Chuck Lorre, the man behind classic sitcoms such as CBS’s “Two and a Half Men,” “Mom” and “The Big Bang Theory,” has taken his comedy in a different direction with Max’s “Bookie.”
“Bookie” is a comedy for sure but it has no live audience or laugh track. It follows two bookies and longtime friends in Los Angeles ― Danny Colavito (Sebastian Maniscalco) and Ray Mayfield (Decatur native Omar Dorsey) ― struggling to collect from gamblers and keeping their families happy. After a particularly strong Super Bowl haul in the seven figures, they recently opened season two in much better financial shape than they were season one.
But Dorsey’s Ray, a former NFL player who has multiple kids with multiple women, has to grapple with a particularly greedy mom of one of his kids who moves into his house against his will. Plus, he and his grandma have to take care of an 80-year-old man she married who had a heart attack at their wedding and is now barely functional.
Before “Bookie,” Dorsey, who splits time between Los Angeles and Decatur, has been better known for his dramatic range in films such as “Django Unchained,” “The Blind Side” and “Selma” as well as OWN’s critically acclaimed “Queen Sugar.” But he uses his serious persona and turns it on its head in “Bookie,” where the deadpan humor and sharp writing mean the characters zing each other without fail.
“The relationships are just funny,” Dorsey told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a recent phone interview. “Sebastian and I hit it off immediately. By the time the first scene was shot, we were bouncing off each other like Abbott and Costello.”
As most streaming shows go nowadays, “Bookie” only runs eight episodes. “I think the story can be told in eight,” Dorsey said. “My pocketbook would love 22 episodes.”
As the two main stars, he noted, “we do work a lot on the show. Sebastian and I are in almost every scene. By the time those 10 weeks are over, we’re exhausted. I didn’t work nearly that much on ‘Queen Sugar.’ That was a true ensemble show. I don’t know how Larry Hagman did it back in the day on “Dallas!’”
Credit: Photograph by John Johnson/Max
Credit: Photograph by John Johnson/Max
Given that his character has multiple kids, it seemed apropos that he and his wife Conisha Wade had a baby in real life while shooting season two last year. “We had induced labor so we could time things with production,” he said.
When he’s staying in Atlanta, he’ll occasionally hang out with friends, talk sports and maybe go to a Falcons game or a cigar lounge.
“My mom [Naomi Dorsey] lives in Decatur,” he said. “I love hanging out with her. She’s so spry. She works out at age 81 and runs 4, 5 miles every morning. She’s an inspiration.”
But otherwise, Dorsey said his life is definitively boring compared to that of his character ― or Maniscalco’s real life.
“Sebastian is always on the road,” Dorsey said of the comedian-actor. “He has a far more exciting life than I do so I live it vicariously.”
Lorre, who cocreated the show with “Mom” executive producer Nick Bakay, this season brought in many of his sitcom alum for cameo appearances as customers including Ray Romano, Charlie Sheen and Brad Garrett as well as “Scrubs” star Zach Braff.
In the first episode of season two, Garrett appears as a customer who mocks Ray for bringing a baby along on one of their collection runs. For example, after Ray asks for the money, Garrett’s character says: “How about I throw in another grand and you take that pacifier and you put it in your mouth and I take a picture for my Insta?”
Ray doesn’t take the roasting in good humor.
“I had the opportunity to knock Brad out,” Dorsey said.
IF YOU WATCH
“Bookie”
Now airing season 2 on Max with seven of eight episodes available; the final episode debuts Jan. 30.
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