'The Big Bang Theory' cast ends epic series with an emotional final episode and bids farewell to fans on a high note
Spoiler alert
'The Big Bang Theory' has come to an end as TV's top-rated comedy closed with an emotional final episode which featured some massive changes in the show's cast.
The CBS series concluded with two final episodes titled 'The Change Constant' and 'The Stockholm Syndrome' which aired in an hour-long finale on Thursday, May 16, evening. The series had the most episodes for a multi-camera series with an astonishing 279 episodes and surpassed NBC's show 'Cheers' which had aired for 12 seasons and featured 275 episodes.
During the final episode, the cast takes one last trip together to support married couple Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Amy (Mayim Bialik) after they won the Nobel Prize in physics. The episode also featured a few surprises including news of Penny's pregnancy, a surprise cameo from Sarah Michelle Gellar and the elevator finally being fixed (which had been broken for a major part of the series).
Bialik, who is a neuroscientist in real life, was also seen encouraging young girls to pursue careers in science during her Nobel acceptance speech in the show. The usually self-absorbed Parsons also shared a heartfelt speech about the importance of friendship in the series' emotional conclusion.
'The Big Bang Theory' debuted in 2007 and went on to become an extremely popular series. The show starred Parsons, Cuoco, Galecki, Bialik, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, and Melissa Rauch. It won 10 Emmy Awards, including four for Parsons. Parsons shared that the end of the popular series is like a "real rite of passage moment" which was full of beautiful memories and some tears.
The comedy leaves on a high note as one of television's most popular shows. Last week's episode was the most-watched program on broadcast or cable TV with 12.5 million viewers, beating HBO's 'Game of Thrones', which ends its series on Sunday after an eight-year run.
Thursday's finale episode was accompanied by a behind-the-scenes feature which was titled 'Unraveling the Mystery: A Big Bang Farewell' and had Johnny Galecki (Leonard) and Kaley Cuoco (Penny) as hosts.
With inputs from AP.
