Studio 25 on the Warner Bros lot in Burbank is steeped in Hollywood history — Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Bonnie & Clyde, and Blade Runner all filmed within its walls — but on Tuesday the hallowed soundstage added a one-of-a-kind fadeout to that long legacy. The Big Bang Theory cast, crew, and creative team recorded the final scenes of their 279th episode, a one-hour affair that airs May 16 and marks the end of the show’s wildly successful 12-year run.
It was a crisp and buoyant taping that, for the better part of three hours, was business-as-usual for the team that has been a ratings machine for much of its run. There were little signs, though, that emotions and tears might break loose at any point. Jim Parsons, who portrays Sheldon, did a vamping dance in-between takes but then moments later he was scanning the front row of the audience to check on a special guest, his mother. Series co-creator Chuck Lorre, looking misty-eyed, stepped on stage to hold the clapperboard for the final take on the final scene. Johnny Galecki was polished in his performance until he got to one toss-off line of dialogue about spending “139 1/2 surprisingly pleasant hours” with Parson’s character — the joke was a relatively minor note in the show but the reference had extra meaning. It’s the collective screen time logged by all of the show’s half-hour episodes.
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Galecki had a lump in his throat again when he addressed the studio audience, some of who wore special t-shirts commemorating their presence at a TV milestone. “This is a dream come true for all of us,” Galecki said of the show’s broadcast tenure, which began with September 24, 2007. Kaley Cuoco, wiping away tears, said the entire team behind the show were more like family than coworkers. She quoted Lorre’s recent appraisal that the show would endure long after the credits roll on the final episode. “The Big Bang Theory will live on in our hearts forever,” Cuoco said. “It’s so sweet and simple, and it’s so true…everyone here is part of making Big Bang special, the entire crew. We love all of them.”
No spoilers here but the episode itself was a golden one. The central characters each have a major life moment and along the way there are appropriately grand-scale surprises (including an unexpected visitor, a huge happening, a giant announcement, and a major life step). On Tuesday, the finale taping had a gaggle of journalists on hand covering the show’s swan song and, afterward, a bowl of fortune cookies was strategically placed by the press exit. Cracked open, the cookies turned out to be a winking farewell message from a most-fortuitous TV franchise: “If you don’t believe in goodbyes, there’s always syndication…”
Below, a sampling of the social media sentimentality for The Big Bang Theory’s final taping.
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