Disney Animator Tom Bancroft (Lion King/Mulan) Interview on Sorcerer Radio's WDW Tiki Room 3/1/13

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The Sorcerer Radio Network, a global leader in fan-based Disney internet radio and programming, is proud to have former Disney Animator Tom Bancroft as a guest on the :WDW Tiki Room" radio show Friday March 1st, 2013.

Tom Bancroft has over 25 years of experience in the animation industry, most of which was for Walt Disney Feature animation where he was an animator for 11 years. He has been nominated for Annie and Rueben awards.


At Disney, Bancroft had the opportunity to animate on 10 animated feature films, 5 animated shorts, and numerous commercials. Some of the films include, “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin”, and “Mulan”. Bancroft was also a character designer and director for Big Idea Productions. His popular character design book, "Creating Characters with Personality" is used by art schools all over the world. Additionally, Bancroft has illustrated over 50 children's books.

Join hosts Kristen Hoetzel and Aljon Go on "WDW Tiki Room" as they discuss the series and ALL THINGS DISNEY, Fridays 8:00 a.m./eastern on Sorcerer Radio - www.SRSounds.com.


Here are some scenes Bancroft animated over the years during his tenure at Disney animation. He was the Supervising animator of MUSHU in "Mulan" and a Supervising animator on "John Henry". He animated most all of the characters seen here except for Young Tantor (in the Tarzan clips), Young Nala and the adult lions (in the Lion King clips), and The Head Guardian Ghost, Mulan, and Cri-Kee (in the Mulan Clips). Please look for his two books on character design: "Creating Characters with Personality" and "Character Mentor" from Focal Press.


http://youtu.be/rb2ZhhIGiWY

Follow Tom Bancroft on his various websites:

• tombancroft.deviantart.com
• facebook.com/tom.bancroft1
• twitter.com/tombancroft1

About WDW Tiki Room:
WDW Tiki Room, the show about all things Disney, is hosted by the husband and wife team of Aljon Go and Kristen Hoetzel and Disney blogger Natalie Henley. Every week they discuss Disney in pop-culture, Marvel, Star Wars, theme parks, Disney news, celebrity interviews, Disney fan events and play the best mix of Disney artists and Disney attraction audio. The show airs every Friday morning at 8:00/eastern on Sorcerer Radio - SRSounds.com. For playback of archived shows and best-of podcasts for download please visit this wdwtikiroom.com.

About Sorcerer Radio:
Sorcerer Radio is the number one fan-run Disney radio station on the internet and is celebrating over 12 years of being on-the-air! If you are looking to virtually relive your recent Disney trip or dream of your next one, then Sorcerer Radio is the place for you. Sorcerer Radio is a fan-run, award-winning internet radio station that has been entertaining Disney fans for a decade! With many weeks worth of Walt Disney World park music and attraction audio, as well as Disneyland and Disney Cruise Line you can easily be transported to your favorite vacation destination anytime, while at home or at work. Sorcerer Radio stands out from the pack in our innovative programming and personalities, providing fans with DJ hosted shows every weekday morning providing a balance of Disney discussion and music. Sorcerer Radio plays a wide variety audio from the Disney universe. We also have FREE APPS for your iPhone, iPad and Droid so you can listen just about anywhere! Check out the award winning Editor's Pick on Live365, Sorcerer Radio at SRsounds.com, All Disney music, all day long!

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Disney helps to promote - donate hair to 'Children With Hair Loss'

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Dozens of people cut off and donated their hair Saturday afternoon to help children who have lost their hair due to various medical conditions.

Disney sponsored the event that took place at Great Clips in Salt Lake City, to help the non-profit Children With Hair Loss organization.

A lot of young people donated to the cause and many of them had been planning their donations for months.

"We thought donating her hair which because it was long, it would be a nice idea to share it with someone who doesn't have hair," said Julianna Shell, the mother of someone who donated.

The individuals who donated at least eight inches of hair received 2 tickets to the upcoming Disney on Ice performance that will feature the Princess Rapunzell.

Read More & See Video... http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=24187893



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Disney's D23 Expo Debuts Internationally in Japan October 12–14, 2013

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The Walt Disney Company Japan announced today that it will stage the first-ever D23 Expo Japan, a special event for Disney fans created by D23: The Official Disney Fan Club. D23 Expo Japan, the first Expo to be held outside the U.S., will feature an array of engaging presentations, hosted by senior Disney creative executives, showcasing what’s on the horizon from across The Walt Disney Company, including theme parks, movies, television, music, and interactive gaming. Fans will enjoy unique experiences; have the opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind merchandise and collectibles; meet many of their favorite Disney characters; and delight in countless other surprises. D23 Expo Japan will take place October 12–14, 2013, at the Tokyo Disney Resort® in the Maihama area. Expo ticketing and program information will be announced in March.

D23 Expo Japan will also feature two special exhibitions celebrating landmark Disney milestones. First, to pay homage to The Walt Disney Company’s 90th Anniversary, D23 and the Walt Disney Archives will present Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives, featuring nine decades of treasures from the Archives’ vast collection. Plus, the Tokyo Disney Resort will celebrate its 30th year with a special retrospective exhibit.　This special exhibition, presented by Oriental Land, operator of Tokyo Disney Resort, celebrates this milestone year by making D23 Expo Japan possible. Further details will be posted at http://disney.jp/D23 as they become available.

“We are thrilled to host this extraordinary, three-day event where all the wonderful worlds of Disney come together,” said Paul Candland, president, The Walt Disney Company Japan. “2013 marks The Walt Disney Company’s 90th anniversary, Disney Channel’s 10th, Disney Mobile’s fifth, the Disney–JCB Card’s fifth, Dlife’s first, and Tokyo Disney Resort’s 30th! The D23 Expo Japan allows us to show Disney’s tremendous appreciation to its fans.”

This event is supported by JCB Co., Ltd, and The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited as official sponsors.

Disney fans from around the globe flocked to Anaheim, Calif., for the first D23 Expo: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, in September 2009, followed by a second in August 2011. The next D23 Expo will take place August 9–11, 2013, at the Anaheim Convention Center and will feature: the 2013 Disney Legends Ceremony; a special exhibit from the Walt Disney Archives; the Collectors Forum, where Disney fans can buy, sell, and trade Disney collectibles, memorabilia, and merchandise; an all-new Fan Art Contest themed to the upcoming 50th anniversary of Mary Poppins, and a massive show floor full of special opportunities to see what’s on the horizon for Disney around the world.

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'Paperman' producer tossed out (Briefly) - Oscars Paper Airplanes goes Flying at Oscars!

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Apparently, rules are rules. After Disney's "Paperman" won the Academy Award for best animated short Sunday, producer Kristina Reed began throwing paper airplanes, about three or four -- with kisses on them, like the ones seen in the film -- from her seat in the mezzanine.

The paper planes were nowhere near the stage, instead shooting straight down from the balcony. It went largely unnoticed by the crowd, but security didn't think the act was very sweet, kicking her out of the Dolby Theatre auditorium.

It would turn out to be temporary. After a short protest, security brought her back to her seat about five to 10 minutes later.

See Video... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disneys-paperman-short-floats-online-416850


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Raytheon Encourages Youth to Become Engineers at Epcot's Innoventions

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Photo by Natalie Henley

Sorcerer Radio DJ/WDW Tiki Room co-host and today's guest writer Natalie Henley, was invited to a special experience recently held by Raytheon at Epcot.

When headed to Disney, you need to always be aware of the extra fun you can find hidden within. Just this past week, if you were in EPCOT, you could have experienced something very exciting! An extra attraction was added by Raytheon, the company which hosts the very exciting Sum of All Thrills found in Epcot’s Innoventions. In that attraction, you are invited to use hands-on engineering to create your very own roller coaster experience!

Wanting to teach children about the excitement of being an engineer, Raytheon hosted an experience entitled Coaster Creators all week for four daily shows at 11:15 a.m., 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 3:45 p.m. in support of the Engineers Week. Participants were invited to help out Doc Norman Norman, a professor at MathMovesU and Speed, his assistant. The pair were highly enthusiastic and knowledgeable on the engineering technology needed to create a roller coaster. The Doc and his assistant helped to pass along this knowledge to the participants about speed, gravity, acceleration and velocity to create the best possible coaster experience. With the knowledge, the participants were able to help build their own coasters to use this exact knowledge.

When vacationing in Disney, be sure to ask at Customer Relations if similar exciting attractions are available. Be sure to also look for this annual offering from Raytheon in the future!

Follow Natalie at Twitter.com/MeettheMagic and visit her site at MeettheMagic.com!

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Stan Lee's Chinese Superhero Project Scores 'Enchanted' Producer

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The co-production of Lee's Magic Storm and the Chinese state-run National Film Capital has enlisted the former Sony exec in an attempt to launch an international franchise.

Lee co-created some of the most legendary -- and lucrative -- Marvel characters, from Spider-Man to the Fantastic Four and Iron Man. Disney is co-producing the third Iron Man movie, due out later this year.

The Annihilator, which will be written by Bourne Legacy and Real Steel scribe Dan Gilroy, is the story of "a young Chinese expatriate named Ming, who must choose between remaining in prison or enlist in a secret U.S. super soldier program." After a grueling gauntlet of tests and experiments, Ming survives thanks to "his extreme resolve, gained as a result of his family’s tradition of practicing Qijong and martial arts."

The film, which reportedly will cost between $100 million and $150 million and be in English with some Mandarin scenes, is the first of several projects that will be funded in part by National Film Capital.

Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/stan-lees-chinese-annihilator-adds-422996


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Teachers Prank - Students thought they were going on a Class Trip to DISNEY WORLD

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Parents at a South Windsor school are expressing outrage after teachers led graduating students to believe they were heading to Disney World for a year-end trip - only to reveal the next day that the kids were the butt of an elaborate joke.

One of the teachers recorded the scene on an iPad and it was later shown to another class so they too could join in the teachers' merriment.

"I have a lot of respect for teachers and what they do, but this was really stupid judgment," said parent Peter To-polovec.

Roseland public school's graduating students were told last Thursday that they were in for a spectacular year-end field trip to Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
On Friday, both Grade 8 classes were shepherded into a room, shown a video of their Disney dream vacation and given a PowerPoint presentation showing a palm tree-lined resort.
Travel brochures and hotel information were passed around. The flights are super cheap, a teacher said after one student expressed concern over cost.
The kids, ecstatic by now in anticipation, were urged by the teachers to yell out where they were going: "We're going to Disney!" That's when they were told to look at the last slide, which announced their 2013 field trip wasn't to a fabulous Florida funland, but to a Windsor bowling alley.
The reaction apparently caught even some of the pranksters by surprise, with one student-teacher who was in on the joke nearly coming to tears by the looks of dejection that followed.

"It was a huge error in judgment," Warren Kennedy, director of education of the Greater Essex County District School Board, told The Star Wednesday.

Bonnie Stewart, mother of twins who attend Grade 8 at Roseland, came home at 5 p.m. Friday to find both her kids already in their beds. She woke her son, who told her everything.

"I went into my daughter's room, and I told her I was so sorry - she just looked so sad," said Stewart. "They felt they were made fools of - it was humiliating," she added.

"When my son told me, it blew me away," said Topolovec. To humiliate the children and then compound it by recording it and showing it to their peers, he added, "that's bullying, and there should be zero tolerance."

Stewart suggested if the Grade 8s had pulled off a similar prank at the expense of the Grade 2s, there would be suspensions at the least and possibly expulsions.

"I don't believe they intended to be cruel," said Stewart. "There's some incredible, really fantastic teachers there."

Topolovec said he wondered whether he was being overly sensitive as a parent. But he said there was quite a bit of effort put into the prank and that the two teachers and three student teachers in on it allowed it to "brew" over several days.

It wasn't until details of the incident were posted on Facebook and people began commenting on them that the apologies from the principal and the teachers began going out, the parents said.

Topolovec said it was explained to him that the prank was designed to stop one of the students from snooping on a teacher's desk, with fake Disney trip information laid out on the Thursday.

"To teach one student a lesson, they humiliated 60 students," said To-polovec.

Read More... http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=ee3a5397-ed26-42a3-936e-a79a0644b2ff&p=1



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Disney SPEAK PEEK 'Phineas and Ferb' Welcomes Back Agent P

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Exclusive scene from the March 1 episode of the animated comedy.

"Sidetracked," as Disney Channel readies its third National Platypus Day on March 2.

In the episode, OWCA (Organization Without a Cool Acronym) secret agent Perry the Platypus (aka Agent P) teams up with a former partner, human agent Lyla (voiced by Samantha Bee), to stop a hijacked train along the U.S.-Canada border.

See Video & Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/disney-channels-phineas-ferb-welcomes-423480



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Visually impaired kids experience "Disney on Ice" Up Close & Personal

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A once in a lifetime opportunity these children will keep in their hearts forever.

 It was a flurry of excitement, as six youngsters got to see the magic of Disney on Ice at the Resch Center.

"Did Mickey put them on there?" asked one child pointing at some musical instruments.

"Yes, Mickey has a band," replied one of the Disney on Ice skaters.

But seeing is what these children have trouble with. They're all visually impaired. So they did it by touch.

"If you guys want to kneel here you can touch the ice. See how cold the ice is," the ice skater explained.

The skaters, cast and crew of the show shared a unique experience with the children.

"This is how Minnie Mouse opens the castle," one cast member explained as the kids watched in awe.

They got a chance to get up close, and feel the actual props used in the show.

"That's the glass slipper!" exclaimed Gordon Wilson of Green Bay. "Can I feel the bottom?" he asked.

Then a variety of Disney characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, made a special appearance.

"Quack, quack," said one child who spotted Donald Duck.

Those who teach visually impaired students say this experience offers a rare opportunity.

"Otherwise they miss everything, they don't get to feel and get the tactual experience to know what those costumes feel like, what the characters look like," said Gina Sarge, who hosted the group.

Read More... http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/local/green_bay/visually-impaired-kids-experience-disney-on-ice



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Spinoff, Recasting MAD HATTER, from "Once Upon a Time"

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The project would join the network's current pilot pool and would be in contention for fall.

Sebastian Stan, who has played the Mad Hatter since 2012, will not be reprising his role later this season when the character returns, and the network has begun looking for a replacement. ABC and the producers hoped that Stan could have continued, but he was unavailable for long-term work. (On the docket for Stan is the Captain America: The Winter Soldier.)

Though the spinoff project is in the very early stages, ABC is mulling whether a short presentation will be filmed or a backdoor pilot will air later this season. It would be a late addition to ABC's pilot pool and would be vying for a fall 2013 slot.

Once Upon a Time executive producers Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis are overseeing the spinoff idea and would serve as showrunners on both series should the Mad Hatter project go.

This is a big move on ABC's part to expand the Once Upon a Time franchise at a time when networks are banking on established franchises to kick-start new series. The CW's The Originals backdoor pilot, a spinoff of The Vampire Diaries, will air in April, and CBS continues its tried-and-true practice with an NCIS: LA spinoff Red airing later in the season.

Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/once-a-time-mad-hatter-423603



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Fall Preview: CBS' Vegas

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Vegas stars (l-r) Dennis Quaid, Michael Chiklis

Thispast spring, after actor Michael Chiklis met with Ralph Lamb, the real-life inspirationfor Chiklis and Dennis Quaid’s new western drama Vegas, “I walked away from lunch, called my wife, and said, ‘Wow!We have stories for years!”
In the mid 2000s, the MGM movie studio had commissioned abig-screen bio based on Lamb, a fourth-generation rancher who served as LasVegas’ Sheriff from 1960 to 1978, the period in which the soon-to-be gamblingand entertainment mecca was rising from empty desert.  The studio turned to author and screenwriterNicholas Pileggi, who had already depicted the period in his 1995 film Casino. But even as the writer’s first outline was delivered, everyone involved realizedthat with Lamb’s wealth of amazing stories, his life would make a great ongoingseries instead.
“It’s kind of what I call the low-hanging fruit of SheriffLamb,” says Greg Walker, who, after Pileggi then turned the idea intotelevision, was brought on board as the showrunner of Vegas.  “Every story Lambtells, you just realize it’s a no-brainer. They’re filled with such rich detail. With such vivid characters, you can’t help but think about how his worldcould come to life on screen.”
Reading Pileggi’s pilot, “I got to page five, and washooked,” Walker remembers.  “As soon asthe DC-6 flew over Lamb’s cattle, I was in. I loved the clash between the modern world and the Old West.”  Quaid, too, cites that first script as whatlured him to play the colorful sheriff in this, his first television series.  Vegaspits Quaid’s Lamb against Chiklis’ Vincent Savino, a Chicago gangster and savvybusinessman with designs on the budding gaming empire.  “It’s a story about how all that powercorrupts on both sides,” says Quaid. “Because the lines in Vegas were hazy back then.  It was a different set of rules.”
“In Vegas, youhave two men who are thrust into the spotlight of being kings,” Walkerexplains.  “One who wants it, in Savino,and one who’s reluctant, in Lamb.”  Withthe face-off between the two men and their allies – including on Lamb’s side,his younger brother Jack (Jason O’Mara) and the town’s Assistant DistrictAttorney Katherine O’Connell (Carrie Ann Moss) – as its underlying construct,“we created a hybrid procedural and character-based drama,” Walker says.  “The show has the adrenaline and satisfactionof solving a mystery, but at the same time, there are multiple characters’stories getting more and more complicated, with greed, envy and desire whirlingaround this world of crime.”
With Vegas’ 1960setting, Lamb and his deputies won’t be enforcing the law using fingerprints orcomputers or cell phones like in that other Vegas-set mystery, CSI. “He is also not a guy who’s going to put a gun in people’s faces week toweek,” Walker says. “He’s going to solve things with his own hands,man-to-man.”  That type of character, theshowrunner says, “is something Dennis is uniquely equipped to play.  There are very few men who have that kind ofstillness, that raw, masculine power.  Wejust don’t build them like that anymore.”
Vegas’ pilot wasshot, coincidentally, in the small town of Las Vegas, NM, where an oldcommercial row, last updated in the early 20^th Century, could begussied up with props and CGI neon to look like the Fremont Street of ‘60s SinCity; the series will build it all from the ground up in Santa Clarita,CA.  Undoubtedly, today’s audience willbe paying close attention to all that period detail, because we’re so intriguedby the town’s formative years.
“We’re all interested in how Vegas became Vegas.  Today it’s a fantasy world where you can getanything you want, and to watch how that was made is very captivating,” Walkernotes.  Like Lamb, the town itself is anatural for a Hollywood treatment, its story comprising two cinematic archetypes,the cowboy and the mobster.  “These aretwo worlds that we’re very familiar with, but we haven’t ever seen themtogether.  When they collide, there’ssomething very electric.”
VegasPremieres Tuesday, September 2510 PM Eastern / 9 CentralCBS

Fall Preview: CBS' Elementary

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Elementary stars Lucy Liu and
Jonny Lee Miller

Whenproducer Carl Beverly first posed the idea to Rob Doherty of transplantingSherlock Holmes to present-day New York, the writer’s response was Elementary.
“I daresay Sherlock is the most popular character inliterary pop culture from the last 100 years,” enthuses Doherty; perhaps that’swhy there have been so many prior filmic depictions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’sprototypical detective.  Doherty says itwas “one of the wonderful little details that Doyle crafted a very long timeago” that became the key to Elementary,his new CBS series adaptation starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.  The 19^th Century Holmes wasfamously addicted to opiates, “and that’s the way I’ve always looked at him, asan addict,” the writer explains – and not just to drugs.  “He’s driven by and very much addicted towhat he does for a living.  He enjoysunfolding the origami of a crime, matching wits with someone who thinks he’ssmart enough to get away with something horrible, and bringing that person tojustice.”
Yes, this new Holmes does have a literal addiction to dealwith, too.  Having just returned fromrehab – a vanishing he explained to his local police contact, Captain TobyGregson (Aidan Quinn), as a holiday in his native London – the hyper-observant detective“was previously used to being so ahead of everyone, and oozed confidence,”Doherty says.  “Now he’s left rattled,concerned that he may not be what he used to. I liked the idea of a person like him feeling a little bit of doubt forthe first time.”
That’s where Lucy Liu’s Dr. Joan Watson comes in.  As a former surgeon haunted by her role inthe death of a patient, Watson has now gone into business as a sober companion,hired by Holmes’ concerned dad to keep him in line.  That means accompanying him everywhere, wherethe new duo finds that “as a doctor, obviously she has many skills in forensicscience,” Miller says.  “So Holmes beginsto realize that she’s not just a companion, but she’s very useful.”
It was Doherty’s innovation both to alter this Watson’soccupation and to make Watson for the first time a female, who, he says, “hasmuch of the empathy Holmes is missing. In that way, she completes him.”  Asthe writer praises, Liu brings her innate strength to Watson, who needs to beable to stand up to this quirky and demanding Holmes. But it’s also theircharacters’ more vulnerable moments that both Miller and Liu say attracted themto Elementary.  Watson, Liu says, “is not going in withher ‘sober companion’ coat on.  I likethat she’s trying to bring a certain sense of humanity and understanding to herclient.”
Miller adds that “one of the things that struck me, reading[Doyle’s] books, is how colorful and funny the characters are.”  Doherty fully intends to weave that same witinto Elementary, which is why he isexcited that Miller’s embodiment of Holmes exhibits “a warmth, intelligence, anda fantastic sense of humor.”
But perhaps the most important quality that both Miller andLiu are bringing to their new show is  appreciation.  In filming Elementary’s pilot, “the first time I heard Jonny say ‘Watson!’ itwas a thrill to be creating that, to be part of history,” Liu reveals.  The British-born Miller feels it, too.  “There’s a reason why the Holmes stories keepbeing retold and redone,” he theorizes. “People play Hamlet a lot, and always want to play Shakespeare.  Good stories and good characters come back.” 
ElementaryPremieres Thursday, September 2710 PM Eastern / 9 PM CentralCBS

Fall Preview: CBS' Made in Jersey

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Made in Jersey stars British import Janet Montgomery

Lastseason, her second working on the Los Angeles writing staff of Franklin & Bash, the cable drama abouttwo wisecracking men, Dana Calvo realized she had something a little softer tosay.
A lifelong fan of female-focused shows like Sex and the City, Calvo says she enjoyedwatching that show’s fabulous foursome frolic around Manhattan, “and yet Ialways felt, ‘Wait, where’s the family?’ So I decided to write a show about a young woman and her life in full –friends, family and work.  I know it’snot really cool to say, but I wanted to write about a family that is warm andloving and wholesome.”
Drawing on memories of Christmases spent with herItalian-American extended family, the Moorestown, NJ native created the comedicdrama Made in Jersey and its heroineMartina Garretti, whose life and career straddle both sides of the HudsonRiver.  A lawyer like Calvo’s own sister,Martina crosses between her homespun life in the Garden State and her new jobas a first-year associate at a prestigious New York law firm.  Right away, just as in Working Girl – one of Calvo’s inspirations – Martina catches theattention of the firm’s founder, Donovan Stark (Kyle MacLachlan) with herunique body of knowledge.
Calvo knew that making Madein Jersey work would depend on finding just the right leading lady toconvey Martina’s combination of street and book smarts.  “I had a dream that we were going to cast aJersey girl right off a turnip truck, and her real story would mirror MartinaGarretti’s,” Calvo remembers with a laugh. Instead, after considering more than 100 candidates, producers consultedwith their casting director in the UK. There, in a video audition, was 26-year-old British actress JanetMontgomery.  As Calvo explains, “I sawthe tape, and knew right away ‘That’s her!’”
New Jersey has been heating up for more than a decade, fromthe time of The Sopranos to today’scurrent spate of reality shows featuring big hair and even bigger drama.  And that’s lucky for an English girl whoneeds to learn how to tawk.  Montgomery says she’d never previously spentany Jerseylicious time with the state’s Real Housewives – but once she startedher research, “those shows are totally addictive.  I watched a lot of them – and then I was toldnot to, because we don’t want our show to be that over-the-top.  Still, I feel they gave me a good idea ofwhat Martina would have grown up around.”
Montgomery worked with a dialect coach, and says that onceshe stepped out of her trailer in Martina’s considerable coif and jangly charmbracelet, she was able to find the character’s voice, which she says “now issecond nature.  I deliberately startedbig, but reined it back in to something that, while it’s obviously aworking-class accent, shows that she’s also an educated lawyer.”  The actress says she loves that Made in Jersey is a unique hybrid of lawprocedural and family drama – and so does CBS, so much so that after viewingthe original pilot, the impressed network requested the addition of a few morescenes with Martina’s mom (Donna Murphy) and the rest of the garrulous Garrettis.
“Family is really important to knowing who Martina is,”Montgomery explains, adding that her own working-class upbringing as thedaughter of a postal worker has given her a particular appreciation for thecharacter.  “I don’t have anyone else inmy family working in this industry.  Andso this character whose lives at work and at home are so different, and who hasa family who are very supportive and yet don’t fully understand her job – it’sbeen so much like my own life, it’s really amazing.”
Made In JerseyPremieres Friday, September 289 PM Eastern / 8 PM CentralCBS

Chuck Lorre's Vanity on Display

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Chuck Lorre

For the past decade and a half, Chuck Lorre’s sitcoms havebrought viewers a little something extra – whether they noticed it or not.

“When I was growing up, record albums had liner notes, wherethey added stuff that made the whole thing cooler,” Lorre remembers.  And so, rather than finishing off each of hisepisodes with a static production company logo, Lorre decided that “each showwould have something to read at the end – if you cared to.”
Now, after a full generation of Lorre’s fans has squinted tospy his words on their sometimes wobbly screens – remember VCRs? – the prolificwriter/producer of Two and a Half Men,Big Bang Theory and Mike & Molly has compiled his nearly400 mini-essays into a new coffee table book, What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Bitter (Simon & Schuster, $100)

In his vanity card following the November 2 episode of Big Bang Theory, Lorre referred viewers to his web site, where he could blast Mitt Romney without having to have his message approved -- or more likely rejected -- by his network's censors.  The contents of that card, #397, earned lots of press, showing that like me, people really care what Lorre has to say on these things.  That's why this past summer, during the semi-annual Television Critics Association convention in Beverly Hills, I caught up with Lorre for the following exclusive interview, to find out how it feels to see his Bitter experience turning out so sweet.

Must-Hear TV:  What has it meant tohave that small amount of network airtime each week, to express what’s on yourmind?Lorre:  My vanity cards are on the air at the end of the show for maybe a second.  But it’s been a nice opportunity toexperiment with writing something other than a script, these little essaysabout things that would never have found their way onto the page.
MHTV:   Is it therapeutic to have a way to get thingsoff your chest?Lorre:  The only way to call it “therapy” would be if one might sayI was getting better.  It’s just a chanceto write in a way that hopefully is amusing to somebody.
MHTV:   Obviously they havebeen.  When did you notice they werecatching on?Lorre:  About 14 or 15 years ago, when I was doing Dharma & Greg, I noticed that therestarted to be web sites with my name on them. The late ‘90s on the Internet were the wild wild west.  I realized I could possibly lose control overmy own writing.  So, defensively, I hadto create a web site of my own in order to maintain some kind of control.
MHTV:  Proceeds from thebook benefit your charity, the Dharma-Grace Foundation.  What is its focus?Lorre:  I started the Dharma-Grace Foundation in 1999, to funnelfunds into the Venice [Calif.] Family Clinic, which provides free healthcare toanyone who walks in the door.  It’s ameaningful organization to me, having been without healthcare earlier times inmy life.  I know what that feels like –it’s a frightening thing.  Now the Foundationalso distributes money to other organizations that seem like they are doinggood work, in education as well as healthcare.
MHTV:  Some of the cardsare appearing in the book for the first time, having been originallycensored.  Why weren’t they originallyallowed to air?Lorre:  There are about a dozen of them, and there were differentreasons each time.  Sometimes they wereconsidered risqué, and sometimes the politics were not acceptable.  But I very rarely get political.  I try to honor the fact that CBS is not inthe business of broadcasting my political opinions.  So I’ve been very careful, and I try to seethe big picture and avoid any controversy. Lots of different people like to watch Two and a Half Men, Big BangTheory and Mike and Molly.  They’re coming to my house as guests, and itwould be rude to use that access to offend them.
MHTV:  You startedpresenting the cards on Dharma & Gregand Grace Under Fire, both of whichaired on ABC.  Has there been anydifference in doing the vanity cards on ABC versus now on CBS?Lorre:  No, both networks are very nervous about [the cards] ingeneral, and they scrutinize them.  Iimagine both networks would prefer that they didn’t exist at all.  But CBS has been patient and reluctantlytrudged forward with these things. There’s no upside to them.  They’rein the business of selling ad time, and making money, and vanity cards are nota profit source.  But my whole argumenthas always been, if they bring in just one more viewer who might be curious,that’s got to be good for CBS.
MHTV:  It is a smartinvestment – a random production company logo isn’t going to bring inanybody.  So why not write somethingfunny that might grab viewers?Lorre:  With DVRs, every second of television time is now availableto you.  Literally, every second can befrozen forever.  So it’s changed the waytime works in television.  It’s madeevery second more valuable or more problematic – your choice.
MHTV:  You have three showson the air on CBS, bearing your name each week. Do you still get that thrill of authorship, seeing your name on thisbook?Lorre:  It’s really gratifying any time you make something up and itbecomes a reality.  On Big Bang Theory, Wolowitz went intospace.  To walk onto the stage, and seethe Soyuz space capsule!  Made of balsawood, but it was still there.  It wasstartling and immensely gratifying. There was a guy with hammers and nails making it real.
MHTV:  And now there’ssomeone with a printing press making it real. Is it the same feeling?Lorre:  Very much so.  It’svery gratifying.  And the best news is,that it’s already written.  The best partof writing is having written.
MHTV:  Some of your morefamous vanity cards over the years have mentioned conflicts with coworkers andcostars.  Are those in the book?Lorre:  They’re all there.
MHTV:  So we can relive allkinds of sitcom history by this book, whether for good or for bad?Lorre:  That’s very wisely put. I wrote the cards at times in my life when that was the only way I knewhow to articulate my feelings, my frustrations and my fears.   My attempts at being funny sometimesfail.   But there they are.

TV's Top 10 Snowbound Moments

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Stuck at home during these wintry months, it’s easy to comedown with a case of cabin fever.  But whenthe weather outside is frightful, at least we have our televisions’ glow tokeep us warm.  And when the snow startsfalling on the screen as well, those are the situations which often precipitateTV’s biggest laughs.  Below, my Top Ten episodes where chilly situations have made for some warm memories.



1.  I Love Lucy, "Lucy in the Swiss Alps," aired March 26, 1956

Snowy setting:  Swiss chalet

The Wintry Scene:  After a mountaintop picnic in snow-laden Lucerne, TV’sfavorite foursome takes shelter in a cabin whose door is soon blocked by adrift.

Cracking Up:  When Lucy tries to sneak a snack of a sandwich leftover from lunch, her three hungry cabin-mates pounce, expecting their fairquarter-shares.

Breaking the Ice:  After a round of true confessions – Fred has beenovercharging the Ricardos $10 a month in rent; Ethel has been secretlyreturning it – Lucy and friends are rescued by a local oom-pah-pah band, whichRicky then books on his show to play the world’s unlikeliest rumba.

2.  The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "The Snow Must Go On," aired November 7, 1970

Snowy Setting:  Minneapolis newsroom

The Wintry Scene:  Mary is already nervous that Mr. Grant has put her incharge of the station’s live election night newscast.  And that’s before a blizzard knocks out the station’s phones and teletype.

Cracking Up:  Lacking election results and forced to ad-lib forhours, anchorman Ted Baxter resorts to his Jimmy Cagney impression and readingthe numbers on his driver’s license. 

Breaking the Ice:  Mary discovers inner strength as a boss when anovertired Ted responds to her threat of termination and agrees not to deliverunsubstantiated returns announcing Minneapolis’ new mayor.

3.  The Bob Newhart Show, "I'm Dreaming of a Slight Christmas," aired December 22, 1973

Snowy Setting:  Chicago medical office

The Wintry Scene:  When his longtime patient Mr. Peterson is too scaredto go home on Christmas Eve, psychiatrist Bob returns to the office just intime for a blackout during Chicago’s worst-ever storm.

Cracking Up:  Eager to return to wife Emily, Bob is dismayed to findthat the building’s elevators have shut down – and even more forlorn aboutremaining at his office’s party late enough to witness a performance by dentistJerry’s drunken barbershop trio. 

Breaking the Ice:  After abandoning his car in a snowbank, Bob trudgesfour miles in the cold to make it home to celebrate.  Too bad he didn’t think to load up first onthe warming Irish coffee his secretary Carol was serving at the party -- whereshe’d also spiked the water cooler. 

4.  Laverne & Shirley, "Ski Show," aired February 23, 1982

Snowy Setting:  California ski lift

The Wintry Scene:  The relocated Milwaukee bottlecappers take to theslopes in order to meet men.  But whentheir chairlift gets stuck in midair, all they may end up with is frostbite.

Cracking Up:   Panicking, Laverne tricks Shirley into surrenderingthe peanuts she’s kept for her afternoon snack. Then, trying to cheer themselves up, the two sing “Let It Snow” – andunfortunately it does.

Breaking the Ice:  The gals think they’ve “died and gone to Sweden” whentwo hunky blond mountain rescuers work to warm their frozen bodies and – thanksto quick thinking by Laverne – their lips.

5.   Taxi, "Scenskees from a Marriage," aired October 21, 1982

Snowy Setting:  New York City cab

The Wintry Scene:  Selfless cabbie Latka himself gets stuck when he’ssent to save a female coworker from a snowdrift.   Stranded and shivering, cabbie Cindy comesup with a convenient idea:  to avoidfreezing, she and her married rescuer must make love.

Cracking Up:  Following the advice of their priest, Reverend Gorky, Simkavows to make similar “nik nik” with one of Latka’s male coworkers.

Breaking the Ice:  Unable to agree who should be Simka’s conquest, thecouple decides to choose the way their indeterminate Eastern European home countryselects its president:  by throwing adinner party, with the last man through the door the winner.  But Alex refuses to do the deed, forcingLatka and Simka to divorce – and then immediately remarry.

6.  Newhart, "No Room at the Inn," aired December 20, 1982

Snowy Setting:  Vermont bed-and-breakfast

The Wintry Scene:  Former New Yorkers Dick and Joanna are excited tospend their first Christmas in New England, and even more thrilled that theirinn will be packed with customers from the Silverbird Ski Club.  But soon the Silverbirds, and all flights inand out of Stratford, are grounded.

Cracking Up:   The cooped-up Silverbirds squawk about a ruinedvacation, and heiress housekeeper Leslie pines for the family she can’t celebratewith.  But things get really dire when aprophetically named traveler named Joseph enters with his pregnant wife, whoproceeds to go into premature labor.

Breaking the Ice:  Providing excitement at last for the 24 Silverbirds –all of whom turn out to be physicians -- Joseph and his wife welcome theirChristmas Eve delivery.  As Dick notes,Christmases don’t get much more authentic than this – particularly when more strandedmotorists show up seeing shelter:  AlanWiseman and his two brothers.

7.  Family Ties, "Birth of a Keaton," aired January 31, 1985

Snowy Setting:  Columbus, OH public television station

The Wintry Scene:  The Keatons have airtime to fill during the annual on-airpledge drive at Steven’s workplace WKS – without Steven, who is trapped at homein the snow.

Cracking Up:  That’s not a high note that pregnant Elyse hits whilesinging an otherwise mellow Irish folk tune – it’s a labor pain.

Breaking the Ice:  With the roads impassable, Elyse faces the prospect ofgiving birth right there at the station. But her doctor arrives just in time, and the Keatons welcome  baby Andy. And the bonus:  with all the on-airdrama at WKS, $70 grand in pledges has come rolling in.

8.  Designing Women, "Stranded," aired December 7, 1987

Snowy Setting:  Tennessee motel room

The Wintry Scene:  When their co-workers get the flu on a business tripto St. Louis, it’s up to Atlantans Anthony and Suzanne to drive in and save the day.  But in an ever-worsening blizzard, they’reforced to spend the night together in a motel’s sole available room.

Cracking Up:  After initially spending hours in the Sugarbakerdelivery van, shivering despite wearing extra layers of Suzanne’s pink marabourobe and pantyhose, emasculated Anthony barges in and begs the designing diva for a share of the bed.

Breaking the Ice:  In their cozy refuge, the unlikely duo becomes fastfriends, their sudden mutual interest in Suzanne’s wigs and manicure making therest of the gang  realize later that somethingstrange indeed has happened amid the snow.

9.  The Nanny, "Schlepped Away," aired March 9, 1994

Snowy Setting:  Queens, NY apartment

The Wintry Scene:   The Nanny named Fran succeeds in convincing Mr.  Sheffield to take the entire clan on aCaribbean holiday.  But, after gettinglost in the white stuff en route to the airport, they’re soon marooned at her parents’much less exotic abode.

Cracking Up:  The adults in the group jump at the chance for some wine– but then learn to their chagrin that the Jewish Fine household has only super-sweetwines flavored “red” or “purple.”

Breaking the Ice:  Ultimately won over by the Fines’ warm ethnic ways,the whole Sheffield mespuchah engagesin a time-honored tradition, noshing on tongue and stuffed derma in front of Wheel of Fortune, before departing forthe tropics.

10.  Everybody Loves Raymond, "Snow Day," aired January 14, 2002

Snowy Setting:  Long Island, NY house

The Wintry Scene:  Ray and Debra’s golf getaway is scuttled by snow.  But even worse, a power outage forces them togather around the hearth with Ray’s meddling parents, brooding brother Robert,and their intended airport ride, Robert’s ex-girlfriend Amy.

Cracking Up:  Papa Frank is atypically charming as he teaches theyoungins his old-timey dance moves.  Butrelations soon sour when Debra blurts out her surprise about enjoying anevening with her in-laws.

Breaking the Ice:  Frank admits to having taken umbrage only because healways thought it was he and Debra against the rest of the family, who are,after all, “looneys.”  Then, as if toprove his point, the four members of the younger generation break into afevered dance to their own favorite tune, “Jungle Love.”

Happy Holidays, and to all, a White Christmas!

Fall Preview: CBS' Vegas

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Vegas stars (l-r) Dennis Quaid, Michael Chiklis

Thispast spring, after actor Michael Chiklis met with Ralph Lamb, the real-life inspirationfor Chiklis and Dennis Quaid’s new western drama Vegas, “I walked away from lunch, called my wife, and said, ‘Wow!We have stories for years!”
In the mid 2000s, the MGM movie studio had commissioned abig-screen bio based on Lamb, a fourth-generation rancher who served as LasVegas’ Sheriff from 1960 to 1978, the period in which the soon-to-be gamblingand entertainment mecca was rising from empty desert.  The studio turned to author and screenwriterNicholas Pileggi, who had already depicted the period in his 1995 film Casino. But even as the writer’s first outline was delivered, everyone involved realizedthat with Lamb’s wealth of amazing stories, his life would make a great ongoingseries instead.
“It’s kind of what I call the low-hanging fruit of SheriffLamb,” says Greg Walker, who, after Pileggi then turned the idea intotelevision, was brought on board as the showrunner of Vegas.  “Every story Lambtells, you just realize it’s a no-brainer. They’re filled with such rich detail. With such vivid characters, you can’t help but think about how his worldcould come to life on screen.”
Reading Pileggi’s pilot, “I got to page five, and washooked,” Walker remembers.  “As soon asthe DC-6 flew over Lamb’s cattle, I was in. I loved the clash between the modern world and the Old West.”  Quaid, too, cites that first script as whatlured him to play the colorful sheriff in this, his first television series.  Vegaspits Quaid’s Lamb against Chiklis’ Vincent Savino, a Chicago gangster and savvybusinessman with designs on the budding gaming empire.  “It’s a story about how all that powercorrupts on both sides,” says Quaid. “Because the lines in Vegas were hazy back then.  It was a different set of rules.”
“In Vegas, youhave two men who are thrust into the spotlight of being kings,” Walkerexplains.  “One who wants it, in Savino,and one who’s reluctant, in Lamb.”  Withthe face-off between the two men and their allies – including on Lamb’s side,his younger brother Jack (Jason O’Mara) and the town’s Assistant DistrictAttorney Katherine O’Connell (Carrie Ann Moss) – as its underlying construct,“we created a hybrid procedural and character-based drama,” Walker says.  “The show has the adrenaline and satisfactionof solving a mystery, but at the same time, there are multiple characters’stories getting more and more complicated, with greed, envy and desire whirlingaround this world of crime.”
With Vegas’ 1960setting, Lamb and his deputies won’t be enforcing the law using fingerprints orcomputers or cell phones like in that other Vegas-set mystery, CSI. “He is also not a guy who’s going to put a gun in people’s faces week toweek,” Walker says. “He’s going to solve things with his own hands,man-to-man.”  That type of character, theshowrunner says, “is something Dennis is uniquely equipped to play.  There are very few men who have that kind ofstillness, that raw, masculine power.  Wejust don’t build them like that anymore.”
Vegas’ pilot wasshot, coincidentally, in the small town of Las Vegas, NM, where an oldcommercial row, last updated in the early 20^th Century, could begussied up with props and CGI neon to look like the Fremont Street of ‘60s SinCity; the series will build it all from the ground up in Santa Clarita,CA.  Undoubtedly, today’s audience willbe paying close attention to all that period detail, because we’re so intriguedby the town’s formative years.
“We’re all interested in how Vegas became Vegas.  Today it’s a fantasy world where you can getanything you want, and to watch how that was made is very captivating,” Walkernotes.  Like Lamb, the town itself is anatural for a Hollywood treatment, its story comprising two cinematic archetypes,the cowboy and the mobster.  “These aretwo worlds that we’re very familiar with, but we haven’t ever seen themtogether.  When they collide, there’ssomething very electric.”
VegasPremieres Tuesday, September 2510 PM Eastern / 9 CentralCBS

Fall Preview: CBS' Elementary

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Elementary stars Lucy Liu and
Jonny Lee Miller

Whenproducer Carl Beverly first posed the idea to Rob Doherty of transplantingSherlock Holmes to present-day New York, the writer’s response was Elementary.
“I daresay Sherlock is the most popular character inliterary pop culture from the last 100 years,” enthuses Doherty; perhaps that’swhy there have been so many prior filmic depictions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’sprototypical detective.  Doherty says itwas “one of the wonderful little details that Doyle crafted a very long timeago” that became the key to Elementary,his new CBS series adaptation starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.  The 19^th Century Holmes wasfamously addicted to opiates, “and that’s the way I’ve always looked at him, asan addict,” the writer explains – and not just to drugs.  “He’s driven by and very much addicted towhat he does for a living.  He enjoysunfolding the origami of a crime, matching wits with someone who thinks he’ssmart enough to get away with something horrible, and bringing that person tojustice.”
Yes, this new Holmes does have a literal addiction to dealwith, too.  Having just returned fromrehab – a vanishing he explained to his local police contact, Captain TobyGregson (Aidan Quinn), as a holiday in his native London – the hyper-observant detective“was previously used to being so ahead of everyone, and oozed confidence,”Doherty says.  “Now he’s left rattled,concerned that he may not be what he used to. I liked the idea of a person like him feeling a little bit of doubt forthe first time.”
That’s where Lucy Liu’s Dr. Joan Watson comes in.  As a former surgeon haunted by her role inthe death of a patient, Watson has now gone into business as a sober companion,hired by Holmes’ concerned dad to keep him in line.  That means accompanying him everywhere, wherethe new duo finds that “as a doctor, obviously she has many skills in forensicscience,” Miller says.  “So Holmes beginsto realize that she’s not just a companion, but she’s very useful.”
It was Doherty’s innovation both to alter this Watson’soccupation and to make Watson for the first time a female, who, he says, “hasmuch of the empathy Holmes is missing. In that way, she completes him.”  Asthe writer praises, Liu brings her innate strength to Watson, who needs to beable to stand up to this quirky and demanding Holmes. But it’s also theircharacters’ more vulnerable moments that both Miller and Liu say attracted themto Elementary.  Watson, Liu says, “is not going in withher ‘sober companion’ coat on.  I likethat she’s trying to bring a certain sense of humanity and understanding to herclient.”
Miller adds that “one of the things that struck me, reading[Doyle’s] books, is how colorful and funny the characters are.”  Doherty fully intends to weave that same witinto Elementary, which is why he isexcited that Miller’s embodiment of Holmes exhibits “a warmth, intelligence, anda fantastic sense of humor.”
But perhaps the most important quality that both Miller andLiu are bringing to their new show is  appreciation.  In filming Elementary’s pilot, “the first time I heard Jonny say ‘Watson!’ itwas a thrill to be creating that, to be part of history,” Liu reveals.  The British-born Miller feels it, too.  “There’s a reason why the Holmes stories keepbeing retold and redone,” he theorizes. “People play Hamlet a lot, and always want to play Shakespeare.  Good stories and good characters come back.” 
ElementaryPremieres Thursday, September 2710 PM Eastern / 9 PM CentralCBS

Fall Preview: CBS' Made in Jersey

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Made in Jersey stars British import Janet Montgomery

Lastseason, her second working on the Los Angeles writing staff of Franklin & Bash, the cable drama abouttwo wisecracking men, Dana Calvo realized she had something a little softer tosay.
A lifelong fan of female-focused shows like Sex and the City, Calvo says she enjoyedwatching that show’s fabulous foursome frolic around Manhattan, “and yet Ialways felt, ‘Wait, where’s the family?’ So I decided to write a show about a young woman and her life in full –friends, family and work.  I know it’snot really cool to say, but I wanted to write about a family that is warm andloving and wholesome.”
Drawing on memories of Christmases spent with herItalian-American extended family, the Moorestown, NJ native created the comedicdrama Made in Jersey and its heroineMartina Garretti, whose life and career straddle both sides of the HudsonRiver.  A lawyer like Calvo’s own sister,Martina crosses between her homespun life in the Garden State and her new jobas a first-year associate at a prestigious New York law firm.  Right away, just as in Working Girl – one of Calvo’s inspirations – Martina catches theattention of the firm’s founder, Donovan Stark (Kyle MacLachlan) with herunique body of knowledge.
Calvo knew that making Madein Jersey work would depend on finding just the right leading lady toconvey Martina’s combination of street and book smarts.  “I had a dream that we were going to cast aJersey girl right off a turnip truck, and her real story would mirror MartinaGarretti’s,” Calvo remembers with a laugh. Instead, after considering more than 100 candidates, producers consultedwith their casting director in the UK. There, in a video audition, was 26-year-old British actress JanetMontgomery.  As Calvo explains, “I sawthe tape, and knew right away ‘That’s her!’”
New Jersey has been heating up for more than a decade, fromthe time of The Sopranos to today’scurrent spate of reality shows featuring big hair and even bigger drama.  And that’s lucky for an English girl whoneeds to learn how to tawk.  Montgomery says she’d never previously spentany Jerseylicious time with the state’s Real Housewives – but once she startedher research, “those shows are totally addictive.  I watched a lot of them – and then I was toldnot to, because we don’t want our show to be that over-the-top.  Still, I feel they gave me a good idea ofwhat Martina would have grown up around.”
Montgomery worked with a dialect coach, and says that onceshe stepped out of her trailer in Martina’s considerable coif and jangly charmbracelet, she was able to find the character’s voice, which she says “now issecond nature.  I deliberately startedbig, but reined it back in to something that, while it’s obviously aworking-class accent, shows that she’s also an educated lawyer.”  The actress says she loves that Made in Jersey is a unique hybrid of lawprocedural and family drama – and so does CBS, so much so that after viewingthe original pilot, the impressed network requested the addition of a few morescenes with Martina’s mom (Donna Murphy) and the rest of the garrulous Garrettis.
“Family is really important to knowing who Martina is,”Montgomery explains, adding that her own working-class upbringing as thedaughter of a postal worker has given her a particular appreciation for thecharacter.  “I don’t have anyone else inmy family working in this industry.  Andso this character whose lives at work and at home are so different, and who hasa family who are very supportive and yet don’t fully understand her job – it’sbeen so much like my own life, it’s really amazing.”
Made In JerseyPremieres Friday, September 289 PM Eastern / 8 PM CentralCBS

Chuck Lorre's Vanity on Display

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Chuck Lorre

For the past decade and a half, Chuck Lorre’s sitcoms havebrought viewers a little something extra – whether they noticed it or not.

“When I was growing up, record albums had liner notes, wherethey added stuff that made the whole thing cooler,” Lorre remembers.  And so, rather than finishing off each of hisepisodes with a static production company logo, Lorre decided that “each showwould have something to read at the end – if you cared to.”
Now, after a full generation of Lorre’s fans has squinted tospy his words on their sometimes wobbly screens – remember VCRs? – the prolificwriter/producer of Two and a Half Men,Big Bang Theory and Mike & Molly has compiled his nearly400 mini-essays into a new coffee table book, What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Bitter (Simon & Schuster, $100)

In his vanity card following the November 2 episode of Big Bang Theory, Lorre referred viewers to his web site, where he could blast Mitt Romney without having to have his message approved -- or more likely rejected -- by his network's censors.  The contents of that card, #397, earned lots of press, showing that like me, people really care what Lorre has to say on these things.  That's why this past summer, during the semi-annual Television Critics Association convention in Beverly Hills, I caught up with Lorre for the following exclusive interview, to find out how it feels to see his Bitter experience turning out so sweet.

Must-Hear TV:  What has it meant tohave that small amount of network airtime each week, to express what’s on yourmind?Lorre:  My vanity cards are on the air at the end of the show for maybe a second.  But it’s been a nice opportunity toexperiment with writing something other than a script, these little essaysabout things that would never have found their way onto the page.
MHTV:   Is it therapeutic to have a way to get thingsoff your chest?Lorre:  The only way to call it “therapy” would be if one might sayI was getting better.  It’s just a chanceto write in a way that hopefully is amusing to somebody.
MHTV:   Obviously they havebeen.  When did you notice they werecatching on?Lorre:  About 14 or 15 years ago, when I was doing Dharma & Greg, I noticed that therestarted to be web sites with my name on them. The late ‘90s on the Internet were the wild wild west.  I realized I could possibly lose control overmy own writing.  So, defensively, I hadto create a web site of my own in order to maintain some kind of control.
MHTV:  Proceeds from thebook benefit your charity, the Dharma-Grace Foundation.  What is its focus?Lorre:  I started the Dharma-Grace Foundation in 1999, to funnelfunds into the Venice [Calif.] Family Clinic, which provides free healthcare toanyone who walks in the door.  It’s ameaningful organization to me, having been without healthcare earlier times inmy life.  I know what that feels like –it’s a frightening thing.  Now the Foundationalso distributes money to other organizations that seem like they are doinggood work, in education as well as healthcare.
MHTV:  Some of the cardsare appearing in the book for the first time, having been originallycensored.  Why weren’t they originallyallowed to air?Lorre:  There are about a dozen of them, and there were differentreasons each time.  Sometimes they wereconsidered risqué, and sometimes the politics were not acceptable.  But I very rarely get political.  I try to honor the fact that CBS is not inthe business of broadcasting my political opinions.  So I’ve been very careful, and I try to seethe big picture and avoid any controversy. Lots of different people like to watch Two and a Half Men, Big BangTheory and Mike and Molly.  They’re coming to my house as guests, and itwould be rude to use that access to offend them.
MHTV:  You startedpresenting the cards on Dharma & Gregand Grace Under Fire, both of whichaired on ABC.  Has there been anydifference in doing the vanity cards on ABC versus now on CBS?Lorre:  No, both networks are very nervous about [the cards] ingeneral, and they scrutinize them.  Iimagine both networks would prefer that they didn’t exist at all.  But CBS has been patient and reluctantlytrudged forward with these things. There’s no upside to them.  They’rein the business of selling ad time, and making money, and vanity cards are nota profit source.  But my whole argumenthas always been, if they bring in just one more viewer who might be curious,that’s got to be good for CBS.
MHTV:  It is a smartinvestment – a random production company logo isn’t going to bring inanybody.  So why not write somethingfunny that might grab viewers?Lorre:  With DVRs, every second of television time is now availableto you.  Literally, every second can befrozen forever.  So it’s changed the waytime works in television.  It’s madeevery second more valuable or more problematic – your choice.
MHTV:  You have three showson the air on CBS, bearing your name each week. Do you still get that thrill of authorship, seeing your name on thisbook?Lorre:  It’s really gratifying any time you make something up and itbecomes a reality.  On Big Bang Theory, Wolowitz went intospace.  To walk onto the stage, and seethe Soyuz space capsule!  Made of balsawood, but it was still there.  It wasstartling and immensely gratifying. There was a guy with hammers and nails making it real.
MHTV:  And now there’ssomeone with a printing press making it real. Is it the same feeling?Lorre:  Very much so.  It’svery gratifying.  And the best news is,that it’s already written.  The best partof writing is having written.
MHTV:  Some of your morefamous vanity cards over the years have mentioned conflicts with coworkers andcostars.  Are those in the book?Lorre:  They’re all there.
MHTV:  So we can relive allkinds of sitcom history by this book, whether for good or for bad?Lorre:  That’s very wisely put. I wrote the cards at times in my life when that was the only way I knewhow to articulate my feelings, my frustrations and my fears.   My attempts at being funny sometimesfail.   But there they are.