Chuck Lorre Sorta Apologizes for Bachelor Slam on Big Bang Theory Vanity Card

Brash showrunner tries to quell the antipathy directed against him after he bashed ABC's reality dating series in a recent Big Bang Theory vanity card

By Josh Grossberg Nov 09, 2012 3:36 PMTags
Chuck LorreFrederick M. Brown/Getty Images

Chuck Lorre apparently does not want a rumble in the TV jungle. 

The mastermind behind such tube hits as Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory has offered up a rather lighthearted apology for dissing ABC's The Bachelor in a vanity card last week when he opined that the dating show helps ruin the institution of marriage.

"After careful consideration, I now realize that I couldn't have been more wrong," Lorre wrote in vanity card #398 which aired after last night's Big Bang Theory. "My mistake was that I was looking at the show through the tired old eyes of 60's feminism. But we are clearly in a post-feminist era."

The brouhaha began when the outspoken Lorre wanted to use the end credits for The Big Bang Theory's Nov. 2 episode to express solidarity for President Barack Obama over Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Since he knew expressing his political views was a no-no with CBS censors, Lorre redacted himself and instead posted the full statement on his website.

That same card, however, took The Bachelor to task when the über-producer asked, "What does it say about us when we think the institution of marriage is threatened by gay people who love each other, but not by idiotic game shows like The Bachelor?"

The derisive remark subsequently sparked a backlash on Twitter with the reality series' host, Chris Harrison, and executive producer Robert Mills taking him to task.

"Love it when people expose their own ignorance!" tweeted Harrison, including a link to a story about the vanity card.

Looking to put the feud to rest, Lorre is now making amends—though not without planting tongue firmly in cheek.

"The patriarchal sexism that treated women as chattel and dictated how much they could earn or how much control they could have over their own bodies is a thing of the past, a curious relic of a dark, unenlightened time," reflected the showrunner. "Likewise, the idea that a woman without a man was somehow incomplete has long ago been consigned to the overflowing dustbin of humankind's misbegotten thinking. Women are now free to do anything they want, and that includes going on a reality show and using all their female wiles to snag Mr. Right."

Lorre concluded his mea culpa by writing, "I really don't know what else to say except, 'I'm sorry and, um…you go, girl!"

We're glad he cleared that up. Now if only Chuck and Charlie Sheen can have a beer summit, the world will be a better place.