Chuck, Close

Over the past 12 years, Lorre's cards have been all those things and more. They've offered intimate revelations, broad comedy, and righteous anger (often inspired by network censors). They've been alternately depressing and charming, lighthearted and uncomfortably dark. They've occasionally provided revealing glimpses into how a sitcom is made; on other occasions, they've provided peeks into the psyche of a narcissist. The cards have evolved over time—the ones from the Dharma and Greg era are fittingly earnest, while more recent ones tend to focus on the mechanics of Hollywood—but they've never been boring.

Hillary Busis in Slate presents a slide show of television producer Chuck Lorre's "vanity cards."