Little Bang Theory
Brace yourselves as we go inside the original Sheldon factory…
Young Sheldon Season 1 Wednesdays (from 14 February) M-Net (*101) 19:30
The heart of Big Bang Theory spinoff Young Sheldon (2017- current) is the bond between nine-yearold genius Sheldon (Iain Armitage) and his kind-but-bewildered mother Mary Cooper (Zoe Perry). The series is narrated from adult Sheldon’s (Jim Parsons) skewed point of view, but it’s often level-headed Mary who has our sympathies. “It’s a window into Sheldon’s head but you get to see everyone’s perspective, how it is for his family to navigate around him as well. There’s a lot of struggle there and that is where the comedy is,” says Zoe.
The rest of the Cooper family are a sideshow, but it’s fascinating to go “back to the future” between Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory, seeing what grown-up Sheldon has said about them over the years...
TWIN SISTER MISSY (Raegan Revord) 1
Big Bang season 1 episode 15: Sheldon claims that “there is the possibility, however remote, that resting in her loins is the potential for another individual as remarkable as myself”.
OLDER BROTHER GEORGE JR 2
(Montana Jordan) Big Bang season 8 episode 23: Sheldon calls George (who used to sneak-drink their dad’s “driving whiskey”) a “mouthbreathing idiot”.
MEEMAW (Annie Potts) 3
Big Bang season 9 episode 14: Sheldon boasts, “She’s like Grandma Spider-Man.” She spoils Sheldon with fresh cookies and gifts of toy trains and is his most beloved family member who can do no wrong.
DAD GEORGE (Lancer Barber) 4
Sheldon’s late dad drank and cheated on Mary, driving her to religious fanaticism. In Big Bang season 7 episode 9, Sheldon says, “My father loved football. He made me watch it before I was allowed to do my homework.” This is the first time fans get to see their strained-but-loving bond.