Chuck Lorre Productions/Summary

1st Logo

(January 2-December 17, 1995)

Nicknames : "Chuck Lorre Computer", "The Apple Macintosh", "The Macintosh SE", "The One Before the Essay"

Logo : We see an Apple Macintosh SE on a desk with lots of office supplies surrounding it, including a keyboard, mouse, pencils,and a floppy disk.

Chuck Lorre Productions

in a white Peignot font used on the first logo of Viacom, as well as the title card of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the first logo of The Jerry Springer Show, or in a Helvetica font, is written on the monitor against a dark blue background.

Variant : Sometimes, it was replaced by one of the two different pictures of Lorre himself along with the company name below. This seen on only two Cybill season 1 episodes such as "The Last Temptation of Cybill" and "The Replacements".

FX/SFX : None.

Music/Sounds : The closing theme of Cybill or a CBS generic theme on original airings.

Availability : Originally seen on season 1 and early season 2 episodes of Cybill when originally aired on CBS.

Editor's Note : An interesting logo before the much iconic essay logo came out.

2nd Logo (September 24, 1997- )

Nickname : "The Essay"

Logo : On a white background, we see "CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS" at the top of the screen in a black font, with a number next to it that groups how many of the logos there have been. Below it is a short, humorous essay in a very small font which must be paused to read it.

Trivia : Variants :
 * The logo was briefly retired due to the media taking the essays too seriously during the Charlie Sheen controversy that went on season 8 of Two and a Half Men.
 * There are currently more than 500 different essays.
 * This logo was parodied in MAD magazine when it spoofed The Big Bang Theory.
 * A special coffee-table book was printed in 2012 called What Doesn't Kill Us Makes Us Bitter, which features artsy arrangements of hundreds of Chuck's essays.
 * When this logo first appeared, it featured a black background with white text. Starting on September 28, 1999, it was later inverted so it could be easier to read, especially after VHS got retired.
 * On few episodes of Dharma & Greg and some episodes of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, photos replace the normal text.
 * On one episode of Two and a Half Men, "Chuck Lorre" is replaced with the symbol for the musician Prince.
 * On the Dharma & Greg episode, "Yes, We Have No Bananas (or Anything Else for That Matter)", the name "Chuck Lorre" is replaced with a bunch of symbols.
 * One season 2 Dharma & Greg episode has a sketch of a man laying with some birds fly above him at the middle of the essay.
 * On the Two and a Half Men episode "Thank You for the Intercourse", "CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS" is replaced with "FOOD, PETTING AND PLAYING PRODUCTIONS".
 * On the Two and a Half Men episode "The Pot-Smoking Monkey", there's a card featuring an ovular photo of Chuck Lorre with Brian Lowry, and Andy Wallenstein. "chuck lorre productions" and the card number is on WordArt style, while the essay is in a white box.
 * In some cases, a card numbered "111" is used when he has "nothing to write about". It has only been seen on two occasions.
 * On some later Two and a Half Men episodes, the text is replaced with the words "Gone fishin'", and the background is a picture of Chuck Lorre underwater in a scuba suit giving the "OK" signal to the camera.
 * On the season 7 episode of Two and a Half Men, "Warning, It's Dirty", "CHUCK LORRE" is replaced with another logo called "A Marty Pepper Production" in an old-school Broadway background with a funny voice saying "It's a Pepper!"
 * Special "Censored" cards have been used when the networks reject a certain essay.
 * On The Big Bang Theory episode "The Pants Alternative", as well as the Two and a Half Men episode "Ixnay on the Oggie Day", a "sideways smiley face" is seen at the top of the essay, which reads out like a memorial epitaph to it.
 * On the Big Bang Theory episode "The Colonization Application", the essay is replaced with a memorial card to Leonard Nimoy, who died that week. It's a picture of Nimoy with the text "The impact you had on our show and our lives is everlasting."
 * Essay #513 (seen on The Big Bang Theory) the "CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS" text is replaced with the text "HOLIDAY GREETINGS FROM CHUCK LORRE".
 * Essay #570 (seen on the Mom episode "Fish Town and Too Many Thank You's") features a CGI pig who says "Believe me!"
 * Essay #625 (seen on every episode of Bob Hearts Abishola) featured a golden hat on a black box with the words "IMAG" carved on a gold hat.

FX/SFX : None.

Music/Sounds : A brief sound clip of a heavenly choir singing. The Big Bang Theory, Mom, Mike and Molly, Young Sheldon and Bob Hearts Abishola use the end theme, ABC (starting in 1998) and CBS airings used their generic themes.

Availability : Common. Seen on Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, Mike & Molly, The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Mom and Bob Hearts Abishola.

Editor's Note : There's a long line of essays found.

Archives : There is a complete collection (which is updated every time a new episode airs) of the vanity cards at Chuck Lorre's website. In addition, we are currently compiling them here.

3rd Logo (August 25, 2017-January 12, 2018)

Logo : On a black background, we see a white shield. Beneath it is a shield representing the then-current show The Big Bang Theory, with the crown and the stacked words "Chuck Lorre Productions" in a medevial font.

FX/SFX : None.

Music/Sounds : The end of the show; just the sound of the audience laughing and clapping.

Availability : Seen on the short-lived show Disjointed.

Editor's Note : The only show other than Cybill that does not use an essay.