Entertainment Weekly The Ultimate Guide to The Big Bang Theory

By The Editors of Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly Magazine presents The Ultimate Guide to The Big Bang Theory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Entertainment Weekly
• Release date: Apr 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781547846535

Book preview

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Saying Goodbye

SEASON TWELVE

The Final Theorem

THE PRODUCERS DISCUSS TYING UP ALL OF THE SERIES’ LOOSE ENDS—INCLUDING SHELDON’S QUEST FOR A NOBEL PRIZE. By Rich Sands

Howard (Simon Helberg), Sheldon (Jim Parsons), Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) plot out the ultimate roleplaying game in The D&D Vortex.

THE SET OF THE BIG BANG THEORY IS TYPICALLY a jovial place. After all, you don’t become the No. 1 comedy on television without a high degree of laughs and camaraderie. But when the cast and crew got the news last Aug. 22 that this would be the final season of the long-running CBS series, the mood on Stage 25 of Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank turned as dark as a black hole.

It was a bad day, admits executive producer Steven Molaro of the tearful response to the announcement that the show would end after 12 seasons. It felt like somebody died, it was that level of grieving.

The season premiere had already been filmed, and the producers had to quickly regroup and start planning the final chapter in the story of these unconventional pop-culture stars. I can’t imagine that there would be a day where I would wake up and say that I am ready to say goodbye to these characters, says executive producer Bill Prady, who created the show with sitcom wizard Chuck Lorre.

The Big Bang Theory premiered in 2007 and steadily became a ratings powerhouse, holding the title as TV’s most-watched comedy for the past seven seasons. The tales of this group of geeky Caltech scientists, their friendly (and beautiful) neighbor and the girlfriends and friends they would meet over the years, resonated with the audience, even if we didn’t know the first thing about string theory.

One of the basic themes of the show is that everybody, even the cool kids, feels like they’re on the outside, Molaro says. This show let you watch outsiders find a family and watch those friendships and the love they have for each other grow.

Now the writers are faced with the challenge of tying up the story. I’ve spent all these years in denial about this part, Lorre says. I never wanted to think about it until a few months ago.

And while it’s never been the policy in the Big Bang Theory writers’ room to plan too far ahead, producers knew that the pressure would be on to deliver a satisfying final chapter. Twenty-four episodes a season is a lot; it’s a daunting amount of work, says executive producer Steve Holland, who became showrunner ahead of season 11. But it also started to feel like both a lot of episodes and not enough episodes as we were starting to figure out that this is it, these are all the episodes that we get to tell. These 24 episodes are everything we’ve talked about that we’ve wanted to see these characters do—this is the last chance to do it.

Among the story lines that have dominated the season are Sheldon and Amy’s pursuit of a potential Nobel Prize-winning theory; Leonard and Penny’s debate over having children; and Raj’s everlasting pursuit of love. How these plots may play out—and what new developments might spring up—probably won’t be determined until the final weeks of production.

We have some ideas that we really want, Prady says. And some of these things we started talking about last year, when the possibility that this was the last season appeared. And some of the conversations we have are our own personal hopes for the characters, like they’re friends of yours.

One challenge for the writers is that by the time they get to the 279th and final episode, many of the moments they once predicted might conclude the series have already come and gone. Three years ago we would have thought Sheldon and Amy’s wedding might be the finale, Holland says of last season’s milestone celebration. A few years before that it might have been Leonard and Penny’s wedding. I don’t know that any of us thought this was going to still be running strong 12 years in.

Some ideas were, however, already in the works, including Sheldon and Amy’s quest to prove their hypothesis of super-asymmetry, which kicked off at their wedding last May. It lets us tell a whole bunch of stories, Prady says, like the issues of working with your spouse or having different priorities than the person you’re working with. The prospect of Sheldon realizing his lifelong dream of winning a Nobel Prize is one of this season’s bigger question marks.

Another major theme of season 12 has been the discussion in Apartment 4A over starting a family. We were interested in telling the story of Leonard and Penny having kids from different sides, Holland says. It seemed like a natural step in their relationship. Whether or not Leonard can convince Penny that the world needs more Hofstadters could play a role in the final episodes.

One of the likelier plots we’ll see play out is Raj’s desire to make a true love connection. In the early seasons of the show the hopelessly romantic physicist couldn’t even speak to a woman unless he was intoxicated. Then over the years his confidence grew, bringing a stream of girlfriends into his life. Ultimately none of these relationships worked out, and poor Raj was left as the last single guy from the original fellowship of fanboys.

As the final season began, Raj turned to his father back in India to set up an arranged marriage. Enter Anu, a self-assured hotel concierge who had also decided that it was time to see if her parents could do a better job finding a mate. The pair started to hit it off but ultimately decided to back off their wedding plans and slow things down. Of Raj’s perpetual loneliness, Lorre admits that it’s sitting out there and troubles me. But we’ll see. That is a thread that still needs to be woven into this thing.

The writers have also used this final season to check off ideas from their Big Bang bucket list. Though they have attracted many sci-fi icons over the years, from Leonard Nimoy to Mark