‘Leanne’ Producer Chuck Lorre Says Audiences Have to “Want To Be Part” Of the Show For It To Succeed: “I Always Wanted To Be Sitting At The Bar With Sam and Cliff and Norm”

To longtime TV producers like Chuck Lorre and Nick Bakay, creating a series that strikes gold and finds fans is not rocket science. In fact, it’s pretty straightforward.

Chatting with DECIDER ahead of the July 31 release of their new series, Leanne, the pair opened up about finding the recipe for success in their shows, be it Mom, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, or their latest series. Turns out, like Dom Toretto from Fast & Furious would say, it’s all about family.

“I think that’s the magic of a good comedy, whether it’s a workplace comedy or a domestic situation in the house. Do you feel drawn in? Do you want to be part of it,” Lorre shared. “I always wanted to be sitting at the bar with Sam and Cliff and Norm [in Cheers], or have a cup of coffee with Jerry and George and Kramer [in Seinfeld]. You want to be part of it.”

In Leanne, an eponymous new Netflix show from the duo and stand-up comedian (and occasional Today co-host) Leanne Morgan, that means finding a woman who is starting over and reentering the dating pool in her later years after being left by her husband. Despite the all-too-real premise, the group manages to find the funny and still craft dynamics on screen between Leanne (Morgan) and her sister Carol (Kristen Johnston).

Together, the siblings must help each other out of their individual ruts and go through the highs and lows of life, which does include death, new life, relationships and sex, and finding your most authentic self, no matter the age. It’s a lot to tackle and it’s a testament to Lorre’s hope that people will want to be part of the gang.

“I think I learned that really on the Big Bang Theory, where you see these characters who are otherwise alienated from so much of life, they have each other. They would eat together, like a family once ate together,” Lorre added. “[They] had Chinese food sitting on the living room couch, on the floor and whatever. It was a domestic scene and it speaks to something I think that we’re missing.”

Check out DECIDER’s full interview with the pair below.

DECIDER: I have to start by asking about what is ahead. We were only sent the first half of the season and I need to know what comes next for Leanne!

NICK BAKAY: Well, there’s gonna be a whole new track in her life as things heat up with a certain gentleman. And that creates a great canvas for what Leanne‘s about because the self-consciousness of her age, of where she’s at, her readiness, all of it, it just brings out great vulnerability. And if you know her act, you know it plays right into her wheelhouse.

I told Leanne earlier that this show is all about the three F’s: faith, family, and fun. I asked her to give me a fourth F and now I need to hear what your addition would be.

BAKAY: An F word… Frankenstein. We’re Frankensteining her life, we’re building it out of the parts of dead criminals, you’ll see.

CHUCK LORRE: That wasn’t helpful at all [laughs].

There are things I noticed while watching this show, as a younger woman, that I think people will take away. I also asked Leanne what advice she would give so people don’t make mistakes she may have made. What do you hope that younger audiences learn?

LORRE: I don’t think you ask anybody to avoid experience. Experience happens. Good, bad, indifferent. Experience happens. It’s how you respond to it. Breakups, heartbreak, illness, loss of people, death. I mean, life happens continuously for all of us. So, the only thing you can extend to somebody in the beginning of their adult life is, it won’t end, it will pass. I can’t tell you when it’ll pass, but it will pass, and something else will take its place. But you can’t get between life and someone else. You can only encourage them to carry on.

Chuck, I feel like you’ve explored so many different family and friend relationships in your shows. It’s all about sisters here in Leanne, is there a connection out there you are still dying to explore?

LORRE: Oh my goodness, that’s a big question. I don’t know. I mean, the first answers that come to mind are entirely ridiculous [laughs]. A boy and his cadaver is what comes to mind, you know? It makes no sense whatsoever.

BAKAY: You could sell that tomorrow.

Netflix is on the phone right now, in fact.

BAKAY: Who were you thinking of for the cadaver? That’s the easy cast.

LORRE: I know quite a few people.

But, for you, what is it about these family connections? Why do you think people latch on so hard to your shows about moms, sisters, families in general?

LORRE: I think that’s the magic of a good comedy, whether it’s a workplace comedy or a domestic situation in the house. Do you feel drawn in? Do you want to be part of it? I always wanted to be sitting at the bar with Sam and Cliff and Norm [in Cheers], or have a cup of coffee with Jerry and George and Kramer [in Seinfeld]. You want to be part of it. think I learned that really on the Big Bang Theory, where you see these characters who are otherwise alienated from so much of life, they have each other. They would eat together, like a family once ate together, had Chinese food sitting on the living room couch, on the floor and whatever. It was a domestic scene and it speaks to something I think that we’re missing.

I’ll wrap with this. You’ve been known to reuse people from previous projects, Kristen was also in Mom. Who is someone you would want to welcome for a Season 2?

BAKAY: I’d love to get Kevin James to play a suitor, that’s the first thing that comes to mind.

LORRE: From another project I’ve worked on? Wow. I truly did love working with Michael Douglas [on The Kominsky Method]; that was a joy. So any way he could walk through anything that I’m doing would be a joy to do again.

Leanne begins streaming on Netflix July 31.