The TV comedy titan gets personal — and takes some pointed shots — in his new memoir 'Sitcom' Chuck Lorre has been entangled with some of the most notoriously difficult TV comedy stars in modern memory: Roseanne Barr, Brett Butler, Cybill Shepherd and, of course, Charlie Sheen. Of the four, he’s only made up with Sheen — and that rift took years to repair, as their “Two and a Half Men” meltdown was perhaps the ugliest clash of all. In his new book “Sitcom: A Memoir” — ironically titled, since he hasn’t traditionally been a fan of the term — Lorre recounts the highs and lows of his career.
He often names names — many of whom don’t necessarily come off well in the book. Lorre shares his befuddlement in the actions of some of his TV show co-creators and admits he was disappointed when the cast of “The Big Bang Theory” wouldn’t take a salary haircut to share the wealth with some of the show’s newer stars. Lorre also — half-jokingly, half-not — blames the Writers Guild’s 2007-2008 strike for the death of democracy, noting how the lack of scripted TV product led the networks to rely more on reality series like Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice.” But most of Lorre’s barbs are directed at himself.
He details his rocky relationship with his mother, his struggles with “alcoholism, soul-crushing poverty, life-threatening illness, decade in a religious cult, three failed marriages, lifetime prescription for Valacyclovir” and bad choices he’s made. That includes signing away the games and home video residuals to the theme song he wrote for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” “I decided if I’m going to do this, I’m going to tell the truth as best I can,” he says. For the first time, Lorre reveals that as a young, starving musician, he was invited to a Church of Scientology event.
Soon, he had signed a Sea Org employment contract for one billion years. Lorre spent the next decade as a Scientologist — and he admits that as his dad was dying, “I actually thought I could heal him with Scientology.” Soon after, Lorre contracted severe ulcerative colitis. But as his own illness got worse, Lorre still believed, “no worries, Scientology would heal me.” When Lorre and his then-wife, Paula, decided to finally quit the church, they were immediately excommunicated by their Scientology friends.
But because Lorre at the time was destitute, the church didn’t make an effort to keep him. We were so broke, no one noticed we were gone.” So, why did Lorre never reveal his Scientology past until now? I can wallow in regret, but I’ve chosen to recognize that even that was a step that had to be taken to get to where I am.” Here are a few more things we learned about Lorre from “Sitcom”: Lorre spoke to Variety about “Sitcom.” Here’s that chat, condensed for clarity and length: I decided if I’m going to do this, I’m going to tell the truth as best I can.
That includes the truth about my — let’s be gracious and call them missteps, but blunders could also be a word. There was no point in doing it if I was going to sugarcoat my life. It was embarrassing to me that I burned a decade of my life up in that thing.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
