By Rich Heldenfels / Tribune News Service
On “The Big Bang Theory,” as the credits roll, there is always an epilogue of sorts. The Nov. 1 show said, “Love like there’s no tomorrow, vote like there is.” How timely is that?
These so-called “vanity cards” display logos of production companies at the end of shows. While some became famous for their images (the MTM cat, for example), writer-producer Chuck Lorre has used them for observations, thank-yous, social commentary, tidbits about making his shows and other items.
One sample, from a 2014 “Big Bang” card: Howard’s starting to throw a baseball was “an outright steal from classic scenes performed by Gleason and Carney (who probably stole it from Laurel and Hardy, who probably stole it from Euripides).”
Lorre has done the cards for more than 20 years on “The Big Bang Theory,” “Young Sheldon,” “Mom,” “Mike & Molly,” “Dharma & Greg” and “Two and a Half Men.”
Many of the comments were collected in a limited-edition book, “What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Bitter,” in 2012. Copies of the book can carry a triple-digit price tag now, but you can find the images of all the cards up to the present day, including several censored ones, online in “The Official Vanity Card Archives” on chucklorre.com.
Just understand that once you start looking at the cards, it’s hard to stop.
Another sample. Here’s the lead-in to a joke posted on Lorre’s website, followed by the punch line that appeared on a recent “Young Sheldon” card:
A guy goes into a dentist’s office. The dentist says, “How can I help you?”
The guy says, “I’m a moth.”
The dentist says, “Excuse me?”
The guy says again, “I’m a moth.”
The dentist says, “I think maybe you should be seeing a psychiatrist, not a dentist.”
The guy says, “I saw a psychiatrist.”
The dentist says, “So what are you doing here?”
The guy says…
“Your light was on.”
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