"The Big Bang Theory" Ends (Contains Spoilers)

This post contains spoilers pertaining to the final episodes of "The Big Bang Theory".  If you recorded the show, but have not yet seen it, you may want to pass on this post and come back to it after you have seen it.

The Final Scene

Once upon a time in television, shows were canceled or ended for various other reasons and that was that.  They just ended. No tying up loose ends, no happily ever after grand finales.  Somewhere along the way, that changed, and producers and networks felt that long running, popular series had to have some sort of Grand Finale, and this has produced decidedly mixed results.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show had an ironic and funny ending, the ending to Bob Newhart's second TV series was an undeniable classic, The Sopranos finale was ambiguous and unsatisfying, The Americans ended on a high note last year, and, of course, the ending to Seinfield was a complete and total disaster.

So it has been with mixed feelings that we have watched the final season of The Big Bang Theory and wondered just what the producers and writers were going to do with this one.

Well, I am happy to say that the two episode finale of TBBT was great, an almost perfect ending to a twelve year run (the longest running sitcom in television network history) of what has been a consistently funny and terrific series.  Sheldon and Amy won their Nobel Prize, Penny and Leonard were pregnant, we finally saw Howard's and Bernadette's kids, and in a scene that was a perfect piece of comic timing, the elevator finally got fixed!!  More importanly, Sheldon realized that he needed to stop being so self-centered and acknowledged that the love and friendships of those around him contributed to his success just as much, if not more, than his own undeniable brilliance.  It was a touching and very moving scene, and, yes, it was still funny.

And I hope that you also watched the episode of "Young Sheldon" that followed Big Bang's final episodes.  The ending of that was also quite touching, and it explained a lot about Sheldon's character that we have followed for the last twelve years and served as an additional emotional touch to the ending of The Big Bang Theory.  If you didn't see that episode try to find it On Demand and check it out, even if you have never watched Young Sheldon.

So ends a great series.  One good thing about it is that we will no doubt be able to see it forever in syndication and reruns.