“He’s a dad now, and we wanted him to be a little more mature.”
The final season of Young Sheldon has come and gone, bringing to a close a brilliant seven-year run that saw the CBS comedy drama bring to life the origin story of Sheldon Cooper. The character was first introduced in the iconic sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, and was portrayed for many seasons by Jim Parsons. A man with an extremely intelligent mind, Parsons’ Sheldon had other flaws that matched his high intelligence. With his love for science, Parsons’ Sheldon had an equally, somewhat unhealthy obsession with comic books and their characters. In Big Bang, Sheldon was known for often wearing shirts with comic book references. In preparation for his appearance in the series finale of Young Sheldon, series executive producer Steve Molaro revealed a change in outfit was deeply considered.
For much of Parsons’ run in the early seasons of The Big Bang Theory, his character’s outfit choice left a lot to be desired. While it did slightly improve when Sheldon began seeing Amy (Mayim Bialik), Sheldon’s love for his comic-related apparel never fully went away. The pair’s appearance in the series finale of Young Sheldon was meant to showcase the pair as parents, years into the future. Speaking in an interview with Glamour, Molaro reveals that the decision to have Sheldon’s apparel look more mature, is a testament to the evolution of the character, now that he has become a parent.
“I remember us thinking we didn’t want Sheldon in the typical comic book store shirts. He’s a dad now, and we wanted him to be a little more mature. We figured Amy might have encouraged him to no longer wear that, or hidden them all. It was nice that he has on a long-sleeved sweater that he pushed up the sleeves a little bit to sort of evoke the old Sheldon vibes from Big Bang . That was intentional. Mayim was happy with what Amy was wearing and thought it was right. And those were Mayim’s personal glasses.”
Everything Has Changed For The Coopers
The idea to bring back the older version of Sheldon Cooper as we said goodbye to his teenage counterpart in Iain Armitage, was a brilliant idea which, alongside other factors, has seen the series earn its highest viewership in a few years. Playing Sheldon Cooper once more is an opportunity Parsons had described as “a gift,” and his wardrobe collection isn’t all that has changed about the Nobel Prize winner. The home of Sheldon and Amy had changed, with Molaro explaining that the pair had moved from the apartment they used in The Big Bang Theory. “I would like people to understand that they’re not looking at the apartment, but the wood tones of the room are similar enough,” Molaro said. “Chuck [Lorre] was like, ‘We should show a house and make it clear they’ve moved,’ but there is absolutely a familiar feeling to it. The desk is wood, and the walls have a similar wood vibe. I’m glad we at least tried to make it clear.”
Now that Young Sheldon is ended, the story of the Cooper family is set to continue with a new spinoff series, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, which arrives at CBS in the Fall. There are a number of changes coming to the spinoff, as the story of the Coopers takes us in an entirely different direction. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage will return to The Big Bang Theory’s format, with multicam and featuring a live audience. Mandy (Emily Osment) won’t be content with just being a stay-at-home mom, but is considering returning to school and building a career. The coming spinoff is set to be different from Young Sheldon, and showrunner, Steve Holland, sought to make this clear, saying: “We get to bring in new characters – [some] that people already know. But we get to tell entirely brand-new stories, and the show can go anywhere we decide to take it.”
