Despite what the show's creators believe, The Big Bang Theory could easily continue with a revival series. More than three years have passed since the nerd-centric sitcom ended its run on CBS, but given the continued popularity of The Big Bang Theory, calls for its return have only increased. While there are currently no plans to bring the characters back for new seasons or a reboot series, a revival is actually not outside the realm of possibility.
When The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019, the show was still a ratings winner for CBS. In fact, the network was open to renewing the show for more seasons despite the cast's high salary (reported to be $1 million per episode). Ultimately, it boiled down to Jim Parsons's decision to stop playing Sheldon beyond season 12 in an effort to venture out of the sitcom sandbox and try other projects. Knowing how integral the character was to the series, the rest of the cast and the producers decided to wrap it all up with a complete ensemble.
The show wound up with such a satisfying finale that its creators, Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre, claim that doing a Big Bang Theory revival would be too difficult. Sheldon and Amy (Mayim Bialik) won the Nobel Prize in Physics, Leonard (Johnny Galecki) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) were pregnant with their first kid, and Howard (Simon Helberg) and Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) had stable personal and professional lives. "It's hard to imagine reopening the story," Prady said of the idea. "I don't think we left anything undone," Lorre added. Despite their statement on the matter, though, it's actually fairly easy to do a revival of the sitcom since it did, in fact, leave a couple of plot lines that weren't fully explored.
Big Bang Theory Revival Can Show What’s Next For Penny & Leonard After Their Pregnancy
After sidelining the Hofstadters for several episodes, CBS introduced Penny and Leonard's final Big Bang Theory conflict to further develop their stale relationship. After years of dating and a few more of being married, the pair had different opinions about having kids. Leonard wanted to have children with his wife, as he mentioned in The Big Bang Theory's pilot episode, but Penny was skeptical of the idea. She was afraid that getting pregnant would derail her career path as a budding pharmaceutical representative, especially after so many years of being a struggling actress.
In the end, however, and because The Big Bang Theory's final season focused more on Sheldon and Amy's Nobel Prize bid, CBS just magically resolved the issue by revealing that Penny was pregnant, and like her husband, she was happy about it. This was met by mixed reactions from viewers. The sudden plot twist wasn't the problem so much as how The Big Bang Theory handled Penny’s pregnancy arc. A revival of The Big Bang Theory could rectify this by showing how Penny and Leonard are doing as parents as well as how Penny's career has turned out — or not turned out.
Big Bang Theory Revival Can Give Raj The Ending He Deserves
At least the Hofstadters got a happy ending. Raj (Kunal Nayyar), on the other hand, received a bad send-off overall. For most of The Big Bang Theory season 12, he was dating Anu (Rati Gupta), and they were supposed to be married following an arranged marriage organized by Raj's parents. For some unjustified reason, however, they broke up, and their wedding was canceled at the last minute. This left Raj loveless and without anything to be excited about regarding his profession.
Raj's disappointing The Big Bang Theory ending was already off-putting, especially considering where the show left the rest of the Pasadena gang. A revival series would allow The Big Bang Theory to rectify this mistake by giving the character his due. That means properly developing his personal and professional arc and finally treating him as the lead character that he is. The proposed reunion doesn't even have to show him winning a prestigious award like Sheldon and Amy did or give him a romantic ending like Penny and Leonard had. Instead, it should just give him a substantial character progression, something to establish how far he's grown since The Big Bang Theory started in 2007.