15 Best Chuck Lorre TV Shows, Ranked

The first show Lorre created lasted less than a month, marking an inauspicious start for the then-39-year-old. Miriam Margolyes starred as a Staten Island seamstress dealing with a chauvinistic husband, a frustrating boss, and a daughter who seems to have inherited her taste in men. IMDb Rating: 5.4

Executive-produced by Lorre and inspired by creator Marco Pennette’s own kidney transplant history, the two-season B Positive followed Drew (Thomas Middleditch), a therapist suffering from renal failure, and Gina (Annaleigh Ashford), the high school acquaintance whose organ donation saves his life. IMDb Rating: 6.3

This Lorre creation ran for five seasons before getting cancelled amid star Brett Butler’s addiction issues. In the show, Butler played Grace Kelly, a recovering alcoholic raising her children solo after leaving her abusive husband. “It was a very good show for the first two years [and] still OK after that,” one IMDb reviewer wrote. IMDb Rating: 6.4

Co-created by Lorre and Dottie Dartland Zicklin, Dharma & Greg earned Jenna Elfman a Golden Globe for her role as the free-spirited yoga instructor Dharma, who improbably marries the buttoned-up lawyer Greg (Thomas Gibson) on their first date. “For all its faults, it’s still a watchable show,” a viewer said in an IMDb review. “The acting … is more than good; the ideas are interesting, if not terribly original.” IMDb Rating: 6.4

This six-season sitcom, created by Mark Roberts, centered on a Chicago police officer (Billy Gardell) who falls for an elementary school teacher (Melissa McCarthy), showcasing plus-size characters in a loving relationship that riled some fatphobes. (As for the Lorre cinematic universe, Mike & Molly also re-used the set from Roseanne.) IMDb Rating: 6.5

Across the two seasons of this comedy created by David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari, viewers watched as Al (Adhir Kaylan), an Afghan interpreter, moved in with Riley (Parker Young), his U.S. Marine friend, and acclimated to stateside life. Some viewers, however, objected to the casting of an actor of Indian descent in an Afghan role. IMDb Rating: 6.5

Kathy Bates led the cast of this short-lived sitcom about a “queen of cannabis” who runs a Los Angeles dispensary with her newly-graduated son and other so-called budtenders. “Definitely learned a couple things about pot from watching this, but mostly it was just classic stoner comedy,” an IMDb user wrote. IMDb Rating: 6.7

Lorre created this show but was reportedly let go after clashing with star Cybill Shepherd, who played Cybill Sheridan, an actor facing a career decline. “I got about 18 episodes before I was fired,” Lorre told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. “If I recall correctly, there was a disagreement about whether the second act worked for an episode. … Don’t pick a fight with the star. Lesson learned.” IMDb Rating: 6.9

As co-creator of this sitcom — the fifth and final season of which is currently airing — Lorre reconnected with Mike & Molly star Gardell. In the show, Gardell plays Bob, a Detroit sock manufacturer, who falls for Abishola (Folake Olowofoyeku), a Nigerian immigrant and nurse who treats him following his heart attack. IMDb Rating: 7.0

Lorre and longtime collaborator Lee Aronsohn devised this popular sitcom, which originally starred Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer as Charlie and Alan Harper, two polar-opposite brothers living in a Malibu beach house with Alan’s son. Midway through the show’s run, Lorre and Sheen got into a public feud that they finally ended years later when they teamed up on the show below. IMDb Rating: 7.1

For Bookie, Lorre and co-creator Nick Bakay crafted a comedy about a Los Angeles bookie facing obsolescence amid the legalization of sports gambling. Sebastian Maniscalco stars as that titular character, but it was cameos from Sheen and Angus T. Jones, another Two and a Half Men alum, that got viewers’ attention. IMDb Rating: 7.4

Allison Janney won two back-to-back Emmy Awards for her performance in this eight-season comedy, in which she and Anna Faris played a mother and daughter who are both recovering addicts. When Mom premiered in 2013, co-creator Lorre had four shows on CBS in one season. IMDb Rating: 7.4

Near the end of The Big Bang Theory’s run, CBS gave the green light to this single-camera prequel comedy starring Iain Armitage as the younger version of Jim Parsons’ Big Bang character. And the post-Big Bang universe is expanding even more with the development of a Young Sheldon spinoff about Georgie Cooper (Montana Jordan) and Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment). IMDb Rating: 7.6

Lorre’s longest-running series to date is this 12-season wonder, which initially focused on (the adult) Sheldon and his fellow physicist Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and their friendship with Penny (Kaley Cuoco), the waitress across the hall. As the years went on, other geeky characters joined the mix, and The Big Bang Theory eventually became the No. 1 show on broadcast television. IMDb Rating: 8.1

The TV creator’s first comedy-drama is IMDb voters’ pick for his best TV program yet. In the show, Michael Douglas played an acting-turned-acting coach, and the late Alan Arkin played his agent, with their two characters navigating the perils of getting old in Hollywood. “Douglas and Arkin are perfect in this comedy-drama full of dark humor and heartbreaking sentiment,” one IMDb user declared. IMDb Rating: 8.2