Television producer Chuck Lorre says his first brush with the Church of Scientology happened in Columbus, Ohio, long before he became one of Hollywood’s most successful sitcom creators. In his new memoir, “Sitcom,” Lorre writes that a sax player he met at a bar invited him to a local Scientology center, and he went along simply because he had nothing better to do and his car had been impounded.
Lorre admits he “had no idea what Scientology was” at the time but was drawn in partly by the people he met there. After taking a communication class, he says he had an out-of-body experience that stuck with him, and later sought out the church again once he had moved to Los Angeles to pursue music.
That second encounter nearly cost him a billion years of his life, at least on paper. Lorre writes that he was presented with a one-billion-year contract to join Scientology’s Sea Org, the group’s clergy-like labor arm. “I didn’t want to give up my dead-end music career, but I was broken, outnumbered, and overwhelmed,” he writes. “I caved in and signed.”
He lasted two days on the job, which involved handing out free personality test invitations to homeless people in MacArthur Park before he walked away. “Which means contractually, I owe the Church of Scientology a billion years of labor minus two days,” he writes.
Cast Pushback Over a Pay Cut
Elsewhere in the memoir, Lorre describes a moment on “The Big Bang Theory” when CBS executives Les Moonves and Bruce Rosenblum approached the show’s main cast — then earning $1 million an episode plus profit points — and asked them to accept a 10 percent pay cut. The money would have gone toward raising the episodic fees for Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch, who had been added as series regulars in season four.
Lorre says he expected the cast to agree without much fuss. They did not. “They were outraged that they would even be asked to take a small cut in order to reward the two newer cast members,” he writes, adding that the two executives “had to slink out of the room, scrotally impaired.” Fox News Digital said it reached out to representatives for stars Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Kunal Nayyar and Simon Helberg for comment.
The Charlie Sheen Fallout
Lorre also revisits the collapse of his working relationship with Charlie Sheen on “Two and a Half Men.” He writes that the show was “a blast to do” for seven seasons before Sheen began missing work with excuses ranging from food poisoning to a burned-off eyelashes claim after a lighter supposedly exploded. Lorre recounts a manager flying across the country with a bag of cash to buy back a sex tape involving the actor.
The final scene the production shot, Lorre says, involved Sheen and Melanie Lynskey, with Sheen unable to remember his lines and using furniture to stay upright. “It was clear to everyone that this man, whom we’d all grown to love, was in trouble. I had no choice but to shut down the show,” Lorre writes. He says Warner Bros. cut ties with Sheen after the actor refused treatment and later criticized Lorre publicly. Fox News Digital said it reached out to representatives for Sheen for comment.
Fights Over Casting
Lorre also details repeated battles with network executives over casting choices, including resistance to Jon Cryer on “Two and a Half Men” and Kunal Nayyar on “The Big Bang Theory.” He says CBS also balked at casting Melissa McCarthy on “Mike & Molly,” with one female executive suggesting he instead cast a thinner actress in a fat suit. Lorre says he refused and insisted McCarthy get the role. “When ‘Bridesmaids’ came out, I felt pretty god-damn smart,” he writes. Fox News Digital said it reached out to CBS for comment.
