Chuck Lorre says his working relationship with Cybill Shepherd unraveled on the sitcom he created for her, ending with his dismissal from Cybill. He revisits the dispute in his new memoir, Sitcom.
The CBS comedy debuted in 1995, starring Shepherd as a struggling actress balancing her career, two daughters and two ex-husbands. Christine Baranski played her best friend, Maryann Thorpe, alongside a cast that included Alicia Witt and Alan Rosenberg.
The book arrived Oct. 13 through Dey Street Books. Entertainment Weekly published excerpts on Oct. 17 and said it had sought comment from Shepherd’s representative.
Shepherd told the Los Angeles Times in 1996: “What Chuck wanted to do with the show is not what I wanted to do.”
Lorre Recalls Taking Notes From a Footstool in Shepherd’s Trailer
“Cybill became a different person,” Lorre writes of the start of the second season. He says she made her manager a co-executive producer and demanded authority over stories, scripts, casting, camera work, lighting and editing.
After table reads and rehearsals, he recalls being summoned to her trailer for script notes. Shepherd sat in a large leather Sharper Image lounge chair with a vibrating function, while he was assigned a footstool.
He Says a Dispute Over Act Two Ended With a Call That Night
Lorre says the final argument concerned the second act of an episode in production. When told that Shepherd was unhappy with it, he insisted the script did not need changing and announced that he was going home, according to TV Insider. He also writes that he probably had a few drinks to build up his courage before challenging the complaint. Despite a warning not to leave, he went.
Later that night, on the eve of Yom Kippur, an executive from production company Carsey-Werner called and told him not to return. Lorre says someone else would empty his office and send his belongings home.
His subsequent television work included Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly and Mom. In an Oct. 17 interview with NPR, he said he once disliked the word “sitcom” because he thought it diminished his work. Eventually, he became comfortable enough with it to put it on the cover.
Cybill Continued Through 1998, and Its Stars Later Made Peace
Cybill completed four seasons on CBS. The Television Academy records 12 Emmy nominations and three wins across its run. Baranski won supporting actress after the first season, while Shepherd received three lead-actress nominations. The other victories recognized art direction in 1995 and costuming in 1996.
Shepherd also won the 1996 Golden Globe for television comedy actress, and the show took the comedy or musical series award that year.
In 2000, Shepherd told CBS News that a “real bias against strong women” shaped her reputation for being difficult. Baranski told The Guardian in 2022 that work became politically difficult, but she valued the show and wished Shepherd well.
By October 2025, Shepherd said she and Baranski had resolved their differences. “We’re good now,” she told PEOPLE. Asked how they reached that point, she said, “Just a talk and be real open-hearted with each other.”