As it was with season 10, The Big Bang Theory's future is up in the air as we head into season 12, which could mark the end of CBS's hit sitcom.
Showrunner Steve Holland is certainly working on the assumption that the upcoming season will have to wrap up the entire show and not assuming that CBS will renew it for season 13. "We're not leaving anything on the table in season 12," he promised. "If there are stories we want to do, we will put them out there and see what happens."
It echoed something he previously told Digital Spy as he was working on the final episodes of season 11.
"There's certainly stories that we still want to tell that we haven't told yet, and who knows what'll happen after season 12, so season 12 might be a nice chance to tell them," he outlined.
The season 11 finale featured a major moment of its own as Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) finally tied the knot, with none other than Star Wars' Mark Hamill on hand as the wedding officiant. We can't exactly see the show going through a bleak divorce subplot for the two, so the worry is that whatever the writers come up with won't be as noteworthy as the wedding, at least not for Sheldon and Amy.
"I think there are a few things that people ask about a lot that I think are going to make great stories next season. There's a few things that I think, for us, are just part of the mystery of the show that we'll probably never touch," Holland told EW ahead of the season 11 finale, which certainly sounds to us like they're building to an endgame for the show.
If it was up to CBS though, The Big Bang Theory wouldn't be ending anytime soon. "We are hopeful there will be more. We would certainly hope to get a few more years out of it," CBS entertainment president Kelly Kahl explained back in May.
The issue facing CBS though is that the cast's contracts are up after season 12, meaning that it's not just a case of saying they want to renew the show and it happening.
Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar have all been on the show since the beginning, while Melissa Rauch and Mayim Bialik started in season three, which is still almost a decade ago. So there's a chance that all of them – or some of them, at least – will want to go onto new things.
"I mean, no-one wants to see an old, fat Raj. I don't know if season 12's going to be the last season – those decisions are not up to me – but I do know for a fact that we have less [episodes to come] than we've already had," Nayyar told Digital Spy last year.
"I'm not saying it's the end after season 12, but we know that this incredible, special thing is going to come to an end, and sooner rather than later. So I think all of us [in the cast] are at least beginning to feel a little bit nostalgic about the time we've had."
Parsons added earlier this year: "It's really getting into a very individual state, of how does everybody feel, and whatever. And that includes the writers, who we've not had some major discussion with yet."
In a rarity for a long-running show, it certainly seems that the cast enjoy working together and don't have any major issues with each other, so it could well be that everyone will choose to sign on for a season 13 if CBS orders it. But maybe once discussions start about whether or not season 12 is the end, the cast will choose to end the show at the top of its game, rather than risk dragging it out.
Should season 12 mark the end though, it won't all be bad news for CBS as spin-off Young Sheldon has been a success in its own right, having been renewed for a second season. While it might not yet be pulling in the audience of almost 20 million an episode that The Big Bang Theory does, season one of Young Sheldon still managed more than 11 million an episode – which most sitcoms would kill for.
Young Sheldon's season one finale even managed to drop the bombshell that adult Sheldon has children, so there are definitely ways to keep the spirit of The Big Bang Theory characters alive on TV, even if we won't ever see them on the spin-off as it's a prequel. Sure, the dream scenario for CBS would be that they could keep their Sheldon power hour on a Thursday night in the US, but at least Young Sheldon has established itself if its parent show were to end.
CBS didn't renew The Big Bang Theory for seasons 11 and 12 until deep into season 10 airing in the US, so we might have a while to wait to see if it will be renewed again. But fans should maybe start preparing for saying goodbye to Sheldon, Amy and co...
The Big Bang Theory airs on CBS in the US and E4 in the UK.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
