A Brief Ode to “The Big Bang Theory”

CBS

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Tonight is the last episode of The Big Bang Theory. Here’s my story about that.

As you all know, five years ago I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and spent a week in the hospital. Anybody who’s been through something like this probably knows what I’m talking about when I say that it was harder on Marian than on me. A cancer diagnosis is terrifying on its own, but a spouse has the additional anxiety of helplessness. All Marian could do was go home each night and worry.

I hobbled home after a week, and when I turned on the TV it was tuned to TBS, which, as usual, was showing reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It turned out that BBT had been part of what kept Marian sane while I was in the hospital. She had discovered it while channel surfing, and it was just what she needed. Not a sophisticated, bittersweet, single-camera semi-comedy. Just an old-fashioned, brightly lit, multi-cam yuk fest. Did all the jokes land? No. But enough of them did. It was a funny show that didn’t require a whole lot of mental energy to watch, and that was perfect for the moment.

I’ve been watching it with Marian ever since. Thanks, Chuck Lorre.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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