokes that it took 'an intense bribe' to get ex-wife Denise Richards to appear on 'Anger Management' [Exclusive Video]

For the first time since the "Two and a Half Men" debacle, Charlie Sheen is returning to the small screen this week in a fresh, new comedy for FX called "Anger Management." The actor dropped by Yahoo!'s studio in New York to chat about the series, in which he plays a professional baseball player turned therapist.

"I didn't want the final images of my work on television to end like they did," Sheen tells Yahoo! TV about being fired from his popular CBS series after producers became concerned about his personal welfare. "It's just nice to be in the mix in something I was involved with since jump street, from its genesis, and I'm really proud of this thing."

[Related: Charlie Sheen: I'm retiring after 'Anger Management']

How did he convince his ex-wife Denise Richards to play his love interest on the show? "It was an intense bribe — a giant bag of cash," he jokes. "No, I just said Bruce [Helford, our brilliant show runner,] wants to meet you to talk about playing the part of a girl I want to date who does not believe in therapy. She believes in astrology, ghosts, psychics, and all that other stuff, but she doesn't believe that therapy has any bearing on any reality she can relate to. When she read [the script], she thought: 'This is fabulous.' She said, ‘Yeah, I'd love to.' It didn't require a lot."

Shooting with Richards was a blast because their two daughters -- Sam, 8, and Lola, 7 -- were on the set. "They got to see Mom and Dad work together," says Sheen. "They really had a ball. They had fun watching us interact and play different people. It looked to them like we were playing dress-up and make-believe."

[Related: Charlie Sheen admits to drinking: 'I don't believe in rehab anymore']

Sheen also weighed in on whether "Anger Management" is a better show than "Two and a Half Men." "It's hard to say 'Anger' is better right now, because no one has seen it," he says. "For me personally, I think it's a smarter show ... Is it better? It's just different. Worlds apart. I can't say that the character continues where the other left off because it's a totally different guy. People are going to see this as a show that has legs. A show they're going to want to invest in. It's the type of show that I would watch if I wasn't in it."

Check out our interview with Charlie Sheen above. "Anger Management" debuts Thursday, June 28, at 9 PM on FX.

Watch Sheen tell us about working with his dad again and playing the president in the new "Machete" sequel: