LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� is responsible for some of the most successful sitcoms of all time. He says he has the recipe for success, and it鈥檚 simpler than you鈥檇 think.
鈥淭he whole thing boils down to great actors and great scripts. And if either one of those is missing, it doesn鈥檛 work,鈥� he told The Associated Press.
Lorre鈥檚 latest venture, alongside his longtime collaborators, Steven Molaro and Steve Holland, is 鈥淕eorgie & Mandy鈥檚 First Marriage,鈥� a CBS sequel to their hit series 鈥淵oung Sheldon.鈥� The latter is a prequel of which Lorre, Molaro and Holland worked on for its run from 2007 through 2019.
The CBS series, which airs on Thursdays, stars Montana Jordan and Emily Osment reprising their roles from 鈥淵oung Sheldon.鈥� Jordan plays Georgie Cooper, Sheldon's older brother, and Osment plays Mandy McAllister, Georgie's new wife. The series follows the pair as they navigate young parenthood with a newborn daughter while also adapting to their new marriage.
Unlike their previous series, though, 鈥淕eorgie & Mandy鈥� taps into a crucial part of what made fans love 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory鈥� 鈥� it鈥檚 filmed in the old-school multi-camera format.
Multi-camera sitcoms date back to classics like 鈥淚 Love Lucy鈥� and 鈥淭he Mary Tyler Moore Show,鈥� but 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory鈥� stands alone as a highly successful modern sitcom filmed in the format with an audience.
鈥淕eorgie & Mandy鈥檚 First Marriage鈥� will carry on that practice with a live studio audience and a traditional sitcom feel. Holland, who is an executive producer with Lorre and Molaro, said the goal was to separate it from its predecessor so it didn鈥檛 feel like 鈥溾�橸oung Sheldon鈥� 2.0 or something.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e always had a soft spot for multi-cam and seeing this cast and seeing how they sort of spark together, the thought of putting them in front of an audience like a theatrical experience seemed great,鈥� Holland said.
Distancing the series from the character Sheldon Cooper, played by in the prequel and on 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory,鈥� meant stepping away from a character they had worked on for 19 seasons, but Holland said it felt like they had 鈥済one to that vein a lot.鈥�
鈥淭he chance to tell stories in this world where we don鈥檛 know the future, or we know very little about the future, was exciting,鈥� he added.
Speaking before the series began filming, Jordan, who had never worked on a multi-camera show before, said he was feeling optimistic about the new process. 鈥淚 kind of just throw the nerves away, just get them out of my life, throw them out somewhere,鈥� he said.
鈥淧eople fell in love with Georgie on 鈥榊oung Sheldon,鈥� so I鈥檓 just gonna keep playing that, see how it goes,鈥� he added in his signature Southern drawl.
Osment, however, is no stranger to studio audiences, having appeared as a teenager in Disney Channel鈥檚 鈥淗annah Montana鈥� with , followed by a starring role in 鈥淵oung & Hungry鈥� for five seasons on Freeform. She said she was looking forward to being back in front of an audience because she had 鈥渒ind of forgotten what that feels like.鈥�
Osment also added that she enjoys the moments when the cast breaks character by laughing. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 fun too,鈥� she said.
鈥淪ometimes, you get the best stuff ever when you can鈥檛 keep it together and sometimes, they use it. Especially with working with a baby. There鈥檚 going to be moments of that,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e good at that. We鈥檙e good at rolling with it.鈥�
Georgie and Mandy's baby daughter Ceecee is portrayed by twins, Isabelle and Zariah Booko.
Having a baby on set is 鈥渨onderful,鈥� said Osment, because adjustments are made to keep the atmosphere calm.
鈥淭he crew and the cast sort of soften. They don鈥檛 speak very loudly in front of the baby. They don鈥檛 overly try to touch up your wardrobe or your hair makeup because, like, your job is just to hold this precious, beautiful thing and people kind of leave you the heck alone.鈥�
When the Booko girls aren't available or the baby is in a scene but not really visible, Osment says 鈥渁n extremely expensive animatronic baby鈥� is brought in.
鈥淭hey get way more nervous when we go towards that robot baby,鈥� "Like, 鈥榊ou guys have the real thing handled, but don鈥檛 mess up this robot baby.鈥欌��
Lorre reiterated that this cast and the series, which is set in the 鈥�90s, was meant to be filmed in the multi-camera format.
鈥淧utting on a play in front of an audience is as fundamental as you can get to how to tell a story,鈥� he said.
Kaitlyn Huamani, The Associated Press
