By: Timmy Johnson

Follow me on Twitter @Timothy_OwlFeed

The popular CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, which premiered on September 24, 2007, has been named the #1 comedy on television. It has received many awards during its run on television, including outstanding comedy series, comedy series of the year, Jim Parsons as best actor, and many more.

Currently, the show is in its tenth season, and has recently passed the 200 episode milestone back in the ninth season (with the episode “The Celebration Experimentation”, which aired on February 25, 2016). However, rumors are floating around that this may be the show’s final season, and the cast may or may not be back for the 11th season, which is set to air from September 2017 to May 2018.

Although show creator Chuck Lorre, and the show’s main channel, CBS, has said there will be a Season 11, it is debatable whether the new season will actually happen or not, due to several different reasons.

One reason is that the show’s main actors, Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper), Johnny Galecki (Leonard Hofstadter), and Kaley Cuoco (Penny Hofstadter) are demanding too much money.

These three actors are each paid about $1 million for each episode, and the supporting cast, Kunal Nayyar (Rajesh Koothrappali) and Simon Helberg (Howard Wolowitz) among others only gaining about $900,000 per episode.

The show is, no doubt, very expensive, and previous reports had stated that Parsons, Galecki, and Cuoco’s demand for a raise in salary is the main reason that has led to the cancellation of Season 11.

Another reason for the show possibly being cancelled soon is due to CBS wanting to make a spinoff to the show that would replace it. This spinoff will serve as a prequel to the series, and will simply be titled Sheldon.

As implied by the title, this show will revolve around the life of the funniest character on the show, Sheldon Cooper, and his life as a child, set many years before the events of the main series. Jim Parsons, who plays the main series Sheldon, will not star in the spinoff series, although he will serve as executive producer and will work behind the scenes on it.

Speaking of Parsons, it has been rumored that he no longer wants to work on The Big Bang Theory, due to him wanting to focus on other projects. If he leaves the show for good, it will never be the same again, and Season 11 would be overall pretty bland without the comedy of Sheldon Cooper entertaining the audience.

This is not the only actor who wants to leave the show. Kaley Cuoco also wants to leave the show as well, because she wants to start a family with her boyfriend Karl Cook. Cuoco is also jealous about how fellow actor Melissa Rauch (Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz) has been stealing the spotlight from her, since her character both got married first and had a baby first before Penny.

Seeing as how Penny was in the show from the very first episode and how Bernadette didn’t make her first appearance until Season 3’s “The Creepy Candy Coating Corollary” (airdate: October 19, 2009), it would be pretty understandable as to why Cuoco is upset with the sudden plot shift towards Bernadette.

However, it is not too late to start focusing on Penny again and balancing both characters with their own stories. Recently, Leonard and Penny have renewed their vows and are officially living together as a married couple with Sheldon and Amy taking Penny’s old apartment across the hall. The episodes that have happened since then are pretty interesting, and there are still more stories to be explored regarding both couples getting their own place to live. However, there is only so much you can do with the Shamy and Lenny couple; that is why the writers try to create new storylines regarding the other characters in the show.

Howard and Bernadette recently had their first baby together last month in the episode “The Birthday Synchronity” (airdate: December 15, 2016), so that can pave the way for new storylines to come. Hopefully the writers manage to make space for other characters in the plot as well. Many people are wondering whether Leonard and Penny (or even Sheldon and Amy) are going to have a baby together now.

The chances of that happening are rare though. Having all the main characters in the show becoming parents would completely turn the show into chaos, so it would make sense as to why the writers only have one couple with a baby for now.

Hopefully, the beloved sitcom will not end after Season 10. Although Chuck Lorre and the CBS channel both confirmed a Season 11, there have been many issues regarding the actors that may cause the series to end.

The chances of the cast returning for another 24-episode season is pretty slim. However, hopefully the show does live for at least one more year, celebrating its ten year anniversary in September 2017, and wrapping up the show nicely with a possible series finale in May 2018.