The Big Bang Theory had 12 seasons. The CBS sitcom premiered on September 24, 2007, and concluded on May 16, 2019, with its twelfth season serving as the final chapter.
Created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, the series followed physicists Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, their neighbor Penny, and friends Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothrappali. Its blend of relationship comedy, workplace humor, and science references made it one of CBS’s defining sitcoms of the 2000s and 2010s.
Across its 12-season run, The Big Bang Theory produced 279 episodes. The show’s final season aired during the 2018–19 television season and ended with the hour-long episode “The Stockholm Syndrome,” which brought the main characters’ stories to a close.
A common mix-up is confusing the series with Young Sheldon, its spin-off and prequel about Sheldon’s childhood. Young Sheldon had its own separate season count, so it is not included in The Big Bang Theory’s total.