How CBS Still Churns Out Hit TV Shows That Defy Cable Cutters
Now that Young Sheldon is over, another spinoff of The Big Bang Theory arrives this fall. And you can bet it’ll follow the same formulas that has cemented the channel’s position as lord of the ratings.
Illustration by Brandon Celi for Bloomberg Businessweek
You could be forgiven for wondering if the characters in The Big Bang Theory universe have been on television since the dawn of time. The show, from old-school comedic mastermind Chuck Lorre, centered around a group of nerdy, socially awkward scientists and premiered on CBS in 2007. According to Nielsen ratings, it was the No. 1 comedy for nine years.
The series concluded in 2019, but the network already had a replacement. The prequel, Young Sheldon, which follows the childhood of Big Bang Theory protagonist Sheldon Cooper, began airing in 2017 and ran for 141 episodes. It’s been the No. 1 comedy on TV since Big Bang ended. The last episode in May drew a colossal-for-2024 11.7 million viewers. (At its 2011-12 peak, Two and a Half Men, another Lorre hit, averaged 15 million a week.)