Chock it up to his induction into the TV Academy Hall of Fame. After a tumultuous year battling his former Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen, notoriously tight-lipped executive producer Chuck Lorre was in a decidedly chipper mood March 1 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, cracking Sheen jokes and spilling secrets about his show's upcoming plots. Among the reveals:
Two and a Half Men's Evelyn (Holland Taylor) will have a lesbian relationship — with Mary Tyler Moore and Everybody Loves Raymond vet Georgia Engel! "Georgia's playing Jean, the sweet, widowed mom of Courtney Thorne Smith [Lyndsey]," says Lorre. "She and Evelyn really hit it off." According to Taylor, "Chuck wants to show Evelyn experiencing real affection for the very first time." Meanwhile, Jon Cryer says his character, Alan, "becomes concerned with how to break this news to Jake once the ladies decide to get matching tattoos."
Mike & Molly will say their 'I do's' in a black community church. After Molly blows a wedding interview with Mike's mom's Catholic priest, the couple turns to Grandma's Baptist church. "We're hoping to use the very same church used in The Blues Brothers," says Billy Gardell (Mike). "It has a great gospel vibe to it." Also, the surprise return of Mike's long-MIA father "will weigh heavily on Mike's big day," says Lorre. And Molly's wedding dress will soon be revealed. Says Melissa McCarthy (Molly): "A lot of choices are coming, but I've asked that it be bought somewhere that Molly can afford. Molly can't afford a $17,000 Monique Lhuillier."
The Big Bang Theory wedding will hit a snag when Howard has to possibly choose between marrying Bernadette and fulfilling his dream of traveling to the International Space Station. "The two events are going to fight each other out," says Lorre. Fellow executive producer Bill Prady adds, "One event may have to be rescheduled."
