After three decades of creating sitcoms for broadcast television, Chuck Lorre may be done with the Big Four networks once his comedies Bob Hearts Abishola and Young Sheldon end on CBS next May.
“In the words of Douglas Adams, ‘Thanks for all the fish.’ I think it’s goodbye,” the prolific TV producer said on The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 podcast. “I don’t know. I still love the medium, whether it be working in front of an audience or the single-camera approach, I still think it’s a wonderful way to create an ensemble of characters that then you can attach to and care for.”
The upcoming ends of Bob Hearts Abishola and Young Sheldon are “very different situations,” Lorre added.
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“We have reached the time in the cycle of Young Sheldon where [actor] Iain Armitage is 14 years old now,” he explained. “He’s pushing 6 feet tall. We’ve told that story, and the remainder of his path leading up to The Big Bang Theory happens at Caltech in California. Following him from 8 to 15 seems like the natural life span of the show. That was a feeling that was shared between myself and [fellow EPs] Steve Molaro and Steve Holland, who have been instrumental in keeping this thing as extraordinary as it’s been.”
But Bob Hearts Abishola, the demise of which was announced last month, is “a different story,” Lorre pointed out. “There’s so many more stories to tell.… I don’t necessarily feel we were done. But that was not my call.”
Lorre now has his sights set on streaming, as his new comedy Bookie debuted on Max on November 30.
Still, the 10-time Emmy nominee did admit that he “may be pitching a little” to broadcast networks. “I don’t want to go too far down that road,” he said. “I still feel pretty lucky. I have a great deal of fun playing in the sandbox, and until they tell me to go home, I’m going to keep trying. But some of [the shows being developed are for broadcast], yes.”
Bob Hearts Abishola, Fifth and Final Season Premiere, Monday, February 12, 8:30/7:30c, CBS
Young Sheldon, Seventh and Final Season Premiere, Thursday, February 15, 2024, 8/7c, CBS