No need to place your bets: Chuck Lorre‘s “Bookie” is coming back. The comedy series, starring Sebastian Maniscalco and created by Lorre and Nick Bakay, has been renewed for a second season. The first season’s finale debuted on Max on Dec. 21.
“We couldn’t be more excited that Max listened to their gut, paid the juice, and let it ride on Season 2 of ‘Bookie,'” Lorre and Bakay said in a statement.
The dark comedy, produced by Warner Bros. TV, followed Maniscalco’s Danny, an L.A. bookie trying to keep his job amid the possible legalization of sports gambling in California. With the help of his best friend Ray (Omar J. Dorsey), sister Lorraine (Vanessa Ferlito), and reformed drug dealer Hector (Jorge Garcia), he must try to settle his clients’ debts.
“There’s no doubt that Chuck and Nick’s ‘Bookie’ won big this season as they took us on a hilarious ride into the underbelly of illegal sports gambling, featuring a cast led by another dynamic duo: Sebastian Maniscalco and Omar J. Dorsey,” Channing Dungey, Chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. TV Group, said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to watching more of their antics in Season 2. Congratulations to the entire cast and crew, and thanks to our partners at Max.”
The series also stars Andrea Anders, Vanessa Ferlito and Maxim Swinton. Lorre also staged a bit if of a “Two and a Half Men” reunion with a surprise appearance by Charlie Sheen and Angus T. Jones — a move that shocked longtime fans aware of Sheen and Lorre’s public falling out in 2011.
After many years, the producer was able to move forward. “I loved working with Charlie on ‘Two and a Half Men.’ We did 170 episodes together before it all fell apart. And more often than not, we had a good time. Assuming he’s in a good place, I’m in a good place,” he told Variety about deciding to reach out to Sheen. “I was nervous, but almost as soon as we started talking, I remembered, we were friends once. And that friendship just suddenly seemed to be there again. I don’t want to be too mawkish about it, but it was healing. And he was also totally game to make fun of himself. When he came to the table read of that episode, I walked up, and we hugged. It was just great.”
Maniscalco executive produces alongside Lorre, Backay, Judi Marmel and Andy Tennant.
