Early in 2019 when The Big Bang Theory was winding down production after 12 seasons and 279 episodes, I took this photo of series co-creator, writer and executive producer Chuck Lorre. I caught him at a pretty good time. Warner Bros. was naming one of its fabled Burbank soundstages after the series. Lorre scored a similar honour four years earlier when Two and a Half Men‘s title went up on another stage.
Nobody has had a bigger impact on television sitcoms this century than Chuck Lorre. It was gratifying, therefore, to talk to him one-on-one over zoom as this week’s special guest on brioux.tv: the podcast.
Lorre, who previously produced Dharma & Greg while at Fox and prior to that wrote and produced shows for Roseanne, Brett Butler, and Cybill Shepherd, has had so many hits for Warner Bros it is hard to keep track. Remember Mike & Molly? (2010-’16)? The Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy series lasted six seasons. Mom (2013-’21) with Anna Faris and Allison Janney lasted eight. Young Sheldon (2017-’24) ran for seven.
In 2015 Warners hosted an event for TCA critics that sprawled over four studio lots. The stars from all of those shows sat on director’s chairs, including Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecky, Kaley Cuoco, Kunal Nayyar, Simon Helberg, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch from Big Bang, and Ashton Kutcher, Jon Cryer, Conchata Ferrell and Holland Taylor from Two and Half.
Back in 2007, at the Big Bang launch, CBS held a smaller reception for reporters in the lobby of the Beverly Hilton. That’s where Lorre told many of us to keep an eye on this new kid Parsons. That sure was a tip that paid off.
Shockingly, while Lorre has won three Golden Globes (including one for The Kominsky Method), he has never won an Emmy. As a few Canadian creators and showrunners have found out, you don’t always get love from your peers if your show is too popular with viewers.
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He doesn’t always get it from TV critics either, one of the things we talk about on this podcast episode. Lorre says he tries to not get too carried away with good or bad reviews. His goal on all of these shows is pretty straightforward — laughter. It is a bar some recent Emmy comedy award winners could try a little harder to aim for.
I caught up with Lorre over zoom while he was preparing to give a keynote address this June at the Banff World Media Festival this June. The TV Academy Hall of Famer was warm, engaged and thoughtful. On this episode, we talk about the glory that is Kominsky, Big Bang‘s Barenaked Ladies theme song, his take on The Sopranos finale, and how Bob Hearts Abishola was Lorre’s salute to the immigrant experience in America — a subject that could not be more relevant today.
Lorre also talks about his new series, Leanne, starring Tennessee-born standup comedienne Leanne Morgan. All 16 episodes of the series will be available for streaming July 31 on Netflix.
I even put Lorre on the spot by asking what he thought would be the perfect Canadian TV sitcom. Hear his three word answer, and so much more, on a memorable episode.
