So it is that the longest running multi-camera angle series in television history is finally getting a curtain call after 12 seasons of nerdgasmic comedy.
Yep that’s right, after 279 episodes, executive producer Chuck Lorre’s masterpiece will officially bow out following its finale in May of 2019, giving fans eight more months to properly geek out on the world’s most famous goofballs, and their brilliantly awkward misadventures.
Going out with a bang?
It didn’t actually seem like we were going to say goodbye to Sheldon and co in 2019. In fact, as late as last week, the rumour mill was grinding out their own theories about a potential 2-year renewal. CBS Entertainment president, Kelly Kahl, would be confounded, seeing as she claimed:
“We don’t believe it’s the final season; we are in preliminary discussions to renew the show with the studio that produces it, Warner Bros.”
But alas, it is what it is. Warner Bros. TV, CBS and Chuck Lorre Productions released a joint statement, in which they said:
“We are forever grateful to our fans for their support of The Big Bang Theory during the past twelve 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.”
Pretty conclusive that. And to think, what’s going to fill the Thursday evening void now?
Big Bang legacy
As the name suggests, The Big Bang Theory is, well, big. Not just big. It’s huge. 52 Emmy nominations, 10 wins, and 11 years later, it has spanned a generation of quick-witted, intellectually-stimulating comic relief that’s bang on par with its 90s counterpart, “Friends”.
Ever since the attractive blonde bombshell, Penny, first crossed paths with her dorky neighbours from across the hall, the marvelous Sheldon Cooper and partner-in-geek, Leonard Hofstadter, she, like the rest of the human population, was cast headfirst into an exuberant world that actually made science fun. Throw in the bromancin’ Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali, a hot mug of steaming tea and buttery homemade biscuits, and it’s a fitting Thursday night.
From its debut in 2007, fans have been treated to episode after episode of gut-busting hilarity, featuring the awesome foursome that give ‘geek’ a good name.
The numbers don’t lie
It didn’t look like the series was slowing down by any means. The show’s eleventh season averaged 18.9 million viewers, bang on par with the tenth, making it the second-most watched television series last season (second only to the now cancelled “Roseanne”).
It is unclear why they decided to end it next year, but the feeling behind the scenes is that the producers wanted to end it on a high, bowing out as the highest-rated comedy series, which, coupled with its longest-running title, will definitely mean it will get a fond farewell among fans and critics.
End of an era
The Big Bang Theory really put ‘geek’ on the map. That much is for sure. Everything from string theory to comicon just became that much cooler thanks to the show and its diverse range of dynamic characters.
And maybe Sheldon didn’t receive the MacArthur Grant, but it won’t matter so much to him, considering he, like his fellow co-stars, walked away with a whopping $1 million an episode. Do they really not want to renew it for two more seasons?
Big Bang will return on September 24, before moving on to its usual Thursday prime-time on September 27.
