Senior Planet Talks to…Chuck Lorre

Nicknamed “king of the sitcoms”, Chuck Lorre has written some of the most popular shows in TV history including Two and a Half Men, Mom, The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon.

Born in New York, Lorre dropped out of SUNY Potsdam with dreams of rock’n’roll. The reality was a series of gigs on cruise ships, bar mitzvahs and weddings. By the mid-80s he turned to TV writing – and the rest is history. SENIOR PLANET catches up with Lorre, 72, to talk telly and his latest show, Bookie:

Q. Which of your hit shows comes closest to you?

CHUCK:  I always try and find something in whatever I’m doing that allows me to identify and bring some of my own experience into the process. Clearly, I’m not a physicist or a genius, but The Big Bang series allowed me to explore the feeling  everybody shares that you’re on the outside looking in; that the rule book to life was handed out and they didn’t give you one. That was my entry way to The Big Bang Theory – certainly not physics – just that feeling of being an outsider, and not really understanding how to get along in this world.

Q: What drew you to the world of sports gambling with your current series, Bookie, now in Season 2?

CHUCK:  I think it was that these guys are kind of dinosaurs. They’re in a dying profession as gambling becomes legalized across the country.  The guy that meets you at the gas station to exchange cash for your bet on the Lakers or the Rams or whatever the bet was –  that guy is an endangered species. And I guess, as a situation comedy writer, I feel that way too. We’re very much in an evolving environment, so that’s my way in with Bookie. I am not a degenerate sports gambler, but I do understand what it feels like to look around going: The culture and the technology is moving away for me. And I’m holding on to something that has become an anachronism.

Here’s a peek at Season Two of Bookie:

Q: Do your mine your own situation for comedy gold?

CHUCK: That would go back to my series The Kominsky Method (starring Michael Douglas) because that was very much about getting older and trying to find the comedy in entropy. Your body is ceasing to be the body you recognize and the cultural references are beyond your grasp. That was how I approached Kominsky, writing about men who are struggling to stay relevant. I hate to say it, but that’s an ongoing concern for me too.

Q: What is the end goal with everything you write?

CHUCK: I write things that I find interesting to me and, because I am old school, I believe comedy should cause laughter. Call me crazy. So if you’re going to define what you’re doing as comedy, then laughter must ensue. If it does not ensue, you might be doing something wonderful, but it ain’t a comedy. So I look for situations and characters to write about that I find interesting and funny and then I hope people agree with me. Writing for some hypothetical audience, seems like hubris to me. How could I understand millions of people’s viewpoints or attitudes about storytelling and comedy? The best I can do is try and be truthful to myself and hope someone out there agrees with me.

Q:  What is your favorite show over the years?

CHUCK: Sorry. I’m not going to answer that question. I could never do that. That is exactly like asking who’s your favorite child, because, in so many ways, I’ve been blessed. I’ve been so fortunate. I’ve been able to work with extraordinary actors and writers on many different shows, and to say this one is my favorite, I wouldn’t be comfortable with that.

Q:  What’s the story about you writing a hit song, French Kissin’ – for Blondie’s Deborah Harry before you became a TV writer? Were you friends?

CHUCK: I met her once, many years after the song was recorded by her back in 1987.  I had heard she was doing a one woman show at The Carlisle in New York and was including French Kissin’ in her repertoire and she told a story about: “Here’s a crazy thing, that guy who writes Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, wrote this song,” and then she proceeds to sing it. And back when she recorded that song, I had never met her. But I was just out of my mind, over the moon happy that this song had a life and had been chosen by her.

So when I heard about her one-woman show, I called her agents and they arranged for me to meet her in New York. We took a walk around Chelsea and chatted, and it was really quite wonderful to be able to say, “Thank you. You changed my life’. I mean, when you’re a struggling musician and the phone rings and somebody says: Debbie Harry’s recording one of your songs, and it’s going to be the first single of her album. That’s a life changing event.

Like Chuck Lorre’s work? Talk it over with other entertainment fans at Senior Planet Community. 

Q: Any time for hobbies?

CHUCK: I’m still a struggling songwriter at heart, trying to write a wonderful song. Music is still very much a part of my world. I’m also a degenerate reader. I am constantly reading….I want to read great writing. Not that I’m saying I’m creating great writing, but at least I’m bringing it in, and I’m reading novels and nonfiction as well. Extraordinary writers are inspiring. I think if you’re a writer of any kind, one of the critical things to do is to read and see what a beautiful sentence looks like.

Q: What does an average day in your life look like?

CHUCK: I get up early and work out, and hit the treadmill and try and keep decay at bay. And then, generally, there’s a table read where I come to work and sit around a table with the writers and actors, and you read the script, and you realize generally, that: Oh, 20, 30% of every script stinks and requires work. Rewriting is a big part of the job, endless refining and  cutting and embellishing and taking the clever and trying to make it funny, because I don’t want someone sitting at home and going: Well, that was amusing. I want them to laugh! That, to me, is when I’ve succeeded at my job. If out loud laughter is caused then I’ve had a good day. And no, I don’t stay up late. I can’t do that! I’m an old man. I have to go to bed early!

Q: What is your secret to aging with attitude?

CHUCK: A long time ago, I went out and got a trainer. I said: I’m not interested in becoming a bodybuilder or anything like that. I want to get in shape so that this job doesn’t kill me. I want to be in good enough physical condition so that I can get through a day without absolutely crashing at two o’clock in the afternoon. So I managed to keep that as a regular part of my regimen, which also involves not eating too much garbage and just trying to stay in shape in order to do the job and not crash and burn from exhaustion. The job of writing and producing 24 episodes of television in eight or nine months is so debilitating and exhausting, it just tears you up.

Bookie premiered on Max on November 30, 2023. Comedy series Bookie S2 premiered on December 12, 2024 Max, with new episodes dropping weekly leading up to the season finale on January 30.  

Lorre Photo Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS

Gill Pringle began her career as a rock columnist for popular British newspapers, traveling the world with Madonna, U2 and Michael Jackson. Moving to Los Angeles 27 years ago, she interviews film and TV personalities for prestigious UK outlets, The Independent, The i-paper and The Sunday Times – and, of course, Senior Planet. A member of Critics Choice Association, BAFTA and AWFJ, she wrote the screenplay for 2016 Netflix family film, The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure. An award-winning writer, in 2021 she was honored by the Los Angeles Press Club with 1st prize at the NAEJ Awards.