Thursday, October 11, 2007

Chuck Lorre's Vanity Cards

I'm a fan of the new CBS show "The Big Bang Theory". Any comedy series that starts out with two friends discussing the classic double-slit experiment...well, I'm in!

At then end of the last episode I noticed the quick flash of white screen filled with text and labeled Chuck Lorre Productions,#186, and then it was gone. Grabbing the remote, I backed up the TiVo to get a better look. It was very short story called ZEN NOIR, and it contained a couple of lines that I thought were worth sharing.

...this was the pain of existential separateness. The false sense that one is fundamentally apart from people, things, life, the whole damn universe. In a blinding flash I realized that what I was really experiencing was the result of a life-long indoctrination by a culture which elevates individualism above all else, thus causing a soul-crushing sense of aloneness which demands over and under the counter medication, the constant distraction of sporting events, TV, major motion pictures and a pop-tabloid religion based on celebrity worship/crucifixion.

I think that's a rather eloquent summary of our society for something flashed on the screen at the end of a sitcom. I was intrigued, so I did a little googling and discovered that Chuck Lorre places these "vanity cards" at the end of all 186 episodes of television that he's produced. I found these collected at the link above. They are always quirky, often funny and sometimes extremely insightful. They are worth a look.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i love the chuck lorre vanity cards. i also seen a flash of "chuck lorre productions #111" which, as you wanted to learn more. not having a working tivo i turned to google to show me the way. i found chuck's site and was entertained for hours, even days. i do love how the cards do not appear until the next day after the show airs - while i would love to read it immediately i must wait as until every possible time zone has had an opportunity to view the brief flash (or for those who have a working tivo, can actually read it!). i chuckle when i think about chuck withholding the cards till the day after airing the episode - like some kind of interview with a reality show winner - THE PUBLIC MUST NOT KNOW, YET! i love you chuck lorre. much like yourself i seen the advertisements for "the big bang theory" and was interested even before i realized chuck (as i feel we are on a first name basis) was a writer/ producer for the show. till this article i felt in a world all alone. while i had read other articles pertaining to vanity cards, both regarding chuck lorre productions and others, i had not come across anyone who obviously felt as i. not that you necessarily love chuck... but i know i do. i only wish i was the lesbian, instead of ellen, in chuck dream as discussed in #134. and by the way i am much more attractive, i just don't have any money. or a big house. or a famous lesbian lover. but i am a lesbian.
thanks for the deletion of aloneness, at least regarding the chuck lorre vanity cards...