When it was announced that The Big Bang Theory was ending, many fans were completely shocked because the show remained so successful for CBS. In fact, the show still has such a strong legacy that a third spin-off is coming soon, and fans were sad that Night Court ending when it did robbed them of a huge TBBT reunion.
While looking back at how The Big Bang Theory ended, one of the things that many fans don't think about is the fact that it wasn't only viewers who were highly emotional about the situation. In the years since TBBT ended, many of the show's former stars have discussed how devastated they were when they learned the show wasn't going to continue.
Instead of waiting to discuss the news, Mayim Bialik extremely quickly expressed how upset she was that the show was coming to an end, and admitted what she was afraid of at that time.
Mayim Bialik feared she would be too emotional to film The Big Bang Theory's final season
On August 22, 2018, many people were shocked when The Big Bang Theory's official X account revealed that the show's 12th season would be its last. Over the following hours, there were a slew of fan and media responses to the news. For example, The Guardian published an article celebrating the show ending, which was titled, "The Big Bang Theory is ending – our long nightmare is finally over."
"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 #TheBigBangTheory to an epic creative close.” -Warner Bros. Television, CBS and Chuck Lorre Productions
— The Big Bang Theory (@bigbangtheory) August 22, 2018
At the time of that announcement, Mayim Bialik wasn't only one of the stars of The Big Bang Theory. The talented actor was also busy running a website that she co-created, called Grok Nation, which contained her blog posts about a variety of subjects. The day after TBBT's then-impending end was announced, Bialik posted a fascinating piece detailing how she felt about the news.
After revealing that she learned about The Big Bang Theory ending on the same day that fans did, Bialik admitted that she wasn't happy about what was happening. Bialik then wrote about how much she would miss portraying Amy Farrah Fowler. At the time Bialik wrote her post, she and her co-stars would still be working on the show for weeks, as they were still set to start filming the final season. As she wrote in her article, Bialik was afraid that filming the final season would be too difficult.
" It’s very sad. I fear it’s going to be very hard to not cry every day for the next 23 episodes!"Mayim Bialik
Months later, Bialik wrote another Grok Nation piece about her emotional response to The Big Bang Theory coming to an end at that time. In February 2019, the actor wrote extensively about the grief process she was going through, knowing that her TBBT experience was ending. While she was explicit that she wasn't comparing what she was feeling wasn't the same as what people go through after the passing of a loved one, Bialik wrote that she was reminded of the losses she had suffered.
"This is not to say that The Big Bang Theory ending feels like losing someone you love. It simply is a biological fact that our brains hold emotions uniquely but also in conglomerates of experiences. And the end of something so long-standing, so enduring, so meaningful, and so containing triggers memories of other significant loss."
"This is not a linear process, this grief thing, and the end of TBBT has reminded me how deep and insidious grief can be. I’ve not only been grieving the end of this phase of my career and life; I have been reminded of the loss of my father, my marriage, my ex-boyfriend, my beloved cat, Esau. My brother-in-law, my youth, my grandparents."