Annie Potts Criticizes 'Young Sheldon' Cancellation as 'Stupid Business Move'

Annie Potts as Meemaw in 'Young Sheldon' Season 7

Annie Potts is not happy about Young Sheldon ending, and she's not afraid to say it.

In a new interview with Variety, Potts, who has played Connie Tucker, Sheldon's (Iain Armitage) Meemaw, for the entirety of the Big Bang Theory spinoff's run, criticized the decision to end the show after seven seasons, calling it a "stupid business move."

The veteran of long-running series including Designing Women and Any Day Now was asked if ever gets easier to say goodbye to shows.

"This one was especially hard because I was completely unprepared. I was shocked," she answered. "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. I was, anyway."

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Why is Young Sheldon really ending?

Young Sheldon has in fact been network TV's No. 1-rated comedy since The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019, and topped Nielsen's streaming ratings chart when it was added to Netflix last year.

But the choice to end Young Sheldon is a creative one as much as it is a business one. Producers have said that basically, Young Sheldon isn't so young anymore, and the story of his childhood is coming to a natural close. "There are certain things we know happen in Sheldon’s life at 14," executive producer Steve Holland told Deadline earlier this year. "We started talking about the future of 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."

Related: Everything to Know About the 'Young Sheldon' George & Mandy Spinoff

Young Sheldon will be succeeded by a spinoff focused on Sheldon's brother Georgie (Montana Jordan) and sister-in-law Mandy (Emily Osment). The new show will probably be less expensive to make than another season of Young Sheldon, which could be what Potts means when she says it's a "business decision."

We assumed Meemaw would definitely be part of the spinoff, but now we're not so sure.

Young Sheldon wrapped production on its series finale last week. The one-hour finale will air on Thursday, May 16.

Young Sheldon airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. It's available to stream on Paramount+.

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