The Big Bang Theory is going out with a bang as its 12th season debuting next month will be its last.
CBS network and producer Chuck Lorre confirmed the news in a joint statement which read: “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 [it] to an epic creative close.”
The series is ending as lead actor Jim Parsons was ready to call time on his character Sheldon Cooper, according to Entertainment Weekly.
The Deadline reported that everyone involved with the show was called to producer Lorre’s office after a table read, where he gave the floor to Parsons who announced the news.
Lorre reportedly tried to unsuccessfully change his mind, offering up to a $50 million deal for a further two seasons.
“It is hard (really impossible, actually) to really accept that this is a picture of the first of the final 24 episodes we will shoot for," Parsons wrote on Instagram.
He expressed “intense gratitude” for the crew, writers and his fellow castmates: “I will miss all of you and all of this more than I can say and more than I can know at this time.”
His co-star Kaley Cuoco told her followers she was “drowning in tears” over the news.
The show, which also stars Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch, has been one of the most watched shows in the US throughout the past decade. In its 12-years, the series won 10 Emmy Awards and received a further 52 nominations.
CBS was attempting to negotiate a deal that would have seen The Big Bang Theory continue for another two seasons, with Parsons set to earn almost $1 million per episode, reports The Independent.
Young Sheldon – a prequel focused on the younger version of Sheldon Cooper – is returning for a second season in September. Parsons is expected to stay on as its narrator.
The final season debuts on Sept 24 with the series finale set to air in May 2019 bringing its overall episode count to a staggering 279 making it the longest-running multi-camera series in TV history.