'The Bookie' on Max Premieres Thursday Night With Charlie Sheen: How Real is it?

Written by:
Jordan Bach
Published on:
Nov/30/2023

A new gambling series kicks of Thursday November 30 on Max.  "The Bookie" is an American comedy series created by Chuck Lorre and Nick Bakay starring Sebastian Maniscalco, Omar Dorsey, Andrea Anders, Vanessa Ferlito, Jorge Garcia, Maxim Swinton, and Charlie Sheen, who we are told appears in two episodes.

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Maniscalco has been making the rounds on various television shows, appearing Thursday morning on MSNBC's "Morning Joe", to discuss the concept.

He plays the lead role of Danny, a beleaguered Los Angeles sports bookie.

"Morning Joe" showed a preview of Danny bumbling around on his phone trying to manage his wife's needs with those of his clients.  Of course, today's bookmakers have it a little easier these days with the use of Pay Per Head online software.  Danny would most certainly need to utilize a PPH in this day and age with technological demands constantly evolving.

"At his core, Sebastian is a likable person, and that's what I wanted him to bring to Danny in 'Bookie,'" says Lorre ("The Kominsky Method," "The Big Bang Theory"). "He is just trying to make a living; he's not the apex predator."

Omar Dorsey ("Django Unchained," "Halloween Kills") plays Danny's business partner.

Maniscalco didn't really know a whole lot about the bookie world and Lorre was fine with that, encouraging the actor to avoid reading websites like Gambling911.com.

"When I first talked to Chuck about the part, I volunteered to start researching bookies and get into the gambling world," Maniscalco tells USA Today.  "And he said, please don't. He didn't want me changing this guy into "Rain Man" or something. He just wanted me to bring my personality to this. I just felt really relaxed doing this show."

Be sure to stream the new series on MAX, which just happens to be home to our favorite Investigation Discovery shows. 

- Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com

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