That was the title of the final M*A*S*H episode. It aired on February 28, 1983, and ran for 11 seasons. I thought about that recently after watching the series finales of both The Big Bang Theory and Game of Thrones. While GOT garnered most of the attention last week, over 23 million people caught the final Big Bang episodes. Big Bang ran for 12 years, and I commented on Facebook the other day, that it’s really amazing to see what can happen when a show is given time to find an audience. This series will forever be linked in my memory to my good friends Larry and Renate. Every week, we would have some laughs as we discussed the latest adventures of Penny and The Guys. The episode where Sheldon hides in a ball pit, while Leonard valiantly tries to find him, was an instant classic. It was the first time I ever heard the word Bazinga!
Initially, I didn’t really warm up to Big Bang. It wasn’t because of the nerdiness of the cast. God knows, computer geeks like us are definitely as quirky as those guys were. For me, it was the awkwardness of the boy genius, grown into a man, Sheldon Cooper. To say that Sheldon is lacking in social skills is a massive understatement. What really made me squirm, was how his first response in every situation was always one of massive selfishness. Like Dr. Cooper, for some reason I am hardwired to react in virtually every scenario with one question, “How will this affect me?” I have recognized this flaw in my character and over the years, I have tried to battle it with self-reflection and empathy. However, Sheldon still has the ability to make me cringe.
As my wife and I sat down to watch the final back-to-back episodes of Big Bang, I thought about my friends Larry and Renate. We had all left the company we used to work for at different times, so we never really had a chance for a group goodbye. As my wife and I laughed and cried at the final episodes of Big Bang, plus the Young Sheldon crossover episode, I thought about my friends and how much I miss them. However, Larry is currently helping me develop the new home for this blog, so I talk with him, via video-chat from time to time. I haven’t seen Renate since we left our former positions. Just like Big Bang, every job comes to an end. However, if we continue to reach out to our friends, it doesn’t have to be goodbye, farewell, and amen.
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