On Wednesday, it was announced that The Big Bang Theory was (finally) ending its seemingly never-ending run on CBS. The show’s 12th season, which kicks off on September 24, will be its last. Can I say “it’s about time?”
According to Entertainment Weekly, CBS hoped to keep the show limping along through at least a few more seasons. They offered cast members Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Kunal Nayyar, and Simon Helberg a reported two-year, $50 million contract, but Jim, who is capable of much better things, turned the offer down. Sheldon is the most popular character on the show, the only one with his own spin-off. If there’s no Sheldon, there’s no show. Bazinga, indeed. A joint statement issued by Warner Bros. Television, CBS, and Chuck Lorre Productions stated,
“We are forever grateful to our fans for their support of The Big Bang Theory during the past 12 seasons. We, along with the cast, writers, and crew, are extremely appreciative of the show’s success and aim to deliver a final season, and series finale, that will bring The Big Bang Theory to an epic creative close.”
After the announcement was made, Kaley, who said she was “drowning in tears” posted a cast photo to Instagram and said that “This ride has been a dream come true and as life changing as it gets.” She thanked the show’s supporters and crew and promised “We are goin [sic] out with a bang.”
Kunal, who plays Raj Koothrappali, shared his take on the news, revealing that, “There are no words in any language that can describe what my heart wants to say…The love that I feel for all of you is boundless.” No word if he was also drowning in tears.
Mayim Bialik, who plays Amy, shared her thoughts on the grok nation blog, unsurprisingly stating, “Am I happy? Of course not.” She added, “I love my job. I love my castmates, and I feel such appreciation for our incredible crew, our brave writers, our entire staff, and our amazing fans.” And, the man at the center of the show’s ending, Jim Parsons, shared a lengthy statement on Instagram, saying he was “terribly grateful” for the cast “who are all my playmates.”
Kaley shouldn’t be too sad over the end of the show. Twelve seasons is a pretty impressive accomplishment, and she’s now got more time to spend with her new husband, her dogs and her horses. Besides, the way things have been going in television, you can expect the show to be brought back for a “revival” in a few years.
Photos: Instagram, Getty, WENN
This show is painfully awful. I never understood the appeal.
I loved Jim Parsons (loved!) in the Normal Heart and hated him in Hidden Figures. He needs to do more stuff!! I think it’s great he had the strength to say no. It’s always better when shows go while they’re still “good” (in quotes here because I don’t think this show is good at all, but I get it’s popular)
I can understand Kaley being sad, but she’s had a pretty successful career (for being a really mediocre actor) and should be happy for that. If I were her, I’d retire and enjoy my life
I agree, it was awful. I don’t understand how it stayed on so long. It’s on the level of “Two Broke Girls” when it comes to unwatchable drivel. Terrible tv. There’s so much good tv in this day and age, who is choosing to watch this terrible show!?
It was way better than 2 Broke Girls. Not that that’s saying much.
I was just coming down here to post the word “drivel” somewhere too, so thanks for beating me to the punch. These people must all be rich as f- at this point. It’ll be interesting to see who goes on to do what!
I don’t know if they’ve been pulled down but on YouTube people used to post videos of the show without the laugh track and it was so obvious how poorly written this show was.
Other than Parsons and maybe Galecki, I think it’s the end of the road for the other actors but they’ve done extremely well money-wise and should have a comfortable life.
I agree. Never understood the appeal. The dumb sexual innuendo jokes that pass as hilarious repartee.
Watched two episodes and that was enough.
I hated it too! I never got this show whatsoever. I never made it through more than one or two episodes. I can’t believe it made it this long.
I see a lot of parallelism between Kaley Cuoco’s career and Jennifer Aniston’s so far. If that’s good or bad, I don’t know, but she has nothing to worry about as far as having a comfortable and fulfilling life is concerned.
Good riddance.
Couldn’t sit through the show and the jokes are lake borderline racist and misogynistic.
Agreed. This show is the least funny show on TV. Why people love it so much is beyond me.
“Us Indians, or come to our casino Indians?” Ignorant and unfunny show.
Urgh. I’ve never watched it and I’m so grateful.
I’ve never seen this show in America. It’s a hoot when the voices are over dubbed in german and then translated to english on screen. I watched a few episodes this summer while on vacation in Budapest.
Probably the only way I could tolerate the show would be to hear it in German.😁
As much as I love the show, yeah its about time. They taken it as far as they can with the storyline. And yeah without Sheldon there is no show – have seen clips of the Young Sheldon show and its good.
Jim is a great actor and his movie career is taking off so I don’t blame him. Kaley am sure will find another TV show for herself.
Young Sheldon is fabulous. The young boy who plays Sheldon (Iain Armitage) is perfection (wasn’t he the boy in “Big Little Lies”?); Annie Potts is a hoot!
Big Bang was great, but it’s definitely fallen off the last few years. I think it’s gone as far as it can. Best to go out on their own steam. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a “Friends”-like ending: Penny and Leonard, and possibly Sheldon and Amy starting a family/buying a house/moving on, Howard and Bernadette are already settled, and Raj *finally* finds real love lol.
If they went the Friends route, they’d have to keep Raj single so they could use him for a spinoff (like Joey). Would be weird (but not all that surprising) if that was the plan all along…
Will Kaley miss the show or the millions? She is practically Exhibit A of white privilege. But I will give her and the other stars credit for taking a pay cut to raise the salaries of the cast members. That was nice at least.
Yep. She is lucky. She landed a part in a show that was never recognized critically, only for the work of Jim Parsons. He will probably go on to bigger and better things. She will go on to ig and post pics of herself and new husbands. Buh bye
Yep,personality I never got her appeal and though I know this show has been a serious success I never liked it.She ,to me, is harmless and cute (but so is my poodle)Think she landed a great gig,with her mediocre talent,and knows it won’t be this good for her again career wise.🐩
I never watched the show! I dislike her from the threads on her, mostly on this site. I did see her in a tv movie with Rob Lowe, and she is, as you say, mediocre. Sitcoms just aren’t funny anymore. Guess that’s why they keep trying to bring the old ones back. 🤷♀️
Wasn’t she one of the more recognizable ones when the show started? She’s been on a few other series before that, I don’t think she came out of nowhere or just lucked out in getting cast.
That said, I don’t care for her much either, and I cringed anytime I heard even a few moments of the show.
She was on that John Ritter show 8 Simple Rules. She played his daughter and yeah that was his last show. I remember she was interviewed (along with Katey Segal) about Ritter’s death. It was just really sad. That’s where I remember her from. However, that didn’t make me watch this show. I avoided it for 12 seasons!
I think she doesnt get enough credit for being relativitly normal considering she has been working in hollywood since she was a young teen.
@BearcatLawyer: How is Kaley a example of white privilege?
The only two sitcoms I was able to watch from the first to the last episode were King of Queens and Fresh prince. I was never able to get into Big Bang, don’t rly get the appeal tbh.
I love, love, love this show. But the minute they started making baby after baby for Bernadette and Howard I knew they were simply out of original ideas. It’s time.
Will binge watch forever, though!!!
Me too!
I agree its time but I believe the second pregnancy was only written bc of the actress’ real life pregnancy.
She was drowning in tears over the lost paycheck.
I’d probably be drowning in tears over losing that kind of money too.
Right?! 1 million per episode for 10 months of work. I’d be sick. Jim Parsons clearly thinks he’s made enough money and is ready for a change but that’s a lot of money to say no to.
Between base pay, residuals, and her Priceline gig, I doubt that she’ll ever *hurt* for $$$. And her hubby comes from wealth as well. They’ll do just fine, even if she never works again.
this is also her 3rd series (in addition to the John Ritter show she was on as a teen, she had a few year run on Charmed as well) so I doun’t think she’s hurting for cash
That show is in syndication and if her agent negotiated a good deal, she’d live on residuals plus any money made from dvd sales.
Right. It couldn’t possibly be the chance to act with a group of people you love and respect.
Yeah she has quite an equestrian hobby-she’s going to be hurtin for cash. Hopefully she didn’t lose too much to her first husband and is well invested now.
I agree. It’s been on for a very long time. I’m okay with it ending.
The show is painful and not funny. I don’t understand it’s fame whatsoever.
I confess, I have watched every single episode of the Big Bang Theory. I don’t understand the criticism directed at the show. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. The last few seasons have been lacking the humour of the first five seasons. But it’s a harmless 30 minute distraction and Kaley Cuoco is adorable as Penny.
Hi Rosalee, I too have watched every single episode (so many more than once 🙂 )! What draws me to it the most is the love and friendship between the characters. In good times and bad, they somehow manage to stay friends and with the state of the world today, that’s a rare feat! I have laughed out loud watching this show way more than any other and even when a particular episode isn’t super funny it’s, as you said, a harmless 30 minute distraction.
Same here. Love the show and love the characters. I’ll even miss horrible Howard because he is such a disgusting ratfink and gets called on it every time.
Ah well. Reruns!
Agreed. I, personally, love the show. I always keep some episodes (of this, Frasier, and Everybody Loves Raymond) in the DVR to watch, esp. during summer when there’s only crap Reality shows on TV.
Yes I love it too.Granted the last few years have not been great but the first seven seasons were hysterical.
I’m a massive fan of the show. I love it, and I can watch episodes again and again. I will miss it, but all good things must end.
One of the things I like about the show is how the characters have grown and (mostly) evolved. They’re surprisingly multi-dimensional for a sitcom.
Agree. I have a hard time watching Howard pre-Bernadette for example. Early on, the writing was awful for his character.
I mean, you’re allowed to like what you like. But by “I don’t understand the criticism directed at the show.” do you mean “I don’t know why it bothers people so much?” or like criticism on it’s writing/acting/whatever?
Honestly, I watched a couple of seasons at first. It was amusing, I guess. But it’s not even close to the best show about nerds. The IT Crowd is WAY funnier, in my opinion. My issue with the show is the issue that I have with all of Chuck Lorre shows. It’s the same joke over and over. Not just over and over in this show – over and over across all of his shows. Throw in a few dirty jokes, someone struggling to understand ‘regular’ people, toss in a laugh track and bam, it’s done.
Is it harmless? I mean, even though it’s a show about nerds – it’s still largely at their expense. It’s just the same ‘oh look at them try to interact with people – they’re awkward because all nerds are awkward!’ kind of thing. Which, isn’t the most evil thing on tv, honestly, but it’s still not great. It is however often misogynistic – reinforcing what men ‘should’ be like and that women are there as prizes. It’s a show about social outcasts… who still belittle Raj for being interested in more feminine things than what is considered the ‘norm’. The women of the show only exist in relation to the men – Penny and Bernadette are there as the prize for Leonard and Howard, while Amy is often rebuffed by Sheldon for being a woman in what he considers to be a lesser field of work. The guys inappropriate behavior towards women is played out as a joke because of they’re just soooo harmless and awkward. And my main issue with that is that it’s SO widely watched. It’s reinforcing some sketchy relationship behavior to a very wide range of audience. I wouldn’t chalk it up as being a harmless show.
That said – it’s an incredibly successful show. It’s done the job it had to do – appeal to a large audience and make money. And holy crap, has it made money. There have also been some genuinely nice moments, and some genuinely funny ones throughout it’s run. But for the most part, it’s a show that seemed to follow a formula to a very rigid extent, which is a double edged sword, I guess.
Obviously you’re a hard core fan, terrific Beverly Hofstadter dialogue!
Erinn, that was well-reasoned and fair response to a presumably hypothetical question. I agree with what you’ve posted; you’ve summed up my thoughts about this show too.
It seems safe to say that Rosalee was not about to accept any response, however. Oh well.
This smug, unfortunate – looking woman is only second behind Hathaway in the annoying stakes so thank f*ck…that is all Ive got.
You summed up my feelings exactly. Smug being the perfect definition.
Omg I thought I was the only one. I’ve never seen the show, but do read about her on here. I don’t get the appeal at all.
” our brave writers” Mayim Bialik
Holy crap, is the bravery the part where they put no effort scripts to a terrible laugh track ad naseum?
Same jokes over and over again. And the Howard character is just gross and creepy.
Like it or not, this show have a huge impact on nerd culture. There was a good season, there was a bad season. Overall I still love this show (hopefully) to the end. Thanks show!
I actually know a lot of self professed nerds who hate the show because they hated how nerds were depicted on the show and how every single awful stereotype was grossly exaggerated.
I caught a random episode here and there, usually a rerun and while I think I may have laughed a bit, it wasn’t enough to get me to watch the show on a regular basis. I think Jim Parsons is a great actor and I think he will go on to do great things beyond the show. I think the premise just wore thin after so long–after all, for how many years can two nerdy guys (even if they are best friends) share an apartment for so long while they are in committed relationships? I also can’t stand Kaley Cuoco so I had no desire to watch her on the show. I always wondered how it kept getting renewed–like who is watching this show?? Nobody I know watches it. In the day and age of shows only lasting a few seasons, nobody wants to get invested in something that is 5+ seasons long.
I do have a friend whose horse is named Sheldon and his show name is Bazinga after the character lol.
I have a friend who refers to it as “a nerd minstrel show,” which I think is dead on.
Ohhhhh boy.
No. It made some nerdy stuff more mainstream for the people that didn’t care about it at all, I guess? But it didn’t really impact the ACTUAL nerds out there. If anything, it annoyed the hell out of the ones who had always had the interest in the stuff they love despite it not being cool because so many idiots came out “hur hur, I love nerd stuff! I’m such a nerd, I totes watch BBT”.
Source: coding nerd, working in a nerd industry.
I hope they negotiated the sort of deal that the Friends cast did regarding reruns.
What I don’t understand is so many people saying “thank god!”. This was all over twitter and pop culture places like the av club yesterday. I have never watched one moment of reality tv. Not one show, not one moment. I just was never into that and never explored or looked at it. This may be part of why I never saw trump coming. I knew him from NY, not from the apprentice. I didn’t believe he could be elected, I thought the idea was ridiculous.
Anyway, my point being, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Why are people celebrating the end of a show they don’t like? They must not watch it, so how does it affect you? I love the show, but don’t mind it ending because it has gone on so long. That’s fine. But if you hate it and are celebrating its end, that doesn’t make sense to me. Surely there are worse things on the air.
IMO, this show is 10 times funnier than Friends ever was, because the cast was/is far more talented.
Parsons is the biggest talent of either show, IMO. Other than him, I don’t know. Galeki is the luckiest man in hollywood, I think anyone could play that role and a lot of them could play it less annoyingly. Cuoco doesn’t rise to Aniston’s comedic timing, but she’s really pretty good. And sometimes she does. For me, Parsons and Bialik created one of the most touching couples on a sitcom I’ve ever seen. I would say their relationship blows anything Friends ever did relationship wise out of the water.
Only time will tell if any of this cast gets jobs in the future. I only know Jim Parsons is very talented, but the rest I don’t know, but seem forgettable. Totally disagree about the cast being better than Friends, but this is a site for different opinions. *I have a feeling a whole different audience watched either one show or the other* I watch Friends on reruns and never could stand to watch the BBT because of Kaley. Can’t love everyone!
I honestly don’t think Galecki is talented. Every single member of the Friends’ cast is more talented than he. He is a lucky, lucky man.
Outside of Jim Parsons the rest are mediocre sitcom actors. And it’s an insult to Lisa Kudrow to say she has less talent than any of these people.
Simon Helberg was in that movie with Meryl Streep, where he played her pianist (he’s actually quite a good pianist IRL). I think he’s pretty talented.
Keep in mind, Galecki played the “straight man” of this comedy, aka the boring guy whose character sets off the eccentricities of the quirky characters. It does take skill to play that role. You have to have the timing to set up the joke. It is like a volleyball team. Galecki sets up the ball so Parsons can spike the joke over the net. If the joke isn’t set up right, it won’t land right and get a laugh.
The “straight man” character always gets less kudos for what they do, but it does take skill.
Tiffany, fair point.
I found friends very annoying and could never watch it.I tried but I disliked everything about it.It wasn’t funny to me and I have a pretty good sense of humor.BBT was much better and Chuck Lorre makes great show’s.Two And A Half Men was hysterical.
Because it’s E V E R Y W H E R E.
So is reality tv, but it doesn’t bother me none. I do the click thing and I haven’t been traumatized. Until one of them became president.
You’re cracking me up Darla!! We do the click too, doesn’t everybody??! I so agree with your assessment of Galecki, I just didn’t want to spar with people over whose the best. Because we all know the Friends cast is! Lol…..critically speaking anyway, Parsons is the only one to win an Emmy. Haha, we’re traumatized over the Apprentice guy’s jump to presidency. Still can’t believe it, honest to God. @Nic919: For real. They can’t stand in Lisa’s shadow. Wait and see, they will disappear.
Seriously though. I didn’t watch the Apprentice because I thought that guy was too irritating and smug to handle, then he started showing up on the news… I still can’t cope. The only thing that could make it any worse would be if he was wearing a “Bazinga!” shirt.
Agreed. I think it has lost some of its touch the past few seasons, which is expected in any show. Same happened to Friends, Frasier, etc. I always get a little sad when an actual scripted show ends. I don’t care if its a show I was super passionate about like Frasier or one that was merely something I watched while working out, like the Big Bang Theory. I can’t stand reality TV and every time a sitcom dies off and isn’t replaced I think oh god more reality crap is going to take its place. I am so glad for other avenues like Netflix so I have other places to watch actual talented actors and actresses and not trash like Real Housewives and the Kartrashians. I think the worst part is a lot of reality tv brings out the worst people, not the best.
TOTALLY agree with everything you said, Angela82!
I always say invest in an Amazon firestick. You will always have something to watch. Much much better than Hulu. @tealily: I couldn’t watch the Apprentice either, even when others I know did. I couldn’t stand him or his wicked spawn. People don’t change. He is beyond despicable.
There is a sitcom on Netflix called One Day at a Time (no not the one with Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips & Valerie Bertonelli. One of them shows up in this one but I won’t spoil it as to who). that’s really good. I only watch things on Netflix now. Gave up cable so I can’t watch these shows (BBT, etc) unless I am at someone’s place and they’re watching it. Only seen a few episodes but I thought they were funny.
Btw this is my first comment here though I have lurked for years. Just had to tell you about that show; that’s how good I think it is.
Not sad – show ran out of steam several seasons ago. Jim Parsons is wise to let it go.
Please don’t hurt me. I just realized that my husband and I have seen every episode of BBT since the debut. We’re attached to most of the characters and it’s what people would call a guilty pleasure. But I ain’t ashamed! You like what you like.
Definitely a guilty pleasure. I watch it sometimes to forget the actual reality that’s happening in the American government. F— reality TV for bringing that orange stain into the Presidency.
Your reputation is safe. There are people who kept watching Two and a Half Men past the first episode, after all.
I haven’t watched it in years. Last I saw, they were engaged. There was a baby. ALL of the jokes were old, tired, and the whole “twentysomething/thirtysomethings are so clueless, watch as they navigate life!” basis ran itself out long ago.
And of course the actors are sad. Bye bye, steady paycheck. They probably know that most of them have been typecast.
The actors have no reason to be sad about their paychecks. The friends cast is reported to make 20 mil/year (a piece) because of reruns because of their syndication deal. I’m sure TBBT cast was savvy enough to negotiate for a similar deal. They’re going to be comfortable for the rest of their lives. The top five leads even took a pay cut so that the two supporting actors could get a pay increase. It’s not always about the money. It really does seem like the cast was all good friends – how can you not be after 12 years?
I am just curious what people are watching for comedy these days?
I’m gonna miss this show. It came out while I was still in college (high school in the US) and my orientation was Science (I was the girl in Science Club trying to not make things blow up) and I remember being enthralled by these science geeks leading a comedic and intelligent show.
I’ve watched this show ever since (I am now 31) and even visited set when I was in LA a couple of years ago.
I got surgery yesterday and I’ve been binging on this show since yesterday night as it keeps me focused off the pain. I
I’m sad it’s gonna be over, but we all knew it had to end someday. I wish everyone involved in this show many successes to come.
The show had its legitimately funny moments, but it went stale awhile ago, so I don’t blame Parsons for leaving and wanting to do other things. If he was up for fifty million after doing two more seasons, God knows how much he had already. More than enough to live on the rest of his life very comfortably, that’s for certain. He can do whatever he wants television/indie wise.
In general, as sad as some of the cast is, I’d imagine most of them are fairly financially comfortable at this point. so I’m not too worried about the lot of them.
I never liked this show. Couldn’t understand why it was so popular. I love “Young Sheldon,” though.
I didn’t realize this show was still on.
I enjoy TBBT and agree Jim Parsons is the main reason to watch.
I am actually glad he ended it tho. It’s been going downhill for a few years.
Young Sheldon is very enjoyable, IMO.
Anything but more idiot reality shows, please.
Netflix, Amazon Prime and just bought Amazon Fire Stick TV, network/cable is mostly awful.
I can easily watch PBS/BBC/Masterpiece and find something to interest me. But, truly a well written, fresh comedy would be most welcome. Where are all the decent comedy writers these days?
We need some decent laughs these days!
Should have ended a few seasons back. I enjoyed watching it for the first few seasons. Then it was way past its shelf life.