"It All Started With a Big Bang (Theory)"

Thursday night was the end of an era, well, maybe not the end of an era exactly. But after spending over ten years of your life enjoying something and counting on that pleasure, it feels a bit sad to see it end. Of course that doesn’t mean we’ll never see each other, but it means we’ll never have anything new in our relationship.

In case you’re wondering what I’m babbling about, I’m talking about the last ever episode of “Big Bang Theory” that aired Thursday night. If you’re not a fan, you might want to stop reading here, but if you are a fan and haven’t yet watched the finale, you might want to look away now too. For all the rest, come with me as I reminisce about 12 years of this fantastic sitcom.

To be honest, I wasn’t exactly a fan from day one as I don’t recall starting to watch it until perhaps the second season. I believe it was my sister who casually mentioned watching it, so out of curiosity I tuned in, and a few episodes later I was hooked.

What did I like about it? The writing was fantastic, the casting was superb, and in some ways, the show was relatable. Hasn’t anyone ever known or dated a science nerd? I married one (he has a degree in Chemistry, so that counts), but he’s certainly not as nerdy as some. Though we’re not exactly Sheldon & Amy, comparisons have been made, and we even dressed up like them for Halloween once.

The show became all the richer, and it was the best decision ever made when Bernadette and Amy were added to the cast. They certainly brought out the best in Howard and Sheldon, whom they were paired up with. It’s only a shame that Raj didn’t find his soul mate (unless things took an unexpected turn with the ‘Slayer’ after the ceremony).

I love all the guest stars they had over the years: Bob Newhart, Wil Wheaton, Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, Carrie Fisher, Stan Lee, and Sheldon’s personal hero, Stephen Hawking, to name a few. I love that Wil Wheaton and Stephen Hawking were such good sports and always made their episodes that little bit more special.

However, neither of them probably made me laugh as much as James Earl Jones when he took Sheldon on a guy’s day out, which was definitely appreciated more by us than by Sheldon.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the hilarious actors Kathy Bates and Teller who joined on for a few guest appearances playing Amy’s parents. Of course most of the humor comes from the fact that Teller is a (silent) professional magician who now speaks and actually takes magic lessons from Howard. I also like how Sheldon nicknames Amy’s mom, Greenbean (in “The Consummation Deviation”).

One of my favorite episodes from this season was the Halloween episode ("The Imitation Perturbation") where Howard dresses up as Sheldon,

then later Sheldon & Amy take revenge on them (Howard & Bernadette) at their Halloween party. The character of Howard proved to be good at celebrity accents, so his impersonation of Sheldon was also spot-on in appearance as well as voice.

‘The D & D Vortex’ was also another winner. For those not in the know, D & D is “Dungeons & Dragons,” which is, according to Wikipedia:

           Dungeons & Dragons (commonly abbreviated as D&D)^[2] is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson….D&D departs from traditional wargaming by allowing each player to create their own character to play...These characters embark upon imaginary adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Master (DM) serves as the game's referee and storyteller, while maintaining the setting in which the adventures occur, and playing the role of the inhabitants of the game world. The characters form a party and they interact with the setting's inhabitants and each other. Together they solve dilemmas, engage in battles, and gather treasure and knowledge.^[4] In the process, the characters earn experience points (XP) in order to rise in levels, and become increasingly powerful over a series of separate gaming sessions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons. 

Leonard gets asked to join a celebrity D & D game held at Wil Wheaton’s house. Of course Leonard can’t keep a secret and afterwards tells Penny (who could care less until she hears who was at the game).

Then we later see all three of the girls at the next game – Penny, Amy, and Bernadette. Like any of us would probably be, they’re slightly less interested in playing, and more interested in socializing (i.e., touching the handsome celebrities in attendance).  Now, every time my husband gets together with his work colleagues to play, I always tell him to be sure to text me if any celebrities show up.

I liked how the last two episodes tied up loose ends and finally answered a few questions like what do Howard and Bernadette’s kids look like? (just as cute as you would think they would be) Do Amy and Sheldon win the Nobel prize? It would be pretty cruel of the writers to not have them win, so this was kind of a given. Why does Penny’s dress have to be let out? (hint – it does have to do with alcohol, but not directly).

However, as much as liked the ending, there was really only one surprise and it wasn’t exactly a shocker. Also, I didn’t really feel that sentimental until I watched “Young Sheldon” afterwards. The ending very much ties in with “Big Bang Theory” in a prequel sort of way, and was just one of those moments that made me say, “Awww,” and get a little teary-eyed.

Good-bye “Big Bang Theory” and thanks for 277 of the happiest half hours of my life over the past 12 years and may you ‘live long and prosper’ in syndication.