Going out with a (big) bang!

After twelve years, most of them dominating the TV landscape, The Big Bang Theory is coming to an end. CBS have today announced that Season 12 will be the last, despite reports that they were considering extending the life of the show. It was just weeks ago that Kelly Kahl, president of CBS Entertainment, was telling reporters at the latest Television Critics Association that they were in preliminary discussions to produce a 13th season. These talks, presumably with Warner Bros TV and Chuck Lorre Productions who make the series, apparently came to nothing.

An ending has been planned for a while, and the writers are aiming to wrap up the 279 episode show with a... well... big bang. 

"We are forever grateful to our fans for their support of The Big Bang Theory during the past twelve 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 The Big Bang Theory to an epic creative close."

While it lost its top spot in the ratings to the Roseanne revival last year (which it would no longer have to contend with, because of reasons), it was still very much a top3 show. Not being #1 may have hurt its chances of renewal, given how expensive the show is, just in actor salaries. There have been very public cast pay discussions over the years, and the show has a relatively large core group that demand top billing.

The show is also the second most tracked series on The TV Calendar, with only Game of Thrones ahead of it, but with nearly 10million episodes "watched" it is far and away one of the most visited shows on the site.

CBS isn't giving up on the shared universe though, "Young Sheldon" was a ratings winner for the network last year, and the hopes will be to spring board it to new heights of popularity with the interest in the final season of the parent show.

The Big Bang Theory is set to return with its 12th and final season premiere on Monday, Sept. 24th.