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No TV producer is more successful than Chuck Lorre. Not only does he have three hit sitcoms on the air now — "The Big Bang Theory," "Mike & Molly" and "Mom"— but the first two and "Two and a Half Men" are raking in big bucks in syndication.

His personal fortune is estimated somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion.

And yet … Lorre has a chip on his shoulder. I'm a fan, and I've had multiple encounters with him when it was instantly clear that he doesn't like TV critics.

To be clear, I think Lorre doesn't get the credit he deserves. "The Big Bang Theory" is one of the best sitcoms ever. I was a fan of his earlier work, including "Grace Under Fire," "Cybill," "Dharma & Greg" and even the short-lived "Frannie's Turn" way back in 1992.

He makes shows that make people laugh. And there are plenty of sitcom writer/producers who seem far more interested in what critics will say than actually making people laugh.

But if you read what Lorre writes on his producer vanity cards at the end of his shows, it's clear that he doesn't care for network execs or TV critics.

Check out this one, which ran at the end of "Mom" on Nov. 19:

"For the comedian, comic actor or comedy writer, nothing inflates the ego like the sound of people laughing. Nothing crushes it like their silence. This gives the audience enormous power. It's why performers and writers use the word 'kill' to describe material that causes an explosion of laughter. 'That joke killed' is a way of saying that, for a brief moment, they were able to dominate and control people who otherwise might hurt their feelings. For a brief moment they are victors, not victims.

"It also explains why many critics, network executives and 'cool' people remain stoic in the face of good comedy. Laughing out loud makes one appear vulnerable. Killable. These people are also defending fragile egos."

I'm on board with most of that. I know a lot of TV critics like that. I am like that sometimes.

But I've never tried to stifle laughter. I laugh out loud. Really loud. A lot.

Just ask my co-workers who sit close enough to hear me when I'm watching screeners in the office. And that would include … pretty much everybody in the office.

Yes, we're all looking for great TV. It's exciting when we find it.

But not everything has to be great to be enjoyable. A co-worker recently mentioned the E! series "The Royals," and I responded: "Oh, that's a terrible show. I've seen every episode."

Not everything has to be great art to be entertaining. If a comedy makes me laugh — granted, not all that hard to do — I'm not going to beat up on it.

Hey, I gave "Dr. Ken" a decent review. Because it made me laugh.

That was a minority opinion in the critical community. And, yes, I've been mocked for it.

But "Dr. Ken" is doing well enough that ABC has renewed it through the end of the season.

Scott D. Pierce covers television for The Salt Lake Tribune . Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.