Finale-ly Leaving the Screen

Game+of+Thrones%2C+along+with+numerous+other+beloved+television+shows%2C+will+be+leaving+the+screen+this+year.

HBO

Game of Thrones, along with numerous other beloved television shows, will be leaving the screen this year.

Caitlyn Truong, Editor

2019 will mark the death of several television shows which have been on the air for as long as fourteen years. They each have survived numerous seasons, character deaths, and plot twists–but for no longer. While some shows will have their final season this year, others have simply had their endings announced.

 

The oldest show to be leaving the screen is Supernatural, which stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki as brothers Dean and Sam Winchester who hunt supernatural creatures. Supernatural has been airing episodes since 2005 and will have completed fifteen seasons by its end. It currently has three hundred episodes and is airing on the CW. According to Entertainment Weekly, Ackles and Padalecki recently announced on March 22 that its fifteenth season premiering this fall will be its last.

 

With over 270 episodes and twelve seasons, The Big Bang Theory is another beloved show which will end with its twelfth season. The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom starring Kaley Cuoco, Johnny Galecki, and Jim Parsons and has been on the air since 2007.

 

While it hasn’t been on the screen for as long as other shows leaving or announced to be leaving this year, Game of Thrones will still leave a large impact when it ends its eight year long run on May 19. The greatly popular series stars Emilia Clarke, Sophie Turner, and Maisie Williams in a fantasy drama series based on George R. R. Martin’s best-selling book series, A Song of Ice and Fire. According to Cinemablend, its showrunner, David Benioff, explains the show ending after only eight seasons despite its popularity and success: “It’s not supposed to be an ongoing show, where every seasons it’s trying to figure out new story lines…We wanted something where, if people watched it end to end, it would make sense as one continuous story.”

 

In addition to these shows, Orange is the New Black, Jane the Virgin, Gotham, Shadowhunters, Arrow, and more will be leaving or have been announced to be leaving this year. While the announcements of the end have been met with despair from the shows’ loyal, long-lasting fans, it is perhaps for the best–according to Sarah Kim (11), “TV shows which have been airing for a while lose focus at some point. After a certain amount of seasons, they’re not making episodes for the story or the characters, but for the sake of making episodes.”

 

For most of the shows leaving this year, they will be departing at the height of their popularity, when their fans are still interested enough in their stories to be saddened by their end.