BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam was a “safe environment for a foolish young man” in the early 1970’s.

That’s how Hollywood legend Chuck Lorre described his two years at SUNY Potsdam during a discussion with President Suzanne Smith on Sept. 23.

Lorre, who has worked as a writer, director, executive producer and showrunner on numerous hit sitcoms since the 1980’s, returned to SUNY Potsdam for the first time since 2009 to detail his time in the North Country and what led him to Hollywood.

When asked why he chose to attend SUNY Potsdam, Lorre offered a surprising take.

“Do you want me to be honest?” he jokingly asked Smith.

“I looked at the map of New York and found the school closest to the Canadian border,” Lorre said.

He told Smith and the hundreds of attendees that he was 100 pounds when he graduated high school and “knew he wouldn’t be a good soldier.”

“I was 16 and afraid. When I came up for freshman orientation I felt at ease. Potsdam was a safe space to be a foolish young man,” Lorre said.

Fallback plan wasn’t an option

Lorre said he first hoped to pursue a career in music but soon learned that it may not be in the cards for him after seeing world class musicians in concert.

“I wish I was more self aware and reflective as a young man. I was very focused on music for a career path. My mind just didn’t work that way,” he said.

He said his parents had always told him to have a backup plan, such as teaching.

But Lorre said that was never an option for him.

“I was told to have a fallback plan, like teaching. There was no fallback plan for me. In hindsight, it was incredibly naive to think but it worked to my advantage. I knew if I had a fallback position I’d likely fall back,” Lorre said.

Though it worked out well for him, Lorre suggested that it may not be the best plan for others.

“There’s great strength in being naive. I didn’t believe the doubters. There is power in ignorance, in a way. I was a fairly self-obsessed young man but I refused to believe it couldn’t be done,” he said.

Failure as a learning experience

Decades after moving to Hollywood Lorre continued to build upon his successful run as the “King of Sitcoms” with the ever popular “The Big Bang Theory.”

But it wasn’t a stunning success at first, Lorre said.

He said a first pilot was filmed a year prior to the show’s debut, noting it was a “stunning failure” that he learned from.

“The core was there, Sheldon and Leonard were in the first pilot but we didn’t have the full supporting case,” he said.

A year later, CBS called and asked Lorre if he wanted to take a shot at “The Big Bang Theory” again.

“Of course we said yes. The first pilot just didn’t work, so we were excited to have a second shot at it,” he said.

Despite a second shot at the show, Lorre said the writer’s strike complicated matters as they filmed the first season.

It wasn’t until he and the cast attended Comic Con later that year that he understood the cultural impact the show would have.

“I told everyone in the cast ‘Don’t worry if there are only 11 people there’. We were just excited to be there,” Lorre said.

He and the cast were met with a sold-out, standing room only reception.

Lorre detailed an autograph session later that day in which he saw a young fan crying as she met actor Jim Parsons, who played Sheldon on the show.

“That’s when I understood just what an impact the show had on people. No one ever cried when they met Charlie Sheen,” Lorre joked.

Lorre said the show offered outcasts a safe space to be themselves, a place to find a family of sorts.

“It’s a show that people can relate to, those who are on the outside or who may feel like outcasts. There is something about the show they can relate to that maybe they can’t with other shows,” Lorre said.

Every character is a learning experience

During a Q&A segment Lorre touched on his schedule as a showrunner and how he viewed his work as a writer.

“Every character is a learning opportunity as you write them,” he said.

Though many would think the series Lorre has created were planned months in advance, he said that was not at all the case.

“We planned two weeks ahead, maybe. We didn’t have a master plan for these things,” he said.

Lorre said “The Big Bang Theory” was also a learning experience in other ways.

He touched on the physics of the show, saying he and his producing partner wanted the show to be authentic in that manner. But neither of them were physicists.

“I told him, ‘Look, we can sit here forever but we’re never going to be physicists’,” he joked.

So Lorre brought in a physicist from UCLA to assist on the production.

“Everything on the board was accurate. We had physicists on set, Nobel Prize winners, you name it,” he said.

Lorre said in his time as a showrunner he has learned many skills, one of which is to learn to delegate to others and trust them.

At the time “The Big Bang Theory” went live, Lorre was already three seasons into “Two and a Half Men.”  Two shows seemed like too much to handle, so Lorre sought the advice of another famous showrunner.

“So I called Norman Lear. Not a bad person to speak to. I told him I didn’t know how to run two shows and his response was ‘I can give you some advice but I don’t think you’re going to like it’,” Lorre said.

Lear then told Lorre that at his peak he was running seven shows at once, including smash hits “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “Sanford and Son,” “One Day at a Time,” “The Jeffersons,” and “Good Times.”

“You’re right, I don’t want to hear that,” Lorre said.

He said Lear gave him a great piece of advice he still uses today.

“Go where the fire is burning brightest and try to put it out,” Lorre said.

Laughter as a motivator

Now in his fifth decade in Hollywood, Lorre said his greatest motivator is the desire to make others laugh.

“I want to make people laugh, that’s my motivation. If you lose sight of that, you’ve failed,” he said.

Lorre spoke of his time as a child and his desire to spend time with his father, saying he had one night per week.

“Every Sunday I would watch the Ed Sullivan show with my father. That was our time,” he said.

Lorre said it was through the Ed Sullivan show and the plethora of comedians that started on the show that he learned how important comedy could be.

Ever a student of the process, Lorre said he learned long ago that a pause, space and silence lend themselves to a great joke.

“It makes the comedy more accurate,” he said.

Lorre commented that despite the best efforts of a writer, it can be difficult to correct a joke that doesn’t land well. In order to do so, one must have humility, he said.

“The audience is huge. I know what’s funny to me, so I start there. I only know what’s funny to me but that’s a good place to start,” he said.

Lorre spoke to shows he would watch to learn from as well, including “Cheers” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

“I would watch ‘Cheers’ and study it. How they did certain things, the joke structure. Look at ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ as well. It’s a show that mostly takes place on a couch and in a bedroom and it’s hilarious,” Lorre said.

Inspiration can be taken from many places and many mentors, he said.

“There are mentors everywhere, you just have to be open to them,” he said.

Million dollar donation

Before the event wrapped up, Lorre had a surprise for Dr. Smith and the university.

Lorre commented that he has been approached many times over the last 15 years to speak at the school but continually turned down the opportunity.

“I always felt a little awkward about it, honestly. I didn’t graduate, I was a drop out. That was kind of embarrassing,” he said.

Lorre was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2009, when he also served as the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony as well.

“But nobody calls me doctor,” he joked.

But Lorre said he finally took school officials up on their offer after rethinking matters recently.

“I came back to say thank you because the two years I was here, 1970 to 1972...this was a safe environment to be a foolish young man,” Lorre commented.

“I didn’t, I didn’t take advantage of what was offered. So, you know, it was hard coming back but I have a chance to speak to you students today. There’s a great educational opportunity here. Take advantage of it. There’s still plenty of time to make a mess of your lives after you graduate,” Lorre said.

Lorre said he “didn’t have the good, common sense” at the time he attended to recognize the opportunities SUNY Potsdam provided for him. That’s why he wanted to participate with the university to provide opportunities for future generations.

“One of the things Jason (Ladouceur, Senior Director of College Advancement) came to me about was participating financially in the institution. Now, you can’t cash this at the bank but here is a check for $1 million for the university,” Lorre said.

The moment drew a standing ovation from the hundreds of faculty, staff, students, alumni and local residents who packed into Hosmer Hall for the momentous occasion.