Bad news for fans of 'The Big Bang Theory', whoever you are - the comedy series will end after the next season.

The hugely successful show, which followed the fortunes of two physicists and their group of geeky friends, has been running for 11 seasons and has been enormously successful since debuting in 2007. It was once the most-watched shows on TV and its actors have become amongst the highest-paid on television.

Now - despite CBS's Head of Entertainment discussing the possibility of the show being renewed in recent weeks - CBS, Warner Bros. and Chuck Lorre Productions have released a joint statement revealing that the upcoming 12th season, due to air in 2019, will be its last.

“We are forever grateful to our fans for their support of The Big Bang Theory during the past twelve seasons," it read. "We, along with the cast, writers and crew, are extremely appreciative of the show’s success and aim to deliver a final season, and series finale, that will bring The Big Bang Theory to an epic creative close.”

Star Johnny Galecki, meanwhile, said that he was "comfortable" with it ending at this point. "The only way we’ve discussed wrapping the show is we’re all going to be very sad when that day comes,” he said. “I think at this point everyone is very comfortable with 12 seasons being a good time to go home and see our families.”

The news has been met with an... ahem... mixed reaction...