Here's Why Annie Potts Called CBS' Decision to Cancel 'Young Sheldon' a 'Stupid' One

Iain Armitage, the costar and younger Sheldon himself, joined Annie Potts, who was open about her feelings on CBS' decision to cancel the show after seven seasons. Potts didn't hold back when referring to the impending May 16 season finale as a 'stupid business decision' in an interview with Variety. Originally scheduled to run until Season 7, the program was renewed for three seasons in March 2021; however, CBS announced in November that the show would not return after that season. 

Potts told Variety, "This one was especially hard because I was completely unprepared. I was shocked. 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. It just seemed like such a stupid business move. Forgive me, but I don’t know. 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." Armitage expressed his opinion that 'we could have done a lot more' with the program. 

He added, "I totally get what Annie means. 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." Just last week, the show's production came to an end, and Potts was questioned about her feelings at this point. She said, "It’s been really, really, really emotional. I mean, it’s been half of Ian’s life, and it’s been a 10th of mine, but at 70, that feels significant. 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."

CBS confirmed in November that the seventh season of the well-liked Big Bang Theory prequel would mark the end of the show's existence. As reported by EW, Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro, and Steve Holland, the executive producers, said in a statement at the time, "Being able to tell the origin of Sheldon Cooper, and expanding the story to include the entire Cooper family has been a wonderful experience. We are grateful to our fans for embracing this chapter of the Coopers these past six seasons, and on behalf of the entire Young Sheldon family, we're excited to share this final season with you." In February, Steve Holland, the show's executive producer, explained their decision to end the seventh season. As reported by The Independent, Holland said, "There are certain things we know happened in Sheldon’s life at 14. We started talking about the future of the show, and what it looked like. This is the right time for this story to come to an end, knowing that at 14, he goes off to Cal Tech. It felt like the right time to end it strong while it was on top."