It’s official: The upcoming seventh season of CBS’ Young Sheldon will be its last.
The prequel series to The Big Bang Theory will return Feb. 15 and wrap its run with an hourlong series finale on May 16.
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“As a prequel to one of the biggest comedies, Young Sheldon proved lightning can strike twice,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment. “It set itself apart with a remarkable cast that felt like a family from the first moment we saw them on screen and brought characters to life with unique heartfelt stories that drew audiences in from the start. We extend a sincere thank you to executive producers Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro and Steve Holland and the entire writing and producing teams for six wonderful seasons. We look forward to seeing their final season unfold and giving it a proper send off with the best episodes yet for their fans to enjoy.”
The news comes as series creator Chuck Lorre is developing what will be the second offshoot of his nerdy comedy, which ranks as TV’s longest-running multicamera comedy in history. The new series, which will be made for Max, was formally announced in April. Details on the offshoot are under wraps as Lorre and company determine the creative, though the producers and original cast have been open about continuing on in new incarnations.
“Being able to tell the origin of Sheldon Cooper, and expanding the story to include the entire Cooper family has been a wonderful experience,” said Holland, Molaro and Lorre in a joint statement Tuesday. “We are grateful to our fans for embracing this chapter of the Coopers these past six seasons, and on behalf of the entire Young Sheldon family, we’re excited to share this final season with you.”
Iain Armitage stars in the comedy as the younger version of Sheldon Cooper, the character made famous by Jim Parsons. The latter star, whose decision to walk away from Big Bang Theory ultimately ended the show, serves as narrator on Young Sheldon and exec produces. Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Annie Potts, Montana Jordan and Raegan Revord round out the cast.
Young Sheldon hails from Warner Bros. Television, where Lorre has been based with an overall deal for years. Warners owns the rights to the franchise and is the exclusive streaming home for both Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon. Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery also made the decision to do a new incarnation of the hit comedy for Max as a way to capitalize on the popularity of the franchise rather than selling the upcoming offshoot to CBS, which aired both the original and prequel.
Young Sheldon is CBS’ No. 1 comedy from the 2022-23 broadcast season. The show was a hit out of the box when it debuted in 2017-18 and became tops at the network following the conclusion of the flagship after 12 seasons.
Young Sheldon joins CBS’ SWAT, The CW’s Superman & Lois and NBC’s Magnum PI in bringing their stories to a close during what remains of the strikes-impacted 2023-24 broadcast season. Lorre, meanwhile, still has the fifth season of CBS’ Bob Hearts Abishola remaining at the network where he once programmed a two-hour comedy block on Thursday nights.
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