Annie Potts strongly disagrees with CBS‘s decision to end Young Sheldon with Season 7. The Big Bang Theory prequel is set to air its series finale on Thursday, May 16. Leading up to the final episode, Potts is saying she’s “shocked” by the cancellation, calling it a “such a stupid business move.”
The Designing Women alum plays Connie “Meemaw” Tucker, Sheldon’s (Iain Armitage) grandmother, in the hit family sitcom. She didn’t see the end coming.
“I still don’t understand why they canceled it,” Potts told Variety. “It just seemed like such a stupid business move.”
“This [cancellation] was especially hard because I was completely unprepared. I was shocked,” she continued. “I mean, the No. 1 show on network TV, No. 1 on Netflix. We’re, I think, all that people watch on TikTok besides a couple of recipes for pasta… If a show is starting to drag or lag or have a lack of stories or whatever, then you kind of see it coming. We were totally ambushed by this. I was, anyway.”
Young Sheldon wrapped filming on Tuesday, April 16. Potts said it was an emotional affair and that she’s “grieving” the series ending.
“It’s been really, really, really emotional. I mean, it’s been half of Iain’s life, and it’s been a 10th of mine, but at 70, that feels significant,” she said. “And, you know, it’s a little village that we have, and we’ve all taken care of each other and raised each other up. There will be a grievous hole in my life. There’s no question about it. It’ll get easier. Grief does, loss does.”
Armitage shared his feelings about CBS ending the show.
“I totally get what Annie means,” he told Variety. “It’s also just hard in a really weird way that I can only really see if I step back and try and take a global view, which is hard. I mean, I’m not going to get to see Annie Potts every day. This is a real loss for me. More than anyone. I definitely think we could have done a lot more.”
Young Sheldon will continue through its upcoming spinoff starring Montana Jordan and Emily Osment, who play Georgie and Mandy.
Young Sheldon, Thursdays, 8/7c, CBS