Why Young Sheldon Didn’t Include the Major Big Bang Storyline Fans Expected

Before actually addressing the moment in its final season, Young Sheldon chose to seemingly rewrite Big Bang Theory canon by skipping over a life-altering moment for Sheldon Cooper, when he walked in on his father having sex with another woman.

After Season 6, Episode 17, “A German Folk Song and an Actual Adult,” picked up at the start of 13-year-old Sheldon’s spring break, fans expected the CBS drama to finally tackle a defining moment in the character’s life: walking in on his father having an extramarital affair with another woman. Adult Sheldon had previously explained in The Big Bang Theory that this childhood moment is why he knocks three times before entering a room. However, the eighteenth episode, “Little Green Men and a Fella’s Marriage Proposal,” jumps over spring break entirely, beginning with Sheldon and Missy returning to school.

Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on May 31, 2024: Young Sheldon has officially ended with its seventh and final season. The beloved Big Bang Theoryprequel spinoff aired an emotional last season, detailing the final year in George Cooper’s life, which proved to be quite eventful. Among the many things that occurred in season seven was the final revelation of what really happened when Sheldon walked in on his father, supposedly cheating on his wife with another woman. But this still leaves fans with plenty of questions, including why this incident didn’t occur in Season 6, as the timeline would have suggested. Moreover, what really happened between George and this supposed “other woman?”

Why Young Sheldon Season 6 Didn’t Adapt George’s Big Storyline

Created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro, Young Sheldon is a spinoff prequel to The Big Bang Theory. It follows a young Sheldon Cooper growing up in East Texas in the late ’80s/early ’90s. The coming-of-age sitcom premiered on CBS in September 2017 and has aired 123 episodes across six seasons. Iain Armitage stars as young Sheldon, and Jim Parson, who portrayed the adult Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, narrates the series.

Leading up to this shocking and perhaps upsetting episode in Season 6, Young Sheldon executive producer Steve Holland previously explained to TVLine that Sheldon walking in on his father wouldn’t take place anytime soon. “Without saying it didn’t happen, we’re not obligated to tell all the stories that Sheldon told on Big Bang,” he said back in March 2023. “I’m not saying we are or we are not [telling that story], but it’s not happening in Season 6.” However, Holland hinted that the storyline could be revisited in the future. “It could potentially happen in Season 7, and it’s a possibility we’ve talked about a lot, so it’s on the table,” he added. “But just because it happened doesn’t mean it’s a story [our narrator] has to tell.”

What Really Happened With George’s Affair?

Surprisingly, Young Sheldon revealed that Sheldon was wrong about George in The Big Bang Theory on multiple fronts. While his relationship with his father was complex, Sheldon was incorrect about his father having an affair. Although Young Sheldon hinted at George’s affair for several years, even setting up a potential fling with the Coopers’ neighbor Brenda, it was eventually revealed that the entire event was nothing more than a grave misunderstanding.

In Season 7, Episode 4 of Young Sheldon, entitled “Ants on a Log and a Cheating Winker,” the truth about George’s affair is finally revealed. The story unfolds mostly as Sheldon recounted to Penny in The Big Bang Theory, with a very important exception: the “other woman” was actually Mary all along. When Sheldon bursts into the room, he finds his father with a woman whom he does not recognize and storms out, traumatized. What Sheldon didn’t realize, however, is that the woman was none other than his mother in a costume and wig, which she had put on to spice up her relationship with her husband. Young Sheldon reveals that George never cheated on Mary, even though his son would spend years believing otherwise.

Even though he misinterpreted the encounter, this moment profoundly affected Sheldon Cooper moving forward. This led to the development of one of Sheldon’s many quirks, which involves knocking three times on a door before entering, subconsciously afraid of what he might find on the other side.

What Is The New Young Sheldon Spinoff?

While Young Sheldon was the first Big Bang Theory spinoff, it won’t be the last. Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced that Lorre is creating a second spinoff for the Max streaming service. The series will be titled Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage and, as its title suggests, will follow Georgie and Mandy after Young Sheldon‘s events as they enter their marriage’s early years. The spinoff will premiere in late 2024, with Montana Jordan and Emily Osment reprising their roles as Georgie and Mandy Cooper, respectively.

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage brings the opportunity to include cameos from certain Young Sheldon characters. From Mary to Sheldon Cooper himself, fans should expect to see at least a handful of the franchise’s other characters in the upcoming spinoff. The show could continue the controversial storyline about George’s affair and how Sheldon processed the event he had misinterpreted. While The Big Bang Theory canon maintains that he cannot learn the truth about his father, Sheldon could at least come to peace with what happened, forgiving his father for the fault he thinks he saw.

While fans were disappointed that Young Sheldon Season 6 avoided the storyline involving George Cooper’s affair, the seventh and final season finally followed through on the event–with a twist. Having moved on from this venture, The Big Bang Theory can move on to new and different storylines in the upcoming spinoff starring Georgie and Mandy.