It’s hard to believe we’ll be saying goodbye to two Chuck Lorre shows on the 2024 TV schedule soon. Young Sheldon and Bob Hearts Abishola will both be making their final bows and some of the cast members of the latter series have been making the rounds before that happens. Billy Gardell and co. have been speaking out about the finale, and getting to bring the whole cast back together after budget cuts forced them to make some tough decisions as the show aged.
Recently Gardell, Barry Shabaka Henley and others have been speaking out about the series ender and what filming it entailed for the cast and crew that have stuck around for five seasons.
The Whole Cast Came Back For The Bob Hearts Abishola Finale
While Bob Hearts Abishola returned to the fall schedule in 2023, it only did so after a bunch of restructuring. Following the WGA Writers strike and subsequent actors strike, the network allowed the show back for a fifth season – but only after some of the cast members were put onto limited contracts. This allowed Bob Hearts Abishola to make budget cuts, but it also meant that most characters weren’t in every single episode.
That wasn't the case for filming the finale, however, as Gardell revealed about the finale:
I love that they did this and I love to see the maturation of our relationship and how we settle in the future. Dreams have been fulfilled and people have gone in different directions and the thing I love most was they brought they entire cast back. We had to be sparse, because of economics, we couldn’t have everybody every week. To Gina [Yashere]'s credit, she really fought to get everybody in there. The magic of that was we had everybody with Bob and Abishola in the centerpiece. We delivered a beautiful ending for this show.
Gardell also touched on the fact the CBS sitcom has always been the little series that could. While well-liked and well-reviewed, it wasn't ever the biggest show on the network in terms of ratings. Yet the cast and creative team found ways to make things work, even when the going got touch during COVID and other industry-disrupting events. His shared what filming the show was really like to TV Insider.
We’re all walking around like, ‘I’m not crying, you’re crying.” That afternoon, but you could tell the care and love that went into this journey. This show amazes me. Not just because of what it stands for, that love wins, but there’s a beautiful, positive story about immigration in this show. On top of it you have this little show that made it through a pandemic, it made it through a strike. I mean, we went up against everything you could go up against and yet we still came through and we landed it in a beautiful way.
Ending On A High Note: Have We Seen The Last Of The Bob Hearts Abishola Cast?
As Gardell was making the rounds, his co-star Barry Shabaka Henley also spoke to Extra about why the show was among the many 2024 series that got cancelled. Henley did call the decision “bittersweet” but explained why fans shouldn’t be too upset the show only made it five seasons on the air. The sitcom is ending with a good reputation and good engagement from the fans. As he noted, it’s not going gently into that good night.
We went out at the top. Audiences loving the show; critics loving the show. And it was a very warm feeling when things ended we may or may not see the last of these people. …I dunno, like they say sometimes, it’s better to end at the top than to fizzle out. People are like, ‘Oh, that thing is still on the air. This last episode is a really beautiful way to culminate those five years I think.’
The main thing that Billy Gardell wanted the fans to take ahead of the finale, however? After previously stating he hoped Bob Hearts Abishola would end similarly to his other series Mike & Molly, he has one piece of advice for fans: “Get your tissues ready, man.” I’m already locked and loaded.
