Jim Parsons Addresses The End Of The Big Bang Theory

The final Bazinga is nigh. 2019 will see the end of The Big Bang Theory which currently holds the record for the longest-running multi-camera series in TV history. The decision to terminate the show came after Jim Parsons decided to walk away from his role as Dr. Sheldon Cooper despite making nearly $1 million per episode.

Parsons took to social media with a heartfelt message regarding the end of the show that made him a household name for over a decade:

It is hard (nearly impossible, actually) to really accept that this is a picture of the first of the final 24 episodes we will shoot for The Big Bang Theory. I feel very fortunate that we have another 23 episodes to shoot this season because I am hopeful that with each and everyone, my level of REALLY accepting this fact will sink in. Something else i feel grateful for – and this gratitude needs no time to “sink in” or become more “realized;” this grateful-feeling is always with me but is multiplied in this moment of us announcing our final season – but I feel such intense gratitude for our devoted viewers who are the ACTUAL reason we have been graced with the opportunity to explore these characters for 12 years of our lives. I feel grateful to our crew – many, many of whom have been with us since day one – and who are the people who bring a sense of steadiness and dependability, who are so warm and kind and always quick to say hello and smile at us every time we come to the set and who, even thought you don’t see them on TV, are in many ways the ready and steady heartbeat that keeps this body of work alive and breathing while we, like flailing arms and legs, act like jackasses and fools in attempt to make someone laugh. I am grateful to all the writers of our show – those with us now and those that have come and gone – because, without them, there would literally be no Big Bang Theory at all, ever. The writers thought of this show, the writers created these characters, the writers re the ones who found ways to keep coming up with organic, entertaining ways to keep the life of this show going which is a task much, much more challenging than anyone other than them will ever know or understand. And while I know that they already know it, it bears repeating again and again: I am so terribly grateful for the cast in this picture and the cast members who aren’t pictured here – whether they were in one scene or many episodes along the way; you are all my playmates that I have fallen in love with and who have become a part of my life on set and off. You are my playmates when we don’t feel like playing but have to because it’s our job to get out there and communicate and pretend we’re these other fictional people and we look into each other’s eyes and say these words and end up creating this weird, other reality that has enriched my life more than I will fully ever understand. I will miss all of you and all of this more than I can say and more than I can know at this time.

Following the announcement of the show’s end, Warner Bros. Television, CBS, and Chuck Lorre Productions released a joint statement:

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.

Since it’s premiere in 2007, the show centered around the lives of young Caltech scientists has received 52 Emmy nominations and 10 wins, 4 of which were taken home by Parsons. In 2017, viewers were given the chance to flashback and watch a 9 year-old Sheldon Cooper go to high school in the successful spin-off show Young Sheldon.

The final season of The Big Bang Theory will debut during a special airing on Monday, September 24th on CBS before settling into its regular time period on Thursday, September 27th for the remaining episodes of season 12.

However, this won’t mark a complete end for Parsons and The Big Bang Theory. He is an executive producer and voiceover talent on Young Sheldon which will debut it’s second season on September 24th, following The Big Bang Theory.