“The Final Bazinga: How The Big Bang Theory Gave Fans the Perfect Send-Off”

The Big Bang Theory was an unexpected hit, becoming one of the most-watched sitcoms of the 21st Century. The series had mixed reviews in its first season, which debuted on CBS in late September 2007. However, audiences soon fell in love with the amiable nerds and their friend, Penny. That popularity helped the show become one of the longest-running sitcoms ever. The Big Bang theory also played a significant role in bringing nerd culture to the forefront of the mainstream public consciousness.

Over 12 seasons, The Big Bang Theory introduced long-running gags, witty characters, endless cameos, and storylines that ranged from hilarious to heartwarming. It garnered legions of awards and nominations, then inspired a popular and sometimes surprising spinoff, Young Sheldon, debuting its seventh and final season in May 2024. Now, a spinoff of the spinoff is set to debut in the fall of 2024, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. The show went out on a high, with Variety reporting it scored nearly 20 million viewers for its two-part finale. Even after new episodes stopped airing, the series lives on in syndication. However, the question looming over its legacy is how well the series wrapped up its story.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on September 3, 2024: The Big Bang Theory may have ended years ago, but fans are still obsessed with the classic sitcom. Thankfully, multiple spinoffs have come out to help expand the world of The Big Bang Theory beyond its twelve-season run. This article has been updated with additional information and adheres to CBR’s current formatting guidelines.

What Was The Big Bang Theory About?

The Sitcom Followed A Group Of Nerdy Friends Living In California

Set in Pasadena, California, The Big Bang Theory centered on an ensemble led by a pair of Caltech physicists named Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper — played by Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons, respectively — awkward geniuses with a love of everything geeky. Kaley Cuoco’s character was Penny, the beautiful aspiring actor (but working food server) from Nebraska, who moved in across the hall and became an unlikely addition to their friend group. The Big Bang Theory‘s ensemble cast was rounded out by engineer Simon Helberg’s Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Kunal Nayyar’s Rajesh Koothrappali. Eventually, Mayim Bialik’s Amy Farrah Fowler and Melissa Rauch’s Bernadette Rostenkowski joined the cast as romantic additions to the friend group.

Interestingly, The Big Bang Theory almost looked very different. The first pilot included a character named Kate, played by Amanda Walsh, but the pilot didn’t work. The Big Bang Theory joins an elite club the characters would approve of as another series with a first failed pilot was Star Trek, a series adored by Sheldon, Leonard, and the gang. “CBS called after the first pilot and asked if we could do it again and recast the female lead… but my response to them was, ‘No, I don’t think it was a casting problem, I think it was a writing problem.’ Our script didn’t fully realize our possibilities,” Chuck Lorre told Entertainment Weekly. In the first pilot, Kate is cruel to the other characters and sees them as people to exploit. Penny, instead, was charmed by them and tried to bring them out of their shells by “watching DVD commentaries” and playing Dungeons & Dragons.