Question: As a viewer of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, both Chuck Lorre sitcoms, I feel qualified to say what in the world are the Emmy voters thinking? The Big Bang Theory is the most creative and funniest new sitcom in years, and they pass it over for Two and a Half Men? Then they compound it by nominating Charlie Sheen for best actor while passing over the funniest new sitcom actor in years, Big Bang's Jim Parsons? Men is no more than one sex joke after another, and Charlie just has a new conquest ever week, while Jim Parsons has the difficult role of being the new Felix Unger and the difficullty of learning all the science stuff every week. It really is a shame that the Emmy voters chose the wrong Chuck Lorre sitcom to recognize, because Big Bang could have used the recognition to help build its audience. Sometimes I think it's the best show on TV that people have missed. I wish more viewers would find it, because they simply don't know what they are missing.
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Lee Arohnson, Chuck Lorre, William Petersen by Monty Brinton/CBS
The May 8 CSI 9 pmET CBS is all about rubber chicken and not the kind they serve at Vegas conventions In an unusual crossover Two and a Half Men creators Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn and their writing staff penned the script for the episode Its called Two and a Half Deaths reveals CSI executive producer Naren Shankar who returned the favor by cowriting the murder-themed May 5 episode of Men And a rubber chicken figures prominentlyThe story revolves around the death of a sitcom diva played by Katey Sagal whos so hated by her coworkers that when she turns up dead everyones a suspect Its more a case of who didnt do it than awhodunit says executive producer Carol MendelsohnCSI is usually dark and bizarre but this one promises to be laugh-out-loud funny according to Mendelsohn Its a murder mystery in the style of the great Columbo and classic detective shows that we all know and love she says It combines the wit and insight of Chuck Lorre
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Rachael Harris by Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage.com, Christine Baranski by Jim Spellman/WireImage.com
It's not Christine Baranski, but this'll do nicely. The sublime Rachael Harris (Notes from the Underbelly, Fat Actress) will play even-tempered sidekick to Cybill Shepherd's Katey Sagal's unhinged sitcom diva in that stuntastic episode of CSI penned by Two and a Half Men scribes Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn. And should there be any lingering doubts that Lorre and Aronsohn modeled Sagal and Harris' characters after Shepherd and Baranski, both of whom the writers worked with on Cybill, this next little tidbit should erase them: Sources confirm what I hinted at last August, that the duo first offered the second-banana role to Baranski herself. That's right, they wanted Baranski to play Baranski! But for whatever reason — possibly this one — she wasn't able to do it. Um, have I told you lately how much I'm looking forward to this episode?
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Cybill Shepherd by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com
Holy crap! They're actually going through with it! As we previously reported, the writers of Two and a Half Men and CSI are switching teams for an episode of each others' series to air this May. Well, for the funnymen's CSI installment, it appears that they're sticking with their original plan and killing off their old boss, Cybill Shepherd!If you'll recall, Two and a Half's main Men, Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, used to exec-produce the laffer Cybill, where their leading lady was said to be, to put it mildly, difficult. Now, according to an early outline of the episode obtained by yours truly, as payback, in the CSI titled "Two and a Half Deaths," the scribes have created an ill-fated sitcom ball-buster named Annabelle Bundt who never met a back she wouldn't stab. As if the fact that Annabelle's show is named after her isn't enough evidence of the correlation we are supposed to make, the guys have also given their she-devil an even-tempered and "infinitely more talented" on-screen...
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Jim Parsons and Johnny Galecki in The Big Bang Theory by Robert Voets/CBS
This, friends, is nearly on par with Henry Gray stumping for Mer-Der via séance. Robyn Asimov, daughter of the late Isaac Asimov ("the prolific writer, scientist and charismatic geek," as she herself puts it) reached out to us in response to a TVGuide.com feature on CBS' The Big Bang Theory, and to share her especially qualified affinity for the show about a pair of quirky physicists. "[It] is delightfully witty, a brilliant mix of intelligent dialogue with comedy, and absolutely spot-on regarding the wonderful, cerebrally sexy world of nerds," she told us.Asimov — who in 2004 countered film critics with her support of the big-screen take on her father's I, Robot short-story series, and now is chairman and trustee of his estate — referenced this week's episode, saying that "discussing my father’s Three Laws of Robotics during the hysterical conversation among three of the cast members, theorizing if one was a robot — and would he want to be told — was p...
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Sara Gilbert with Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
A few weeks ago, New York Magazine invited a panel of real-life physicists to weigh in on the CBS' The Big Bang Theory, in which Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons portray brainiacs with a surprisingly lot to learn. The opinions were... mixed, let's say, with some of the polled beautiful minds saying the laffer was being a bit funny with the facts of their life and work. When TVGuide.com spoke to Big Bang executive producer and sitcom giant Chuck Lorre, he had not seen the piece, but was surprised to hear of any backlash. "Well, now, hang on a second," he interrupted. "We're working with a physi
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Jon Cryer and Charlie Sheen by Greg Gayne/CBS
While CSI plans to unspool "The Case of the Murdered Diva" (well documented by Ausiello), at least one clue has slipped out about Two and Half Men's half of the famous and seemingly improbable writing staff swap (first teased here in June). When last I checked in with him, Men cocreator Chuck Lorre said that he and his CSI counterparts "were still talking" about what their take on his CBS sitcom would entail, but at least this much is for certain: "There's going to be a dead body on Two and Half Men," Lorre told me. My concern: If the dead body belongs to a hot blonde, just how much leeway will Standards & Practices allow the always-opportunistic Charlie Harper.
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Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Creating quality laughs for television isn't rocket science, though it may benefit from some quantum physics. In the new CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory (premiering tonight at 8:30 pm/ET), Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons play Leonard and Sheldon, super-brilliant roommates who realize they don't necessarily have all the answers when a bubbly blonde beauty named Penny (8 Simple Rules' Kaley Cuoco) moves in across the hall. Complicating matters further will be the arrival of Galecki's "former wife," fellow Roseanne alum Sara Gilbert, as a geeky love interest
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There's nothing I love more than a good gimmick, and this one qualifies as great.The outside-the-box thinkers over at CSI and Two and a Half Men are toying with the idea of swapping writing staffs for an episode to air later this season. And although the switcheroo is far from a done deal, Men creator Chuck Lorre has already hatched a killer plot for his potential CSI debut — and it's sure to leave many a tongue wagging in Hollywood. According to sources, his CSI episode would revolve around the grisly death of a disliked sitcom diva — a subject the comedy vet has plenty of experience with, having legendarily clashed with Roseanne and Cybill Shepherd on their eponymous series. And lest he leave any doubt that he is drawing from his own personal nightmares… er, experiences, he has gone so far as to reach out to ex-Cybill sidekick Christine Baranksi to play the deceased shrew's co-star. Natch, Lorre's spokeswoman insists the proposed story is not based on "one person in...
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Question: I happened to see the pilot for CBS' The Big Bang Theory in Las Vegas last week, and I absolutely loved it. I have not laughed that much during a new sitcom pilot in a long time. Do you think this show has a chance to stick? I hope it lasts, because it is really funny.
Answer: The good news is that it's on the right network (CBS, which specializes in multi-camera laugh-track sitcoms), and with Two and a Half Men's Chuck Lorre behind it, CBS may be inclined to show some patience if it doesn't take off right away. But I don't see why it wouldn't. It's a classic ugly-duckling buddy sitcom about two geeky geniuses (Roseanne's Johnny Galecki and terrific new find Jim Parsons as, respectively, Leonard and Sheldon, an homage to legendary TV producer Sheldon Leonard) and the pretty young thing (8 Simple Rules' Kaley Cuoco) who moves in next door. The guys are funny, especially the deadpan fussbudget played by Parsons, and their nerdy friends in the supporting cast score laughs as
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