Ah, the 3-camera sitcom: 'The Big Bang Theory' is ending, but here's why its multi-cam setup should stay

In the beginning was the word, and the word was "Lucy."

In 1951, at the dawn of television, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz brought forth a new form of comedy: the three-camera sitcom, performed before a studio audience.

The legacy of "I Love Lucy" runs through the whole history of television, from "The Honeymooners" and "The Phil Silvers Show," to "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Rhoda," "Cheers," and "Taxi," "Good Times" and "The Golden Girls," "Friends" and "Seinfeld," "Roseanne" and "The Bernie Mac Show" - and beyond "The Big Bang Theory," which exits television after 12 seasons on May 16, leaving behind its single-camera spinoff, "Young Sheldon." (You will see it in reruns, however, for the rest of your natural life.)

Let us take