Continuing from the first half of this piece, when Variety questioned him about Big Bang Theory’s head writer, Steve Molaro:
One of those people is “Big Bang” head writer Steve Molaro. Lorre says Molaro “will often come to me with an idea for an episode and I will honestly not understand it.” But, he adds, “I can understand enthusiasm and passion. So my own reservations, I’ll try to put them aside and support the enthusiasm that he has for something, and that’s worked out great. He’s taken that series to a whole new level on the page and is doing things that I never would have dreamed of doing.”
However, Chuck does have his own mentors. Bob Meyer is who taught Lorre his first lessons on how to run a show. Meyer had been Lorre’s boss on his first staff gig, “My Two Dads,” then again on “Roseanne.” From Meyer, Lorre says he learned how to sublimate his own ego for the sake of the show (http://variety.com/).
Lorre’s own quote from Variety was:
“He taught me how to collaborate with other writers, which I did not know going in,” Lorre says. “He did not prize his own words over anyone else’s. His only goal was to make the material better.
With the success of “Grace Under Fire,” Lorre went from being a professional writer to a professional boss. Like many TV writers who become showrunners, it took him a while to navigate that transition (http://variety.com/).
Lorre said this to Variety about his personal struggles:
“There was a time when I could not effectively run one show,” Lorre says. “I was overwhelmed and exhausted and stressed out writing and producing one show.” Once he had multiple shows under his belt, he began to learn to let go and trust the people around him to carry more of the load.
With “Big Bang,” “Mom,” and “Disjointed” currently in production, Lorre remains a driving creative force on his shows. Baker describes with awe his ability “to watch a scene and tell you exactly what isn’t working,” then find a solution. She also praises his loyalty to people and the loyalty he inspires in others. Some writers have been working with him since “Dharma & Greg. (http://variety.com/).”
His final words of wisdom to Variety was:
“As much as my job now is to generate and to help generate scripts, I’m also looking around to see where the enthusiasm is, and support enthusiasm, support people who are excited about a story, a particular approach,” Lorre says. “People’s careers tend to take care of themselves. If they have a passion and they’re determined to write something that is very specific to their experience, then it will happen.”
Have You Ever Wondered What Chuck Lorre Watches?
Credit: http://tvseriesfinale.com/
When it comes to what contemporary shows Lorre watches, he loves “Silicon Valley. “I think it’s brilliant. Mike Judge is just a terrific writer and producer.” As a huge Mike Judge fan myself, Chuck, let’s hang out!
But when he is able to watch TV, he doesn’t spend a lot of on comedy. He does do it for a living:
“I mostly watch dramas,” he says. “I don’t go home and watch comedies. I started digging into ‘Luke Cage.’ I’m up to date on ‘Narcos’ and ‘Fargo’ and ‘Better Call Saul,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘House of Cards.’ And the BBC stuff, like ‘Sherlock.’ There’s just so many stunningly good dramatic series.”
When it comes to shows no longer with us, he told Variety:
“I miss ‘The Good Wife,’ which was an impeccable series.”
