Sheldon and Sheldon find their way
Big Bang origin story is back
Like many younger siblings, Young Sheldon hopes to build off the popularity of its older brother, The Big Bang Theory, while showing off its own personality.
Sheldon (returning Thursday, 8:30 ET/PT), which features a 9-year-old version of Jim Parsons’ Big Bang character, Sheldon Cooper, incorporates his familiar quirks and childhood stories. The new show continues to follow Big
Bang (8 ET/PT), TV’s top-rated comedy, and features Parsons as its narrator.
But Sheldon is its own show. It veers from Big Bang’s multi-camera format and films without a studio audience.
And instead of focusing on a group of science colleagues and their friends in present-day Pasadena, Sheldon flashes back to Cooper’s family in 1989 East Texas, where he lives with his mother and father, Mary (Zoe Perry) and George Sr. (Lance Barber); his older brother, Georgie (Montana Jordan); and his twin sister, Missy (Raegan Revord).
Sheldon’s beloved grandmother, Meemaw (Annie Potts), a vibrant woman who lives nearby, makes her first appearance in the Nov. 9 episode. “We didn’t want to lean on The Big
Bang Theory. Yes, this is a prequel, but we wanted to do something that stood on its own,” says executive producer Chuck Lorre. “It’s telling the story of one of the lead characters of Big Bang The
ory as a little boy, but in tone, shape and hopefully impression, it gets to be very different.”
Sheldon opened strong during broadcast TV’s premiere week, scoring a huge audience of 22.5 million viewers following the resolution of Big Bang’s cliffhanger about Sheldon’s marriage proposal to Amy. But it has been off the air for nearly six weeks, awaiting Big
Bang’s return to Thursdays.
After years of success with multicamera shows ( Two and a Half Men, Mom, Mike and Molly), Lorre is adjusting to the new format, which is less reli- ant on punchlines. “We’re trying to find the right mix that works for us,” says executive producer Steven Molaro. Actor Iain Armitage, 9 ( Big Little
Lies), says trademark traits are visible in the younger Sheldon, including an aver- sion to germs and an insistence on following rules. His social awkwardness is apparent in Thursday’s episode, too, when he relies on a self-help book to find a friend.
But the boy, a know-it-all who doesn’t convey cynicism, is not yet the same person.
“Sheldon on Big Bang Theory is a little more sassy, but young Sheldon is sort of innocent and sweet and he hasn’t gotten that sassy personality yet,” Armitage says. “He’s still finding himself.” Mary’s also an earlier version of her
Big Bang alter ego, played by Perry’s real-life mother, Laurie Metcalf. She’s not as certain about life and religion.
“We’re being introduced to Mary at a different stage of life and she’s got three kids running around and she might be a little more frazzled at times. Her faith is still evolving. So, it’s probably a new Mary for audiences,” Perry says.
If Sheldon doesn’t always get the support an exceptional child needs from his father, a good ol’ boy football coach who has little in common with his son, he has a champion in Meemaw.
“She is always there to encourage him in all kinds of ways,” says Potts, whose character enjoys a drink, gambles and “gets to be a little naughty.” But mostly, “she wants to protect and support Sheldon.”
He’s going to need it.