Say goodbye to The Big Bang Theory with EW’s collector’s edition

Twelve seasons. More than 200 episodes. The same four nerds. God only knows how many utterances of “Bazinga.” It’s been a long, winding road unraveling the mystery that all started with, well, you know. But now it’s finally time to say goodbye…almost.

Ahead of The Big Bang Theory‘s series finale on May 16, we’re here to help you bid the show farewell with EW’s Ultimate Guide, a special collector’s edition jam-packed with all the Big Bang content you could crave. The issue features a roundtable with the cast, a behind-the-scenes look at the final season, a roundup of our favorite moments from the show’s history, a look back at its troubled origin story (involving a recast lead character and a reshot pilot), and plenty of teases for the sure-to-be-emotional series finale, plus much more. (Have you been waiting for a breakdown of Sheldon’s favorite T-shirts? This is the issue for you!)

“Everyone has such specific ideas about what they think the end of the show should be,” says executive producer Steve Holland. “We know what we are driving towards and where we want to land.” He is aware that Cuoco and Parsons, along with most of the viewing audience, would like to see the elevator fixed. For now, though, Holland is keeping any repair plans — if they even exist — to himself. Galecki just hopes the final episode includes lots of emotional moments, because “none of us are going to be able to keep from crying during the last taping. We’ve got to justify it in the writing somehow.”

It was Parsons who set into motion the plan to end the show after season 12. Though CBS was eager to renew the sitcom for another two seasons, the actor told executive producer Chuck Lorre that he was ready to move out of apartment 4B for good. Since there is no comedy without Sheldon, the decision was made to wrap the show in the spring. “It just felt that it was time,” Parsons tells EW. “It speaks to a lot of things, none of them bad. There is no negative reason to stop doing Big Bang. There are good reasons. We’ve been able to do this for so many years, it doesn’t feel like there is anything left on the table. Not that we couldn’t keep doing it; the writers could still think of wonderful things for us to do. But it feels like we chewed all of the meat off this bone. At a personal level, it feels like the right time of life. I’m firmly in my middle age now. I don’t know how much longer I can wear [the T-shirts] without looking really long in the tooth.”