Chuck Lorre, the big shot co-creator and executive producer behind shows like “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mike and Molly,” and “Mom,” is apparently shopping around a new multi-camera sitcom set at a Colorado marijuana dispensary, according to Deadline.
Lorre has a reputation for churning out shows that garner humungous ratings amongst a decidedly mainstream audience, one that until recent years probably would have been seen as eschewing anything having to do with the sale of marijuana. The series to said to be planned as “a true celebration of weed,” and is currently out for consideration at all the major networks, as well as Netflix.
Lorre’s collaborator on the project is writer/producer David Javerbaum, who has served as the head writer of “The Daily Show,” a producer on “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” and is also behind the popular @TheTweetofGod twitter account.
It’s worth noting that Lorre’s new project isn’t the only pot comedy set to grace your television or streaming service of choice in the next year or so. Amazon is producing a series called “Highland,” an hourlong comedy/drama (otherwise known as a “dramedy”) starring comedian Margaret Cho “as a version of herself who, after a court-ordered rehab, gets a chance to start over but has to move in with her dysfunctional family who now runs a pot dispensary.”
Then there’s “Buds,” the brainchild of actor Adam Scott and comedian Joe Mande, which is currently in development at NBC and has been described as “a workplace comedy set in a Denver-based marijuana dispensary.”
Wait, what? For real? That’s exactly the same as the Lorre thing, right? Somehow, working in a cannabis dispensary has replaced “sportswriter” as the de facto gig of sitcom stars. Who saw that coming?
Oh, there’s also “High Maintenance” coming from HBO, which is somehow not about the hijinks that go down behind the counter at a dispensary in Denver, instead focusing on the misadventures of a Brooklyn-based pot dealer known only as “The Guy.” This one began life as a popular web series, and is set for six episodes on the premium cable juggernaut that gave the world some of the best comedy series of the last decade. HBO also plans to make the original, made of the web episodes available on their streaming channel HBO NOW sometime soon.
While there is currently no word on what Lorre plans to call his entry into this new comedy genre, “The Big Bong Theory” seems like a no brainer. And actually, if this slew of shows inspires even more shows set in the world of drugs, he can retool the recently cancelled “Mike and Molly” into a comedy set in the club scene without even changing the name at all.
