‘The Big Bang Theory’ and the Long Goodbye: How Swan Songs Are Changing TV

Give the masses circus. We’re doomed.

We decided during the long darkness (GoT speak for "that season that wasn't") that we would say farewell to Game of Thrones and cable TV the day after the finale. But now we want to wait long enough to re-watch the whole thing. Then, for sure, we're off the cable for good. We know there will never be anything like it again. Ever. OK, so maybe we'll allow enough time to watch it TWO more times. Then for sure, that's it, no more cable.

What a disgrace that Penny, who does not want children, had to of course end up pregnant. How Trumpian. How backwards is this country that in 2019 it is impossible for a woman to remain happily childless. It would've been more honest to have her end her unplanned pregnancy and be sent to prison or the death chamber. Disgusting and oh-so-predictable "plot."

I don't watch much TV, especially network TV, but when I enjoy a show such as TBBT, I expect the finale to make me feel as good as the show itself. Please no more dream closures, closures that make no sense or painful endings. The BBT swan song was terrific. The closures for the Sopranos and St. Elsewhere were so disappointing. I hope to see the cast members from TBBT to be back on TV really soon.

It is over and done, and as I watched the finale i was thinking has to be a dream like Newhart and they wake up eventually , or something else for to give in . Not really, Sheldon and Amy won the Nobel Prize in Physics ? Couldn`t they come up with any other schemes , with their so called brilliant writers ? Their idol Stephen Hawking never won the Nobel Prize ! .

Judging by the quality of the finales....maybe it’s not a good thing

This was one dumb show. Zero laffs except on the ubiquitous laughtrack.

Whatever these viewers are smoking, I'm envious.

St. Elsewhere. It never happened.

I watched the SyFy series Eureka on DVD. I’d caught a few shows here and there, enough to figure it was worth it - and it was. The fact that they were given a chance to do a final show was much appreciated - having seen the characters come, go, live, sometimes die, having a show that referenced the series and left them in a place where you could imagine them going on was somehow comforting. And the way they tied it to the very first episode brought it all full circle. Star Trek the Next Generation took it in a different direction with their final episode “All Good Things...” by bringing back Q in a way that tied it directly to the first episode. The series began with Picard challenged by Q to demonstrate humans deserved to be out exploring the galaxy and their own potential. The final episode reminded us that the challenge never ends. And Babylon V had a whole story arc worked out from the beginning. So, closure is not a new thing for tv series; for science fiction genres it almost seems to be a given - ratings willing.

“The Americans” is another series that benefited from a planned end date. FX gave them two seasons, not just one, to bring things to a close. It added drama and interest, how would it all end? For me, the final episode was the best series finale I’ve ever viewed.

Good riddance to Big Bang. Hasn't been good for the last 2-3 years.

Mourn?! It's a tv show - get over it. Tim Conway's passing - THAT's a reason to mourn.

Too bad Law & Order didn't get a send-off that it deserved... Well, actually, it never should have been cancelled - it's more relevant than ever.

This final season of the Big Bang Theory has been incredibly boring and frustrating. The only characters with an ongoing plot line are Amy and Sheldon with the Nobel Prize drama, and even that has been ignored the past few episodes (I'm probably still behind an episode or two... Can't be bothered to keep up). Instead of some sweeping ending for all of these characters, we get storylines that fizzle out a few episodes into the season or other characters are only thrown in for witty one liners rather than to contribute to the actual plot. I've been incredibly disappointed - it's even worse than the finale season of HIMYM.

Best finale ever: Six Feet Under. Perfect ending for a show centered around a funeral parlor.

Never watched Game of Thrones, I gave up fantasy when my mom stopped reading me fairy tales when I learned to read at 4 or 5. As for the Big Bang Theory, the signal of a show that has run out of ideas is when a baby is introduced into the story line, something they did years ago. The idea that anyone would watch a show where the main character is a humorless, idiot savant who in the real world would be living alone and shunned by everyone is absurd. In real life Sheldon would spend his life absorbed in research and would live and die friendless. I suppose someone would be absorbed by watching him eating a can of tuna over the sink without even a pet to keep him company. No one in their right mind would tolerate such a person in their daily life. If you are grieving the loss of these shows, you really need to get out and try exploring something much more interesting, the real world.

The Sopranos — best finale yet.

How, how can you not mention the brilliant final episode of ‘Newhart?” Complete with Suzanne Pleshette and Bill Daily - “it was all just a dream.”

Big finales to long, drawn-out goodbyes are nothing new to television series. MASH's finale in 1983 had been trailed for years and was the most watched episode of TV.

The mother of all controversial and disappointing finales ended the first truly prestige show. But that didn't diminish what's still the finest TV drama ever made: The Sopranos. (And, yes, the other one is Mad Men, which managed an uplifting ending that evoked a promising future.)

Long good-bye, or short one, for those of us who followed the evolution of Sheldon, Leonard et al, I will be sorry to see them go. I am not a TV watcher, usually preferring a good book most the time. But every once in a while I become a faithful viewer to series which go to the heart of our humanness. The Big Bang Theory did that for me, as did Modern Family which is also saying farewell this month. I had the same sadness years ago when MASH concluded its long run. For me that was one of the finest of well written and well acted series, with smiles and laughs coupled with tears and poignancy. Let us wish all the above performers well. Let us thank them for those half-hour reprieves from our challenging lives.

If you NEED a long goodbye, you also need a life away from TV. They are fictional characters and the actors ain’t them. It’s fine to want an ending that respects the characters and the story arc but let’s not get carried away. A hot bath and a good book should help.

After 20 seasons and 635 episodes Gunsmoke didn’t even get a farewell episode, let alone a final season.

A great show , but I must say they dragged it too long , should have ended a couple of years ago just like Seinfeld did with a perfect ending. Can`t wait to see it tonight.