Chuck Lorre's dream fulfilled
Scott D. Pierce
"No, burning inside of me was the desire to do an autopsy on a sitcom diva," Lorre said in a teleconference with TV critics.
"And I wanted to fulfill Chuck's fantasy," said "CSI" executive producer Carol Mendelsohn.
Tonight's "CSI" (8 p.m., Ch. 2) is the follow-up to Monday's "Two and a Half Men," written by "CSI's" Mendelsohn and Naren Shankar. Grissom (William Petersen) and his team investigate the murder of a sitcom star (Katey Sagal) who is, to put it mildly, a difficult diva.
Lorre knows about sitcom divas. His resume includes stints as writer/executive producer of "Roseanne," "Grace Under Fire," "Cybill" and "Dharma & Greg." Which means he's dealt with Roseanne Barr, Brett Butler, Cybill Shepherd and Jenna Elfman — all of whom have, um, reputations.
But, Lorre maintained, he wasn't thinking about any of them when he created the "CSI" murder victim.
"No, this is entirely an act of fiction," Lorre said.
"We made it all up," said Lee Aronsohn, the co-creator and executive producer of "Two and a Half Men" who also counts "Grace Under Fire" and "Cybill" among his credits.
"This entire thing here is imagination," Lorre deadpanned. "Working with these kinds of people is a joy. And the horror of writing and producing a TV sitcom for a female star — that's just a stretch of the imagination."
"It actually never results in murderous rage," Aronsohn added.
And seriously?
"I'm sticking with that," Lorre said.
Will we see, perhaps, character traits from Barr, Butler, Shepherd or Elfman in the "CSI" sitcom diva?
"I suppose you might read something into it.," Lorre said. "But, gee, we just made stuff up here."
I love Chuck Lorre. But I'm not buying it.
Nor did he seem to really intend that we should.
BUSY SCHEDULE: No only did Lorre and Aronsohn write this episode of "CSI," but that was in addition to their regular jobs as executive producers of "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory."
"Chuck said he finally figured out the way to make doing two shows seem easy. Do three," Aronsohn said.
"CSI: The Movie"? "CSI" has been incredibly successful on TV. Could there be a theatrical movie in the offing?
"There has been a little talk over the years," Mendelsoh said. "Nothing concrete. But I wouldn't be surprised if that happens one day."
"Just so you guys know, I'll give you a little head's up — 'Two and a Half Men' is headed for radio," Lorre said.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com
Recent comments
I love Chuck Lorre! He is a beautiful genius! Two and a half Men...
Cheryl | May 11, 2008 at 5:57 p.m.
The "Two and a Half Men" episode was brilliant!
2-1/2 fan | May 8, 2008 at 4:53 p.m.
