The Big Bang Theory has been a television force to be reckoned with for many seasons now. But, all good things must come to an end, and the end to the sitcom's 12 season run is coming up pretty fast. We've known all season that The Big Bang Theory would be ending this May, but now we know when, exactly, that series finale will be. The show will wrap up with an hour long special on May 16, and it turns out that some of the cast and executive producer Bill Prady have feelings about it.
Star Johnny Galecki took to Instagram after the announcement with a post that managed to celebrate the cast, their characters and show just how he's feeling about the end of the show he's been a major part of for the past 12 seasons. As of his post, the cast and crew had a little less than a month left to work on the remaining six episodes of the final season of The Big Bang Theory, so work on the show is really getting down to the wire. While Galecki didn't get super emotional in his caption, or with the photos that he posted, for that matter, he's clearly in his feelings about things ending and noted that this is "All VERY surreal," before wrapping up by saying how much he appreciates the fans who helped keep him gainfully employed since 2007.
Throughout the final season, other cast members and those who work behind the scenes on The Big Bang Theory have spoken out about the show ending, but Johnny Galecki hasn't been one to say much about it so far. I wouldn't be surprised if he's waiting until things fully wrap up to process his feelings and talk more in-depth about it, so it's not a huge surprise that he's not waxing poetic in this Instagram post. Plus, as I said before, it's not like many of this cast mates haven't been talking about the show ending, so it's also possible that he has many of the same feelings that have already been voiced.
One person who's been very vocal about her feelings over the comedy leaving the airwaves for the final time at the end of this season is Johnny Galecki's TV wife, Kaley Cuoco. She also took to Instagram about the finale:
Kaley Cuoco's post focuses on what will likely be the last TV Guide cover story for The Big Bang Theory, but she noted that the cover "makes her sad and happy all at the same time," so there's no doubt that the finale is still on her mind. And, that makes total sense, because she's been talking openly about her emotions surrounding the ending all season long. About a week ago, Cuoco posted a throwback photo on Instagram that was taken at the cast's first San Diego Comic-Con and said that "the nostalgia is getting insanely real," as it would when you get this close to the end of such a major part of your career, and life, so far. She's also admitted recently to not being ready to leave, wanting to take a prop from the set and said that her "heart would have always been broken in two" regardless of when the show might have ended.
For his part, executive producer Bill Prady also posted the TV Guide cover on his Instagram, but with a much less enthusiastic caption. A simple "sigh" accompanied his post, so we can see that Prady is probably getting pretty choked up about having to leave The Big Bang Theory behind in a few weeks. While Prady will have work on Young Sheldon to help keep him busy for the next couple of television seasons, I can see where it would be hard to let go.
Of course, other stars of The Big Bang Theory have spoken out about the difficulty of letting the show go, as well. Mayim Bialik has been especially open with her feelings, even noting recently that she's actually experiencing deep grief over it and has been reminded of several other major losses in her life while trying to process what the end of this chapter of her life will mean. Bialik also said, right after it was announced that this would be the final season, that she was just flat out not happy about it, but since there's no choice but to move on, it's good that it sounds like she's starting to process the whole experience.
So, it's pretty obvious that dealing with The Big Bang Theory ending is probably a pretty bittersweet experience for much of the cast and crew, but at least they can spend a lot of their time in the final weeks laughing through most of their work days, and knowing that they brought a lot of laughter to fans all around the world for many years. You can keep up with how the stories of Leonard, Penny, Sheldon, Amy, Raj, Howard and Bernadette wrap up when The Big Bang Theory airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBS, with the one hour series finale coming on May 16.
