10 of the Biggest Revelations From Chuck Lorre's New Memoir 'Sitcom'

The King of Sitcoms laid bare the secrets behind his biggest television hits in his debut memoir, Sitcom.

Released on October 13, Chuck Lorre's Sitcom is a memoir "on his life and career in comedy," in which he "trades punchlines for real talk: the messy, very human truth behind Hollywood's glossy façade, addiction, his own and that of his famous colleagues, his failed marriages, disastrous life choices, and chronic illness--all of which somehow became the ingredients for comedy," the book's synopsis states.

It adds, "One chapter may leave you doubled over, the next might sneak in a lump in your throat — but that's Chuck. That's sitcoms. That's also real life."

Here are the most talked-about revelations from Lorre's book.

Before becoming known as the King of Sitcoms, Lorre pursued a music career while exploring the Church of Scientology.

In the memoir, he recalled being introduced to the group by a saxophonist in his band, who took him to one of its churches in Columbus, Ohio. He moved to Los Angeles after joining the church and visited Scientology's headquarters to further explore its teachings.

However, he found himself being encouraged to join Scientology's religious order, the Sea Organization (Sea Org).

"Three Scientology execs pinned me in a small room and urged me to pick up a pen and sign a Sea Org employment contract for . . . wait for it . . . one billion years," he wrote. "That's right, a one-­ billion-­ year contract. A mere blink of an eye if you're immortal and completely convinced of the insane f------ mission."

At the time, he reportedly signed the billion-year contract while he was struggling with his "dead-end music career" and felt "broken, outnumbered, and overwhelmed."

Still, his commitment to the Sea Org was short-lived.

"I lasted two days. Which means contractually, I owe the Church of Scientology a billion years of labor minus two days," Lorre penned.

Lorre alleged that he and other writers on Roseanne Barr's eponymous sitcom, Roseanne, were repeatedly forced to credit Tom Arnold for the scripts they had written.

He recalled learning about the practice from fellow writer Danny Jacobson, whose responsibilities allegedly included "[writing] real scripts and [putting] Tom's name on the front page—­ as if Tom had written them."

"[Jacobson] several other staff writers would be ordered to do this on many occasions. My silent mantra remained, 'Om mani colitis, poverty, hunger. Om mani colitis, poverty, hunger.' Was it a portent of bad things to come? You tell me," he continued.

According to Lorre, Cybill Shepherd "became a different person" at the start of Cybill Season 2.

"She made her toady manager a co-­ exec, and angrily demanded complete control of the stories, scripts, casting, cameras, lighting, editing, and probably craft services," he wrote in his memoir, per Entertainment Weekly.

Lorre also alleged that Shepherd repeatedly summoned him to her trailer after table reads and rehearsals to discuss script changes. The conflict eventually reached a breaking point when he refused to make further changes to a script and left the set despite being warned not to.

"Later that night, Yom Kippur eve, I got a call from a low-­level exec at Carsey-­Werner informing me not to come back. I was fired. (The Arabs always attack on a Jewish holiday)," he added. "Someone would clear out my office and send everything to my home."

Elsewhere in Sitcom, Lorre revealed that CBS executives initially opposed casting Jon Cryer as Alan Harper in Two and a Half Men. Despite a warning from the network's head of casting, he proceeded with the audition with support from his longtime casting director, Nikki Valko.

"The day before we went into CBS to show them our choices for Charlie [Sheen]'s brother and nephew, Peter Golden [CBS' head of casting], oops, I mean the unnamed head of casting, called and asked who I'd be bringing in," he scribed.

During Cryer's audition, then-CBS chief Les Moonves reportedly appeared unimpressed.

Lorre detailed in his book, "A grim Les Moonves sat with his arms folded, body language for 'no f------ way.' His lieutenants bookended him, also with arms crossed. Body language for 'I feel the same way Les feels.' And despite all that, Jon nailed it. His chemistry with Charlie was everything I could've hoped for... The three of them left the audition with me wildly applauding—­ all by myself. Les looked back at me, eyebrow raised."

In the excerpt shared by Vanity Fair, Lorre looked back at the troubling final scene Sheen filmed with Melanie Lynskey before production was halted.

"He couldn't remember any of his lines and had to use the furniture to keep himself upright," he claimed in the book. "Melanie was terrified. It was clear to everyone that this man, whom we'd all grown to love, was in trouble. I had no choice but to shut down the show."

After years-long of speculation he fired Sheen from Two and a Half Men, Lorre reiterated in his memoir that he never had the power to do so.

"Now let's be clear about something. For years, the media has reported that I had Charlie fired. Ridiculously untrue," Lorre said. "Anybody who knows anything about the television business knows that writers don't have the power to fire the star of a billion-dollar show. We are fungible; stars are not."

Lorre recalled receiving death threats and facing relentless paparazzi attention following his fallout with Sheen.

"Suddenly, I was a public figure. There were death threats. I needed police protection. Paparazzi were camped in front of my house. They chased me down the street. Photographed me coming out of restaurants," he wrote.

Lorre also named the A-lister who almost replaced Sheen on Two and a Half Men: Hugh Grant.

"Somehow Hugh Grant's name came up," he wrote in the book. "We met with him. He confided that he was terrified of working in front of a live audience. No problem, I assured him. I could get rid of the audience."

Grant was reportedly offered $750,000 per episode and a four-day workweek, among other offers. Although he initially appeared interested in the role, he abruptly backed out before signing a contract and "became 'unreachable.'"

Lorre shared in the book that he "expressed concern" about Ashton Kutcher replacing Sheen on Two and a Half Men because "he was too young for what [they] had in mind."

"Ashton was charming, funny, ridiculously handsome, and fascinated by all things tech. (Which we would later use in the creation of Walden Schmidt, internet billionaire and brokenhearted romantic.)," he wrote.

Kutcher ultimately starred in the sitcom's final four seasons.

Instead of Melissa McCarthy, a CBS executive reportedly suggested casting "a more attractive actress and put her in a fat suit" for the lead role in Mike & Molly.

"Melissa was gonna be my Molly. End of discussion," he wrote.

In Sitcom, Lorre recalled his initial reservations about casting Anna Faris as Christy Plunkett in the CBS sitcom Mom.

"I initially said no. I wasn't sure Anna would be appropriate for this kind of material," he shared in the memoir.

He eventually reconsidered, drawing on lessons he had learned from his troubled relationship with Sheen, adding, "Someone's personal life is none of my business. The mom in Mom would be, and should be, Anna Faris."