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Chuck Lorre is responding to the White House’s recent swipe at him, in a medium where he’s often not been shy in sharing his opinions: His post-episode vanity cards.
At the end of Thursday night’s Season 3 premiere of CBS’
“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” Lorre addresses, via his production company vanity card, a recent statement by White House spokesperson Davis Ingle, who told Fox News Digital last week that “Chuck Lorre should immediately seek psychiatric help to treat his severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has completely rotted his peanut-sized brain.”
Lorre’s response? He’ll consider that advice.
“A spokesperson for the White House recently announced that I need psychiatric help,” he wrote on the card. “I don’t disagree. I’m not a big fan of mood-altering drugs or electroshock therapy, you know, ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ stuff, but I would be up for a chat with a trained professional who gently encourages me to seek out childhood experiences that negatively impact my thinking and behavior.
“ (A possible culprit could be weekly atomic bomb drills in grade school. This involved hiding under my desk to avoid being cut to ribbons from the classroom windows imploding.) It might also be worth investigating if toxins in my environment bear any responsibility for my ‘derangement.’ (Can’t ignore all those mesothelioma commercials.) Regardless of how we proceed, I do appreciate this very public concern for my mental health. It’s comforting to know my government is looking out for me.”
Here’s how it will look on Thursday’s “Georgie & Mandy” episode:
The White House had been asked by Fox News to respond to a recent acceptance speech by Lorre at a Project Angel Food fundraiser on Sept. 26 here in Los Angeles. Lorre, who was honored with the Founders Award for his philanthropic work and donations, used his thank-yous to also make some points about the state of the country under Trump — whom he called a “bloated orange piece of shit.”
“Sure, I’d love to stand here and talk about my deep yearning for a more compassionate government, one that prioritizes the health and welfare of its citizens,” he said in his speech. “But the burden of my profession demands that I take this opportunity to say a few words about that bloated orange piece of shit in the White House. I’d love to express my gratitude to all the people who’ve devoted their lives to making Project Angel Food an oasis for those in need. That would be my preference, but because I’m a comedy writer, I have no choice but to explain how I wake up every morning, turn on CNN to see if the President of the United States had a heart attack while straining to take a dump.”
He then closed with what he described as a “small punch-up of the The Alcoholics Prayer: God, grant me the serenity to no longer give a shit about all the stupid people in this country. The courage to say Donald Trump is a Russian asset who traded teenagers with Jeffrey Epstein, and the wisdom to end on a cheap laugh.”
The speech was a hit in the room, but apparently not on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Lorre has addressed the Trump administration several times via his vanity cards over the years, including noting that the slogan “Make America Great Again” was a “bumper sticker for victimhood.” In 2017, he displayed a ratings chart showing “Two and a Half Men” beating “Celebrity Apprentice,” adding, “Defeat terrorism and crazy dictators? He couldn’t even defeat ‘Two and a Half Men.’” And in 2018 a card described Trump as a “fascist, hate-filled, fearmongering, demagogic, truth-shattering, autocratic golf cheater.”
Lorre’s self-penned vanity cards have been a signature part of most of his series for 25 years, starting with “Dharma and Greg,” and then moving on to “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mike & Molly,” “Mom” and “Young Sheldon,” among others. In those cards — some of which were censored by the network and studio over the years — Lorre has taken on politics, Hollywood executives, the studios and networks and more.
In 2012, Lorre collected his favorite vanity cards, including some of the ones that were banned ones, into the coffee-table book “What Doesn’t Kill Us, Makes Us Bitter,” the proceeds of which went to many healthcare — related charities and educational efforts, including the Venice Family Clinic.
Season 3 of “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. on CBS, and then streams on Paramount+. The show stars Montana Jordan, Emily Osment, Rachel Bay Jones, Will Sasso, Dougie Baldwin and Jessie Prez, and comes from Chuck Lorre Productions, Inc. in association with Warner Bros. Television. Lorre and Steve Holland are executive producers.
Here’s logline, titled “Feminine Wiles and Some Tire Thing in Lubbock”: “Tensions rise when Mandy and the family side against Georgie in his fight with Mary. Meanwhile, Connor turns to Georgie when he gets himself into trouble.
It’s a busy time in the Lorre universe, as his new book “Sitcom: A Memoir” is set to be released on October 13.
