Say it ain’t so! The Big Bang Theory star Kunal Nayyar recently revealed that the beloved CBS series — which aired its season 9 finale last month — may be nearing its end.
Nayyar, 35, who plays astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali, discussed the possibility of the show’s imminent end at MCM Comic Con in London on Sunday, May 29.
“Look, next season, as it stands on our contract, could be the last season of Big Bang Theory,” he told fans. “To be completely honest, I know people are gonna want to know what happens after season 10. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The Big Bang Theory, which also stars Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco and Simon Helberg, premiered in September 2007. Since then, it has been picked up for syndication and has become one of the most popular shows on television.
The British Indian actor continued, “If it were up to me, personally, I would love to do the show as long as you guys would have us on the air.”
Nayyar — who was the third highest-paid TV actor in the world in 2015, according to Forbes — then looked over at costar Melissa Rauch, who plays Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz, to ask her if she would be open to continuing the show after season 10. “I don’t know, I’d love to,” she said, adding, “We’ll see.”
The Yes, My Accent Is Real author also shut down the possibility of a Big Bang Theory feature film. “It is a very difficult format to do for a movie because we shoot in front of a live studio audience with four cameras,” he explained. “So unless the movie was a two-and-a-half hour sitcom version of The Big Bang Theory, I don’t think we could ever actually do a movie. We could do it on stage.”
Last year, showrunner Steven Molaro also hinted that producers are eyeing season 10 as the show’s probable end. “The reality is that maybe season 10 is the ending point,” he told The Hollywood Reporter in December. “The real answer is, I don’t know, and all I can do right now is go episode to episode and try to make each one the best that we can.”