Chuck Lorre Calls Exploiting IP in Comedy “Bullshit”

Comedy kingpin Chuck Lorre has mined The Big Bang Theory universe with spin-off series like Young Sheldon and George & Mandy’s First Marriage.

But don’t expect Lorre to talk up the virtues of exploiting intellectual property for additional profits, as is the job of the major studios like his longtime patron Warner Bros. Television. “I don’t want to be engaged in exploiting IP. That’s bullshit. That’s just trying to make money or something I’ve done quite well at,” Lorre said during a keynote address on Monday at the Banff World Media Festival.

“What I want to do is make a good show, you know, and there’s a good show to be made that is exciting and fun to work on, and will provide laughter,” Lorre added. He recalled the value of comedy spinoffs, however, was revealed to him during a meeting with former CBS chairman and CEO Les Moonves, before the top TV exec’s exile from Hollywood.

“I don’t know if you’re allowed to say his name anymore, but I walked in Les Moonves’ office about 10 years ago and said, ‘I have an idea for a show about Sheldon when he’s 10 years old in East Texas.’ And he went, ‘Go do it, now,’” Lorre recounted. He accepted the major studios were out for a buck.

“You never get a green light because it’s deep. You get a greenlight because they think they can make a profit,” Lorre added. The comedy king returned to Banff to receive the Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award after first attending the Canadian Rockies retreat in 2012.

Based at Warner Bros. Television since 1999, the prolific creator also has among his comedy credits Bookie, The Kominsky Method, Mom, Mike & Molly and Two and a Half Men, and before that, Lorre produced Cybill, Dharma & Greg and Grace Under Fire, as well as co-executive producing  Roseanne. 

Lorre, during his Banff address said he’s never worked according to comedy formulas, including whether to go single camera or multi-camera on sitcoms. “I don’t think the audience cares how many cameras are being used… You want to feel that you care about the characters and you’re genuinely laughing at the comedy,” Lorre said of varying sitcoms and audience demands.

He added ensuring audiences laugh is crucial when working on the Warner Bros studio lot. “When a joke dies. You can hear the 134 freeway. It’s right there,” Lorre said.

The sitcom veteran, having had a Warner Bros. deal for around 25 years, brushed aside Warner Bros. Discovery earlier in the day announcing plans to split into two companies after earlier incarnations as Time Warner and Discovery. “It’s like growing up and your mom keeps going out with different men. It’s confusing, you know. It’s hard,” Lorre said, while adding Warner Bros. Television had always been supportive of his comedy output.

Lorre also talked about not doing much to meet audience expectations beyond creating the best comedy possible. “I can’t speak to who has an appetite. I can just tell you that, after 30 years of working in front of a live audience, the audience is in my head. I can’t escape it,” he insisted.

Lorre also talked about the origins of the upcoming multi-camera comedy series to star Leanne Morgan, a stand-up comedian, and which he co-created for Netflix. “I saw her stand-up, and I went, oh my god, this is an original voice,” he recalled.

Lorre said producing 16 episodes for Netflix as a straight-to-series order is a big ask. “We’ve written and shot 16 episodes of television before anyone’s seen anything, which is a little more nerve-wracking, because there’s no feedback,” he explained.

“You’re just stressing your instincts as to whether or not what you’re doing is working or not,” Lorre added.