Young Sheldon got renewed for seasons five, six, and seven. With that, we will continue to follow the adventures of Sheldon and his family.
Young Sheldon is more than a Big Bang Theory prequel. Sure, eventually Young Sheldon will move to Pasadena and meet with his future friends Penny, Leonard, Raj, Howard, Bernadette, Stewart and his future wife Amy Farrah Fowler. But until then we will see how life was before all that happened, through his eyes.
In the show, Sheldon is a socially awkward prodigy who has skipped many years of High School and has caught up with his dimwitted brother Georgie. And eventually, even pass Georgie and gets admitted to the university where he will follow classes for theoretical physics.
Of course, Sheldon is not alone. As mentioned, his dimwitted brother Georgie, his mother Mary Cooper (who isn’t as religious as The Big Bang Theory portrays her) his father George Cooper Sr., Missy Cooper (his twin sister) and his Meemaw Constance “Connie” Tucker.
Cast and Characters of Young Sheldon
Sheldon
Sheldon is often described as a “once-in-a-generation mind capable of advanced mathematics and science”. And that will come full circle when he wins the Nobel prize for physics in season 12 of The Big Bang Theory.
In the show we can see how Sheldon already felt superior to most of his peers because of his grand intellect. While it gets him in trouble and essentially makes him a loner, he does love his family and does show that his heart is in the right place. Something that we will see plenty in both Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory. Sheldon is 9 in the first season and 10 in seasons two and three. In the fourth season, Sheldon is 11 and starts college.
The funny part is that Sheldon and Missy are twins but whereas Sheldon gets all the school smarts, Missy is blessed with the streets marts. Which is a great contrast to see.
Missy Cooper
Missy Cooper is Sheldon’s twin sister. Gifted with social skills but not the school smarts. She loves her twin brother and the rest of her family to bits. But also loves teasing Sheldon only surpassed by Georgie. It wasn’t until later that we find out that Missy’s real name is Melissa. So her full name is actually Melissa Cooper.
As mentioned before, Missy doesn’t have Sheldon’s school smarts but she does have the social skills that Sheldon lacks. Which makes her a great contrast and seeing them together are usually very fun scenes. The best scenes were where Sheldon and Missy did a test for twins and whereas Sheldon took everything very literal, Missy could read the room very well. That makes her exceptionally perceptive. Which is her greatest asset, next to teasing Sheldon of course.
Mary Cooper
Mary is Sheldon’s overprotective mother and has trouble coming to terms with what he is: super intelligent. The show revolves around her trying to teach Sheldon how to deal with social situations. But also on how to let go of your child while he is growing up. This was most apparent when Sheldon was adamant on going to college and even filled in his college application. She did everything to stop that from happening because it meant that she has to let go of him. And while she eventually did, with the help of George Sr., she stills sees him as that little boy who is her son.
George Cooper Sr.
George is Sheldon’s father and ofcourse also Georgie’s and Missy’s dad as well as Mary’s husband. He is the head coach of football at Medford High. He does not really understand his son Sheldon but often acts as the voice of reason, as mentioned above, he is the one who helped convince Mary to let Sheldon go to college. While having a hard time grasping the intellectual prowess his son possesses he has been shown to defend Sheldon and helping him out with whatever the kids are going through.
Georgie Cooper
Georgie Cooper is Sheldon and Missy’s dimwitted brother. He is often mocked by his family while he himself has been shown to be a big teaser of Sheldon and his intellect, which he himself does not really understand either. In The Big Bang Theory, he is a self-made man who’s talent for sales and love for cars has made him wealthy. His shop is known as Dr. Tire. And even that is mocked by Sheldon who keeps telling him that he is not a real doctor.
Constance “Connie” Tucker
Or as we know her: Meemaw! In The Big Bang Theory she is mentioned a lot by Sheldon and he is incredibly fond of her. And she is very fond of Sheldon, even sending him her engagement ring so he could propose to Amy.
But in the show, Connie is more often sarcastic, mocks Georgie and helps Sheldon finds his way in life. She also helps her daughter, Mary Cooper, on how to deal with Sheldon.
The connections to The Big Bang Theory
The actors form a strong ensemble and the acting and writing are sublime. We get to see Sheldon’s quirks develop slowly and some are already quite apparent. Like for instance, Sheldon shows heavy dislike of any physical contact. His love for comics and Star Trek. But other connections are Dungeons and Dragons and his PC skills.
But ofcourse there need to be cameos to form an even stronger connection to The Big Bang Theory. So we have Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco, be the voice of a scene where Sheldon is afraid to get into the pool.
“That was absolutely the voice of Kaley as pool water,” series co-creator Steve Molaro told TVLine with a laugh. “I needed someone to do the voice. I knew I wanted it to be female and kinda sexy, and I said, ‘Well, duh! Kaley is perfect for this.’”
Once Molaro knew he wanted Cuoco, he phoned his former star to get her take on the peculiar part. “I said, ‘Hey, I have a weird pitch for you: Sheldon has a nightmare, and he has to go to this pool, and he speaks to the pool water. Do you want to be the voice of pool water?’” Molaro recalled. “She just laughed and said, ‘Absolutely, I do.’”
Amy Farrah Fowler also makes a voice over appearance reprising her role on Young Sheldon and saying the following:
“I wanted his name to be Leonard Nimoy Cooper, but Amy wouldn’t let me,” he revealed. That’s when Bialik chimed in as Sheldon’s better half and said, “Be lucky I let you name him Leonard.” What followed was the exchange of “I love you’s,” before the episode cut to black.
But the best connection was made, and essentially a love letter to The Big Bang Theory, was when the younger versions of Penny, Leonard, Bernadette, Howard, Raj and Amy were shown:
Those are some of the connections shown in the TV show and I love them for it.
Early renewal for Young Sheldon Season 5
Young Sheldon has been renewed for seasons five, six and seven. Which is great news. Whether the show can air for 12 seasons like The Big Bang Theory, I don’t know. You will have to deal with aging teens who may not withstand the test of time. We simply don’t know but until then, we should just enjoy the show in my humble opinion.
“Under Chuck Lorre’s and Steve Molaro’s deft leadership, this superb cast and gifted writers have truly brought these wonderful characters to life,” CBS president Kelly Kahl said in a statement. “Young Sheldon dominates the broadcast comedy landscape by over 2.5 million viewers and is the lynchpin of CBS’ top-rated Thursday comedy lineup. The humor, warmth and heart exuded by the Cooper family is an undeniable hook for the millions of fans who tune in each week. We’re excited to see what the next three seasons have in store for a slightly older Sheldon and all the Coopers.”
I heartily recommend you watch this show, it is more than just a spin off of The Big Bang Theory and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
