This is going to be the first time in 13 television seasons that we’re not getting a new episode of The Big Bang Theory. The good news, however, is that many members of the cast are staying busy. Kaley Cuoco is voicing the title character of Harley Quinn in the new animated series for the DC Universe streaming service, Johnny Galecki is going to be reprising the role of David Healy on at least two episodes of The Conners, and now comes word that Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik are collaborating on a new comedy series called Carla.

The show, which will see Mayim starring and producing and Jim serving as executive producer, casts her as the title character. She’s 39 years old and is going through a daily battle between herself and her mother and society as she grows more and more determined to prove to everyone that even if you don’t have everything you want in life, you can nonetheless be happy. To prove it, she’s opened a Cat Cafe in Louisville, Kentucky using the money her parents had saved for what they thought would be her wedding.

Impressively, the show is bypassing the normal procedure of getting the green light for a pilot and then the network deciding whether or not to go to series. FOX has already given the series a commitment for a fall 2020 debut. In a statement, Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorne says, “In pursuing a hand-crafted approach to our scripted development, [we] knew Carla, written by Darlene Hunt, was a project with great potential that could become the centerpiece of our comedy slate — and Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik coming to Fox Entertainment is obviously an enormous part of that equation. Carla is an unapologetically big, broad multi-cam with a strong female point of view, pushing the format in a way that will be distinctive.” Carla is actually based on the 2009-13 British series Miranda.

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Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

On The Big Bang Theory, of course, Jim plays Sheldon Cooper while Mayim plays Amy Farrah Fowler. Over the course of the series, they develop a relationship and eventually get married in a relationship that is both touching and funny in many ways. For Jim, Carla is in addition to another comedy project he has in development titled The Inn Crowd, about a gay couple that decides to buy and operate a small town resort.

And for those who are mourning the loss of The Big Bang Theory, the good news is that reruns can go on forever. In fact, recently HBO Max — the new streaming service coming from Warner Bros — has acquired the show. This is on top of the $425 million payment they’re making to Netflix for the streaming rights to Friends. What this means is that when HBO Max launches in 2020, it will be the only streaming service to offer both The Big Bang Theory and Friends. For fans, that in itself could make HBO Max irresistible.

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