Actor Ashton Kutcher rose atop the Forbes annual list as the highest paid actor on U.S. television, while his predecessor on "Two and a Half Men" and the ranking's long-time winner Charlie Sheen was unable to make the list, according to figures released by Forbes on Thursday.

Kutcher won the derby with an annual take of 24 million U.S. dollars ending in May 2012. His fortune mainly comes from the CBS show, on which he took over from Sheen in the lead role, and his investment in Silicon Valley, according to the magazine.

Sheen, the volatile actor who top the list last year with 40 million, totally disappear from the raking.

Hugh Laurie and Ray Romano tied in No. 2 with 18 million dollars each, although their shows, "House" and "Men of a Certain Age" respectively, were off the air. Laurie earned his money mainly from the show and his fortune is set to suffer unless he lands new roles in shows and films. Romano still benefits from reruns of television show "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "Ice Age" film series.

Ranked at No. 4 are Alec Baldwin and Mark Harmon, who tied with 15 million dollars among them.

Rounding out the 10 highest paid television actors on the annual Forbes list are Jon Cryer of "Two and a Half Men" (USD 13 million), Patrick Dempsey of "Grey's Anatomy" (USD 12 million), Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki of "The Big Bang Theory" (USD 8 million each), and Jason Segel of "How I Met Your Mother" (USD 8 million).

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