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Chuck Lorre, one of the precious few who have figured out the dark art of successful comedy, gets inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame April 18. Lorre is of course the force behind The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Mom and Mike & Molly.
Flattered as he is, Lorre said the honor seems suited for someone closer to retirement, or perhaps even a posthumous distinction. “I am very much engaged and in love with what I do,” he told B&C. “It’s a little strange to be singled out and still have to carry on with my daily business.”
Marcellus Alexander, NAB executive VP of television, called Lorre a “legendary” writer and producer whose “biting wit and memorable characters have become a part of our culture and defined an era of scripted comedies for Warner Bros. Television and CBS.”
After an unsuccessful career as a guitarist, Lorre started writing for children’s animation, made his bones on Roseanne and went on to create Cybill, Dharma & Greg and Grace Under Fire. He saw TV writing as “a gigantic sandbox” to play in. “If I did it right,” Lorre said, “what an opportunity to make conceivably millions of people laugh.”
