Chuck Lorre

Charles Michael Lorre (né Levine; born October 18, 1952) is an American television producer, writer, director, and composer.

In the early 1980s he turned to writing scripts for animated shows; his first project was the DIC version of Heathcliff.

In the late 1980s, he shifted into writing for sitcoms, and joined the writing staff of Roseanne.

Though he was fired over "irreconcilable creative differences", Lorre's time on Roseanne impressed producers, and led to his creating his first show, Frannie's Turn.

It was cancelled after 5 weeks.

Lorre's second show as creator, Grace Under Fire, starred comedian Brett Butler.

He wrote the song "French Kissin'", which Deborah Harry later recorded for her 1986 Rockbird album and which became a UK Top 10 hit.

He co-wrote the soundtrack to the 1987 television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Dennis Challen Brown.

Called the "King of Sitcoms", Lorre has created/co-created and produced the sitcoms Grace Under Fire (1993–1998), Cybill (1995–1998), Dharma & Greg (1997–2002), Two and a Half Men (2003–2015), The Big Bang Theory (2007–2019), Mike & Molly (2010–2016), Mom (2013–2021), Young Sheldon (2017–2024), Disjointed (2017–2018), The Kominsky Method (2018–2021), Bob Hearts Abishola (2019–2024), B Positive (2020–2022), United States of Al (2021–2022), and Bookie (2023–present).

He also served as an executive producer of Roseanne.

Lorre won three Golden Globe Awards for his work on Roseanne, Cybill, and The Kominsky Method.

Lorre was born in Plainview, New York, to a Jewish family and given the Hebrew name Chaim.

His father, Robert, opened a luncheonette that did poorly, which caused financial problems.

After graduating from high school, Lorre attended State University of New York at Potsdam, dropping out after two years to pursue a career as a songwriter.

During his two years at college he "majored in rock 'n' roll and pot and minored in LSD".

It premiered on ABC in 1993, and was nominated at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

His next show was Cybill, starring Cybill Shepherd.

Lorre signed a deal with Carsey-Werner Productions in 1994.

While Lorre left after two seasons, Cybill went on to air for four seasons on CBS, receiving critical acclaim and winning a Primetime Emmy Award in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for co-star Christine Baranski, and two Golden Globe Awards in 1996 for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for Cybill Shepherd.

He then moved to 20th Century Fox in 1995 to create the next project., creating Dharma & Greg in partnership with Dottie Zicklin (credited as Dottie Dartland), which premiered one year before the end of Cybill in 1997.

It starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as the title characters, whose personalities were complete opposites—Dharma's world view being more spiritual and 'free spirit'-style, instilled by "hippie" parents, contrasted with Greg's world view of structure, social status requirements, and "white collar duty" instilled by his generations of affluent parents/ancestors.

The show received eight Golden Globe nominations, six Emmy Award nominations, and six Satellite Awards nominations, and Elfman won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in 1999.

To move on to his next project, Lorre signed a long-term deal with Warner Bros. Television in 2000, a relationship that continues to this day.

Lorre created his fifth show, Two and a Half Men, with co-creator Lee Aronsohn.

It focuses on the two Harper brothers, Charlie and Alan.

Charlie is a hedonistic, successful commercial jingles composer and womanizer who owns a beach house in Malibu.

Alan is a neurotic chiropractor, thrown out of his own house by his divorcing wife.

The premise is that Alan worms himself into Charlie's house and clashes with his lifestyle.

Alan also has a son, Jake, the "half", who comes to visit him and Charlie on weekends.

Two and a Half Men premiered on CBS in 2003 and became the highest-rated sitcom in America.

In 2011, he admitted to drinking heavily in his past, telling Entertainment Weekly (EW) that he "led a dissolute youth until 47."

He was in recovery at the time.

Substance-related issues are also a recurring theme in his work.

He changed his surname from Levine to Lorre at age 26.

After leaving school, Lorre toured the United States as a guitarist and songwriter.

In 2011, CBS put the show on hiatus following a series of incidents of production shutdowns due to Charlie Sheen's personal problems related to drug and alcohol abuse and greed, which culminated to the verbal attacks directed at Lorre during a radio interview.

Sheen was fired from the show and filed a $100 million lawsuit against Lorre and Warner Bros. Television for wrongful termination.

Lorre killed off Sheen's character and hired Ashton Kutcher as his replacement for the show's later four seasons.

Lorre's next show was The Big Bang Theory with co-creator Bill Prady.

It follows two genius physicists, Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, with few social skills who befriend their neighbor, an attractive, outgoing young woman with average intelligence and no college education.