Chuck Lorre gets candid on hits, flops and hard lessons in new memoir 'Sitcom'

After creating TV hits like “The Big Bang Theory,”“Two and a Half Men,” and “Young Sheldon,” legendary producer Chuck Lorre is looking back at his milestones and missteps in a new memoir called “Sitcom.” “I started out, I did not want to do this,” Lorre admits regarding the decision to write his book. A dear friend kept pushing me that the story of this journey to where I am now was worth telling.” That nudge ultimately unlocked a deeply cathartic experience for the showrunner. “Writing down your experiences gives you distance and perspective,” Lorre said.

“It allows you to laugh at your past and maybe understand it a little better.” In an interview with The Associated Press, Lorre opens up about the personal introspection that led to “Sitcom,” and shares his thoughts on where television comedy stands today, plus offers a pragmatic take on the recent Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Answers have been condensed for clarity and brevity. AP: In “Sitcom,” you chose to include actual scripts at the end of the book with your own handwritten notations.

LORRE: I thought it might be interesting to people reading the book to see what a sitcom script actually looks like from the inside. The handwritten notations were my effort to communicate how I felt about those scripts when we were making them, as well as how I feel about them looking back now. I wanted to provide a little real, behind-the-scenes insight into the process of making these shows rather than just talking about them in the abstract.

AP: Why do you think it has become so difficult for sitcoms to succeed in today’s television landscape? LORRE: Before there is comedy or jokes, the audience must care about the characters. It isn’t even about making them “likable.” Danny DeVito in “Taxi” or Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker played awful, angry people, but you loved watching them.

If the audience cares, then a character falling down the stairs becomes hilarious because they were running somewhere important. A great sitcom like “Cheers” or “The Big Bang Theory” becomes a surrogate family where people gather around a table, eat together, and bond. That emotional connection is much harder to build today because getting people to sit down for a half-hour comedy in a hyper-fragmented market is an immense challenge.

deal.Answers have been condensed for clarity and brevity.AP: In “Sitcom,” you chose to include actual scripts at the end of the book with your own handwritten notations. Why share those with readers?LORRE: I thought it might be interesting to people reading the book to see what a sitcom script actually looks like from the inside.