The Big Bang Theory Season 13 - Will It Ever Happen?
Probably not, but never say never.
"The Big Bang Theory" wrapped up its twelve-season run on CBS in 2019, and ever since, its main cast — Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik, and Melissa Rauch — has largely moved on to other projects. That said, it seems like pretty much everything is getting a reboot these days, so a "Big Bang Theory" reboot isn't totally out of the question.
In late 2022, co-creator Bill Prady told Entertainment Weekly that he wasn't totally sure a reboot would work thanks to the original show's perfect wrap-up. "I know that people do get characters together for reunions and things like that," Prady told EW. "But It's hard to imagine what you would see after the finale because I found the finale was just one of the most beautiful and satisfying episodes. The closure it brought was astonishing. It's hard to imagine reopening the story."
Chuck Lorre, the mega-producer who co-created "The Big Bang Theory" with Prady, seconded that: "I don't think we left anything undone. That was as close to a perfect finale as we could have ever dreamt of doing. I loved it."
Prady, though, couldn't help himself, and admitted that it would be nice to get the gang back together. "Would I like to stand on a stage someplace and watch those characters again? Yes, absolutely," he said. "Can I imagine a way to do it? I can't. But, personally, would l like to go to Stage 25 and see that set and those costumes and those people? Yeah, I get choked up just thinking about it. But I don't know how we'd do that."
Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady have some ideas for a Big Bang Theory reboot
If Prady and Lorre were able to work recent real-world news into a potential reboot, they know exactly the direction they'd take — let Sheldon Cooper (Parsons) deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. "Sheldon would have loved the pandemic," Lorre told EW. "Being able to stay at home and not deal with the world? He would have thought it was perfect."
Prady agreed, saying, "And he would have loved it because people would have had to listen to him. He's a person who knows about germs... and all of the sudden, now the focus of the entire world is on people who know things like that. But, also, Bernadette [Rauch] is a microbiologist and works with people who probably know things, so I can imagine she and Sheldon would probably argue about that. I can already hear her scream, 'Don't tell me about my job!'"
The pair had some especially great thoughts about how Sheldon, who was never television's most stylish character, might dress during a pandemic... especially when you consider that the character is famously germaphobic. "We would have done two seasons with Sheldon in a hazmat suit," Lorre said.
"Absolutely," Prady followed up. "Like the John Travolta Boy in the Bubble movie!"
There could be a casual Big Bang Theory reboot
Speaking to Variety in 2022, Cuoco, who's been working on projects like "Based on a True Story" and "The Flight Attendant" in her post-Penny years, said she'd be open to a less traditional kind of reunion. Referencing the "Friends" reunion, Cuoco said, "I would love to do that one day. I would love to do that with our show."
The structure of the "Friends" reunion, which came out in 2021, certainly makes sense for a group of actors with busy schedules; rather than reuniting to film entirely new storylines and narratives, the cast of "The Big Bang Theory" could come together and do table reads of some of their favorite episodes, relive some of the show's highlights, or something of the sort. There could be some sort of buzzer every time Parsons says "Bazinga!" in character as Sheldon. There are a lot of options here. It definitely feels, though, like the actors involved have largely moved on, and that making an entirely new season wouldn't be feasible — and Lorre and Prady made a good point. The ending of the show, which saw Sheldon and his wife Amy Farrah Fowler (Bialik) winning a Nobel Prize together surrounded by their friends, really stuck the landing, so it might be pushing it to try and create yet another finale.
"The Big Bang Theory" is available to stream on Max now.