(CNN) Tears, hugs and speeches were plentiful on Tuesday night as the cast of "The Big Bang Theory" took their final bow at the last live taping of their long-running sitcom.

The feeling inside the stage where the comedy has made its home on the Warner Bros. Studio lot in Burbank was much like that of the last day of high school. Emotions were flowing as the cast and crew finished making 279 episodes of television together.

It hit some, well, like a big bang.

For the cast who posted about the final taping on Instagram, where the embargoes that prevent reporters in attendance from spilling too many details of the night or anything about the episode's contents do not apply, the mood was clear: this end of an era has hit them all hard.

"Thank you for your words. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for tuning in night in and night out," Kunal Nayyar wrote. "Thank you for the stories you shared about how this show made you feel. Thank you too, for the not so nice times. Thank you, for lifting us up when we were down."

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