After 12 years, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ bids goodbye with its last episode

Popular American sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ came to an end after celebrating friendship and love for 12 years. In that respect, the one-hour finale episode on Thursday felt satisfying and appropriate.

The series finale of ‘The Big Bang Theory’ was everything the show did well, wrapped into one hour long package. It didn’t try to do too much or too little. It didn’t buck expectations, shift formats, or try to set a new standard for series finales. It really wasn’t surprising or all that ambitious, but then again, neither was ‘The Big Bang Theory’.

The last episode’s focus was Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler finally getting the call for the Nobel Prize in Physics. It was a defining moment interspersed with Leonard finally having his dream come true, slap Sheldon Cooper.

With 279 episodes, the show is one of the longest running comedies in TV history, and the most-watched, earning 52 Emmy nominations. That's really saying something for a show that geeked out over topics like string theory, and quantum brain dynamics. It made nerdy cool, even romantic.