Young Sheldon Easter Eggs: Every Nod to The Big Bang Theory (and Every Future Reveal) Across 7 Seasons
Young Sheldon Easter Eggs: Every Nod to The Big Bang Theory (and Every Future Reveal) Across 7 Seasons
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TVLine is taking stock of Young Sheldon’s many nods, cameos and crossovers with its predecessor, The Big Bang Theory.
First launched in September 2017, Young Sheldon filled in the details of Dr. Cooper’s upbringing in Medford, Texas. The story started off in 1989, and was told from the point of view of a more mature Sheldon, “who is older now and seeing his parents in a different light for the first time,” according to series co-creator Steven Molaro. This altered perspective afforded the spinoff an opportunity to chart its own path and occasionally diverge from Big Bang canon without ever disrespecting what preceded it.
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Whether you’re familiar with the prequel or simply curious, the following guide provides a robust rundown of all the ways the single-camera offshoot paid homage to Big Bang, provided answers to some of our lingering questions — for starters, what’s a Bazinga?! — and painted a clearer picture of Sheldon’s relationship with his family, including his ill-fated father.
You’ll also find multiple Easter eggs, crossovers that took place after Big Bang’s 2019 series finale, and details about Sheldon and Amy’s future that were not disclosed on TV’s longest-running multi-camera comedy.
June Squibb originated the role of Sheldon’s grandmother in The Big Bang Theory Season 9, Episode 14. Designing Women vet Annie Potts took over the role in Young Sheldon Season 1, Episode 3.
The Young Sheldon Season 4 finale established the family patriarch’s potential fall from grace, planting the seeds for an extramarital affair between George and next-door neighbor Brenda Sparks. Seasons 5 and 6 continued to hint that something would happen, but the prequel pivoted come 13-year-old Sheldon’s spring break in Season 6, Episode 18, which is when Sheldon told Penny he walked in on his father with another woman.
In Young Sheldon Season 7, Episode 4, it was revealed that Sheldon actually walked in on his father and mother — but he would never learn that it was Mary in costume, not another woman.
Sheldon’s father’s fate was predestined — and Young Sheldon never sugarcoated it. George’s mortality first cast a shadow over the prequel in Season 1, Episode 3, when George suffered a minor heart attack. Then in Season 4, Episode 17, Sheldon acknowledged that George was living on borrowed time.
In Season 6, Episode 16, the prequel implied that George’s eventual demise would mark the eventual end of the series — and that’s precisely what happened. He died off screen in Season 7, Episode 12, and his funeral was held in Young Sheldon’s penultimate episode. You can revisit our post mortem interview with Lance Barber and Zoe Perry below:
Brenda’s son was established as Sheldon’s childhood bully in The Big Bang Theory Season 3, and was referenced twice more, in Seasons 5 and 9. He made his on-screen debut in Episode 1 of the spinoff, when he taunted Sheldon with his pet chicken, Mathilda. Ultimately, though, Billy was portrayed as more of a nuisance than a tormentor, and never shoved a Mexican peso up Sheldon’s nose — at least not on screen.
