Big Bang Theory & Two and a Half Men Creator on Signing a Billion-Year Scientology Contract, Why Success Didn’t Cure His Alcoholism, and Surviving the Public Battle with Charlie Sheen | Chuck Lorre

Mayim Bialik (0:00)

He was the most successful television producer in the world, creating shows like The Big Bang Theory, Dharma & Greg, Young Sheldon, and Two and a Half Men.

Chuck Lorre (0:08)

Holland Taylor's character on Two and a Half Men. She was my mother with money.

Mayim Bialik (0:12)

That's the only thing you have to tell a therapist on a first meeting.

Chuck Lorre (0:15)

Dharma and Greg, can I create a female lead who's loving and joyful? Would they be funny?

Mayim Bialik (0:21)

What do you remember of the Tiara episode?

Chuck Lorre (0:24)

Tiara was a tour de force for you. I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life.

Mayim Bialik (0:29)

What you don't know about him is that he escaped a one billion year contract with the Church of Scientology.

Chuck Lorre (0:35)

I was so desperate. I drank the Kool-Aid. Took me about 10 years to wake up.

Mayim Bialik (0:40)

He battled alcoholism, fought his way out of poverty, was in a series of public battles with Hollywood's biggest stars.

Chuck Lorre (0:46)

When Charlie left the show and went on that Tiger Blood tour, I had no skills or understanding how to deal with this. It was really painful.

Mayim Bialik (0:55)

We felt like you had two kids and one was misbehaving, and we wanted to be the kid that wasn't misbehaving. We're going to take a sneak peek behind the curtain of fame, celebrity, addiction and success with the man who has shaped the culture of modern America through thousands of episodes of television.

Chuck Lorre joins us on Mayim Bialik's Breakdown.

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Jonathan Cohen (1:48)

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Mayim Bialik (3:00)

Hi, I'm Mayim Bialik.

Jonathan Cohen (3:01)

And I'm Jonathan Cohen.

Mayim Bialik (3:02)

And welcome to our Breakdown. What does it take to go from a childhood shaped by fear, addiction, poverty and family turmoil, to becoming the creative mastermind behind some of television's biggest and most popular sitcoms?

Today, the creator of The Big Bang Theory, Chuck Lorre, is with us. He's going to talk about his memoir sitcom. And he's best known for creating not only The Big Bang Theory, but Two and a Half Men, Young Sheldon, Mom, and Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. Chuck's going to talk about all of the pieces of his life that lined up from his failed music career to wandering into an animation studio in Sherman Oaks and getting a job writing afternoon cartoons to how he ended up creating the most successful comedy in television history.

Jonathan Cohen (3:53)

It's an unexpected journey, including a stint in Scientology and writing the theme song for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Mayim Bialik (4:02)

It's such a pleasure to welcome Chuck here in person. I also had the pleasure of doing some events for this book, but this is a really, really special conversation. And yes, he's going to talk about The Big Bang Theory. We're going to talk about the tiara. We're going to talk about spanking. We're going to talk about casting, all those things. He's also going to talk about the very public struggle and battle that he had with Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men and how he got through it. It's a pleasure to welcome in person to The Breakdown, Chuck Lorre, welcome.