Chuck Lorre
Producer / Show Creator
About This Interview
In his three-hour Archive interview, Chuck Lorre discusses his path from songwriter/musician to show creator/producer. He describes his childhood in Long Island, his college years at SUNY Potsdam, and being a guitar player/songwriter. He talks of his success writing songs "French Kissin' in the U.S.A" and co-writing the theme song to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and shares how he got his start in television with DIC animation. Lorre speaks of writing for several animated shows, including Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, and recalls his first non-animated script that got picked up - for Charles in Charge. He discusses writing for My Two Dads and Roseanne, and recounts his experiences co-creating Grace Under Fire and Dharma & Greg. He details the creation and casting of Two and Half Men and comments on the controversy surrounding Seasons 8 and 9 of the show, and discusses the creation and casting of The Big Bang Theory, and Mike and Molly. He shares what he's learned about the business of show business and defines what makes a "Chuck Lorre show." Nancy Harrington conducted the interview on February 25, 2012 in Pacific Palisades, CA
Related To This Video
Featured Content
Chuck Lorre will be inducted into the 21st Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
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Highlights
Chuck Lorre on Charlie Sheen's Two and a Half Men character: "We're all Alan hoping to be Charlie"
Clip begins at: 53:35, Duration: 00m 57s
Chuck Lorre on casting Ashton Kutcher on Two and a Half Men: "let's go away from Entourage and towards Mark Zuckerberg ... but gorgeous"
Clip begins at: 17:45, Duration: 01m 50s
Chuck Lorre on co-writing the theme song to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Clip begins at: 15:28, Duration: 02m 52s- Chuck Lorre on casting Jim Parsons as "Sheldon" on The Big Bang Theory
Clip begins at: 32:38, Duration: 01m 39s - Chuck Lorre on casting Melissa McCarthy on Mike and Molly
Clip begins at: 38:07, Duration: 01m 24s - Chuck Lorre on how Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the Superbowl changed everything on Two and Half Men; on dealing with censorship
Clip begins at: 50:50, Duration: 01m 57s - Chuck Lorre on his use of vanity cards: "it was a second of air time, why not use it?"
Clip begins at: 34:50, Duration: 03m 14s - Chuck Lorre on writing for the then-number-one show in comedy, Roseanne
Clip begins at: 48:51, Duration: 05m 30s 
Chuck Lorre on his advice to writers starting out
Clip begins at: 00:01, Duration: 01m 03s
Interview
- Part 1
- On his early childhood and influences; on his name change from Charles Levine to Chuck Lorre; on growing up in Long Island and working in his father's luncheonette; on inheriting his parents' sense of humor; on watching early television shows; on loving baseball as a kid and his early interest in music
Clip begins at: 0:13 - On attending college at SUNY Potsdam; on being a guitar player and starting to write songs in the 1970s; on emulating Randy Newman in his songwriting; on his one hit song - "French Kissin' in the U.S.A"; on co-writing the theme song to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Clip begins at: 09:23 - On his transition to television - writing narration; on working for DIC Animation; on writing for the animated series Heathcliff; on what he learned from working in animation; on working for Marvel and on working for Jim Henson on Muppet Babies
Clip begins at: 18:20 - On writing spec scripts for The Golden Girls, Miami Vice and the 1980's Twilight Zone; on his first non-animated scripts that got picked up - for Charles in Charge ; on writing for My Two Dads; on pitching to Brandon Tartikoff; on abandoning an outline and doing his own script for My Two Dads
Clip begins at: 31:52 - On writing for the then-number-one show in comedy, Roseanne
Clip begins at: 48:51 - Part 2
- On how he approached writing for Roseanne; on writing a script for Two and a Half Men; on how the best humor doesn't have to be over the top or have a moral lesson; on storylines on Roseanne that came from his life; on working for Carsey/Warner; on specific episodes of the series - Halloween episodes and others
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On leaving Roseanne and writing a failed pilot for Carsey/Warner; on creating Grace Under Fire starring comedian Brett Butler; on dealing with spousal abuse in a comedy; on the writers room on Grace Under Fire; on the benefits of collaborating with other writers; on creating Cybill starring Cybil Shepherd and Christine Baranski
Clip begins at: 08:23 - On creating Cybill starring Cybill Shepherd and Christine Baranski; on co-creating Dharma and Greg with Dottie Zicklin; on his use of vanity cards at the end of shows; on Dharma & Greg going off the air; on the interactive pilot Nathan's Choice
Clip begins at: 23:54 - On creating Two and a Half Men; on casting Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men; on the show's premise; on how Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the Superbowl changed things on Two and Half Men; on dealing with censorship; on the creative team of and typical production week on Two and a Half Men
Clip begins at: 43:49 - Part 3
- On a production week on Two and a Half Men; on casting Jon Cryer, Angus T. Jones, Holland Taylor, and the rest of the cast of Two and a Half Men; on the original, unaired pilot; on being nominated for a GLAD award; on specific episodes; on the controversy on Two and Half Men in Season 8 and Charlie Sheen's departure from the show; on Ashton Kutcher replacing Charlie Sheen; on the crossover episode between Two and Half Men and CSI; on the future of the show
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On co-creating The Big Bang Theory and the premise of the show; on shooting multi-camera shows; on the theme song to The Big Bang Theory; on the cast and the unaired pilot; on the appeal of the series; on working with Jim Parsons
Clip begins at: 22:05 - On creating Mike and Molly; on Mike and Molly really being the story of Marty; on casting Melissa McCarthy; on balancing three shows at one time; on his relationship with CBS; on what he's learned about the business side of show business; on his signature style; on projects in development
Clip begins at: 35:13 - Part 4
- On being inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2012
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On his advice to writers starting out; on the future of television; on highlights of his career; on where he'll be in ten years
Clip begins at: 01:44
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Do you know that in last years Nobel Prize cermony - one of the laureates in his acceptance/thank you speech -with a twinkle in his eye refered to the Schrödingers cat ! It couls be Leaonard H or maybe Sheldon C standing there !
TBBT in Nobel Prize !
I think Chauck Lorre desrves to know !
Thanks for all good laughs during the years !
Lars T
SWeden
I was watching the episode of Two and a Half Men from season one where Charlie tells Jake that he wrote the theme song to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. All the other jingles that Charlie wrote were for made up products. So I suspected that maybe somebody connected to the show actually wrote jingles or music for children's shows. My brief research led me to this website. I started watching the Chuck Lorre interview hoping to find out more about the origins of the theme song, and ended up watching a very insightful interview about the creative process. Thank you, Chuck and Nancy for this wonderful interview.
Best interview I have EVER heard!
Nancy Harrington should get an award for asking VERY intelligent questions of one of the best scribes and producers of the Modern TV Era -Chuck Lorre...She could teach the art of the interview...TV networks should learn from her natural flow to a conversation...Thank you Chuck Lorre for sharing your world.. Nice to see the continuity without commercials...Great find today... and to think I was searching for Emmy red carpet dresses and found this...thanks Nancy for helping me get my priorities correct...I thought about beautiful dresses, and found a beautiful person.
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