Jim Parsons is walking away fromThe Big Bang Theory—and a more than $40 million payday—leaving his costars saddened

that the upcoming 12th season of their hit CBS sitcom (premiering Sept. 24 at 8 p.m.) will be their last. BY LYNETTE RICE

Going Out With a Bang

MOST PEOPLE COULDN’T IMAGINE WALKING

away from over $40 million, but then most

people aren’t Jim Parsons—theBig Bang

Theory hero (or villain, depending on what

fan you talk to) who is largely responsible

for the decision to end the hit sitcom in

2019. When CBS indicated that it was
      open to two more seasons beyond the
      upcoming 12th season, multiple sources
      told EW that Parsons—not fellow series
      regulars Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki,
      Simon Helberg, and Kunal Nayyar, who
      stood to earn just as much—was the one
      who put his sneakers down.
      The 45-year-old actor made it clear that
      he would rather walk away from playing
      Dr. Sheldon Cooper, the character that
      earned him four Emmys along with oppor-
      tunities in film and on
      Broadway, than star in
      48 more episodes at
      nearly $1 million a pop.
      Nerd fatigue may have
      had a lot to do with his
      decision, something he
      seemed to suggest in a
      social-media tribute to
      his costars on Aug. 23

M

after news ofTBBT’s end broke: “You are

my playmates when we don’t feel like play-

ing but have to because it’s our job to get

out there and communicate and pretend

we’re these other fictional people.”

Reactions from Mayim Bialik (Sheldon’s

wife, Amy) and Cuoco (Penny), however,

confirmed what sources told EW—that the

rest of the ensemble weren’t ready to say

goodbye. “Am I happy? Of course not,”

Bialik wrote on Grok Nation, her personal

web page. “This has been my job since

Melissa Rauch and I

joined the cast as regu-

lars in season 4. I love

my job.” “No matter

when it was going to

end, my heart would

have always been bro-

ken in two,” added

Cuoco on Instagram.

“Drowning in tears.”

In Parsons’ defense, co-creators Chuck

Lorre and Bill Prady have more than

achieved what they set out to do in 2007: to

make science nerds both lovable and cool as

hell. Only on TBBTcould an experimental

physicist (Galecki) manage to marry a gor-

geous waitress (Cuoco), or could someone

like the late Stephen Hawking fire off crisp

one-liners. At least some of the show’s DNA

will live on in the prequel seriesYoung

Sheldon—with Parsons continuing to lend

his narration—but that can’t be much of a

consolation for CBS sinceTBBT, after

11 seasons, remains the most popular

scripted show on TV. This is an accomplish-

ment that even Parsons doesn’t take

for granted. “I feel such intense gratitude

for our devoted viewers who are the

ACTUAL reason we have been graced with

the opportunity to explore these charac-

ters,” he wrote in his Instagram tribute.

“This grateful-feeling is always with me.”X

TheBang gang: Kunal Nayyar, Melissa Rauch, Mayim Bialik, Simon Helberg,

Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, and Jim Parsons

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 EW.COM 21



Parsons was

ultimately

the one who

called it quits

NEWS STORY

THE BIG BANG THEORY

: MONTY BRINTON

/CBS; PARSONS: DIA DIPASUPIL/GETTY IMAGES FOR VULTURE FESTIVAL