It’s rare that an actor gets to say goodbye to a role twice. However, that’s exactly what Jim Parsons did recently, as the 2024 TV schedule saw Young Sheldon’s final episode drawing the legacy of Dr. Sheldon Cooper with bittersweet results. And to be completely honest, I’m not surprised, as the way he described the experience can be summed up in one word: “weird.”
As he reflected on his recent experience in Young Sheldon’s shocking finale during an E! Online interview, Parsons addressed the scenario that saw him leaving Sheldon’s spot in pop culture yet again. And the oddity of it all is basically summed up in this very fitting recollection:
It was very, very special to do that. The feeling today is kind of odd, you know? It’s the second time now, because when we ended The Big Bang Theory, it felt like this, too. A little bit different.
The difference in Jim Parsons’ Young Sheldon experience was probably due to the fact that his role in the follow-up was mostly as a voice-over. So when it came to wrapping his time after seven seasons, the bonds probably weren’t as emotional as they were on The Big Bang Theory.
There may have been stories of regular cast members freely sobbing like Kaley Cuoco during the final table read of Big Bang, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with Parsons. Although, one has to wonder how Iain Armitage, the actor behind Young Sheldon’s titular character, is holding up.
However, the emotional toll that came with Young Sheldon did show itself to Jim in its own unique way. As he further clarified his feelings, the veteran sitcom actor highlighted a particular wrinkle in ending a sitcom that most people probably don’t think about:
You shoot that final episode and it’s wrapped for you, and then a couple of months later, it wraps for the rest of the world and it’s a very weird feeling to flood over you again like that.
Wrapping a major sitcom character like Dr. Sheldon Cooper is definitely weird, but what’s even weirder is seeing the public reaction and feeling those emotions all over again months later. So in theory, Jim Parsons has had to say goodbye to Sheldon four times in his career.
Though what we know about Georgy and Mandy’s First Marriage doesn’t seem to suggest we’ll be seeing that sort of thing happening again for Parsons, it’d be foolish to totally rule it out. After all, how many people saw Young Sheldon lasting for seven seasons? And even then, it might be Iain Armitage’s turn to revive the sitcom spirit of Dr. Sheldon Cooper.
If you’re looking to say goodbye to Sheldon’s youth in your own way, you can stream Young Sheldon’s entire seven-season run between two platforms. The first six seasons are currently being housed on Netflix, and the final season is now streaming for those with a Paramount+ subscription.