Big Bang Theory taped its 279th and final episode of the CBS show’s 12 seasons in April 2019.
It’s been almost five years since actor Jim Parsons last appeared on camera as Sheldon Cooper.
But in recent days he reprized his breakout role as a Caltech physicist for the finale of the spinoff series, Young Sheldon, which he said turned out to be “very strange” but at the same time “very beautiful.”
“Big Bang Theory was always a show with a live audience and Young Sheldon is a show with a single camera,” he explained to Today host Craig Melvin on Friday, as reported by Deadline. ‘And I had to do it with Mayim (Bialik): we both play Sheldon and Amy in the series. And doing it in that situation, it was different enough that it wasn’t scary.”
He went on to describe it as “like saying, ‘What are we doing here again?!'” Instead, it was really sweet.”
Jim Parsons spoke about the experience of reprising his role as Sheldon Cooper for the Young Sheldon series finale, making it his first physical appearance on the Big Bang Theory spin-off.
Parsons, 51, added: “I thought it was the best coda to the whole experience and I was grateful they asked us to do it.”
Young Sheldon, starring Iain Armitage as boy genius Sheldon Cooper, ends its seven-season run when the final episode airs on CBS on May 16.
The Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik has joined Parsons to reprise her role from the main series as Amy Farrah Fowler.
Although Parsons has narrated Young Sheldon since its September 2017 premiere, the cameos he and Bialik make mark the first time characters from the original show physically appear in the spinoff.
In fact, it was Parsons who first came up with the idea for the prequel series and then passed it on to The Big Bang Theory producers in November 2016.
Set from 1989 to the mid-1990s, Young Sheldon followed the main character, Sheldon Cooper, as he grows up with his family in East Texas.
Iain Armitage has played the young version of Sheldon, alongside Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, Annie Potts, Raegan Revord, Matt Hobby, Wyatt McClure and Emily Osment.
In November 2023, CBS announced that it would end the seventh and final season with a one-hour series finale airing on May 16.
Iain Armitage was eight years old when he began working on The Bog Bang Theory spin-off Young Sheldon, which ran for seven seasons on CBS; He is seen with co-stars Annie Potts, Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Raegan Revord and Montana Jordan in March 2022.
Although Parsons has narrated Young Sheldon since its premiere in September 2017, the cameos he and Bialik make for the Young Sheldon finale mark the first time the characters appear in the spin-off; the two Sheldon stars meet in August 2017
Parsons won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series four times during his run on The Big Bang Theory.
The Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik also reprises her role as Amy Farrah Fowler for the Young Sheldon series finale.
Fans of the two shows will be happy to know that CBS has greenlit a Young Sheldon spinoff with Montana Jordan and Emily Osment reprising their roles as Georgie Cooper and Mandy McAllister, respectively.
The series will follow Georgie (Jordan) and Mandy (Osment) as they raise their young family in Texas while facing the challenges of adulthood, parenthood and marriage.
Parsons won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series four times during his run on The Big Bang Theory, which saw his popularity and ratings rise, for the most part, until the eleventh season, when he finally took the number one spot. .
As for Young Sheldon, it ranked in the top 10 in ratings in five of its first six seasons, while the seventh season is still pending.