“The Big Bang Theory” brand is strong, which means that, after “Young Sheldon” concluded its run last May, CBS wasn’t about to let a single television season pass without a replacement spinoff.
That series is “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” which is gambling that viewers want to hang around in the Cooper area of the Bang-verse. Montana Jordan is returning to play Sheldon’s high-school dropout brother Georgie, who falls in love with Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment), a meteorologist 12 years his senior. By the end of “Young Sheldon,” the pair were married and raising their baby CeeCee.
Fans of both series were definitely enamored of the chemistry generated between Jordan and Osment, so it’s understandable why they’d look to work them into a subsequent spinoff. But building an entire show around them seems risky, given that we know Georgie is going to grow up to become the fabulously wealthy Tire King (played by Jerry O’Connell on “The Big Bang Theory”). Can getting to that destination really be worthy of a multi-season sitcom (for comparison, “Young Sheldon” wrung seven seasons of wistful hilarity out of its title character’s childhood)?
We’re going to find out, but first thing’s first for the “Georgie & Mandy” team: they’ve got to figure out how to segue from the tragic finale of “Young Sheldon.”
How’s Georgie handling George Sr.’s unexpected passing?
As you hopefully remember (because it was only four months ago), “Young Sheldon” concluded with George Sr. (Lance Barber) dying of a heart attack after getting hired to coach football at Rice University.
According to executive producer Steve Holland (who co-created the series with Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro – and, no, that is not “Savage” Steve Holland, the visionary filmmaker of the John Cusack vehicles “Better Off Dead” and “One Crazy Summer”), “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” picks up two months after the death of George Sr., and will not shy away from that pivotal event.
“It’s definitely a piece of the show and a piece of his character,” Holland told Entertainment Weekly. “He’s [Georgie] still this bright, sunny optimist, but he has this little bit of pain that’s still hanging in there.”
What with Mandy’s uncertain job situation, Georgie has to step up and take care of his new family. He will apparently go to work for his father-in-law Jim McAllister (Will Sasso), thus beginning his epic odyssey toward becoming the Tire King.
Is this what “The Big Bang Theory” faithful wants out of a third series in this universe? We’ll find out when “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” hits CBS on October 17, 2024.
