Yesterday, CBS revealed the title of the upcoming Young Sheldon spinoff: Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
Later that night, the network gave us an episode of Young Sheldon that felt like an episode of Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage.
Here’s what we mean by that.
Half of the episode, “Community Service and the Key to a Happy Marriage,” was about Connie’s (Annie Potts) problems with her tough new probation officer, Rhonda Thomason (Octavia Spencer). The other half was about Georgie (Montana Jordan) and Mandy (Emily Osment) adjusting to living with Mandy’s parents Audrey (Rachel Bay Jones) and Jim (Will Sasso), and thinking about what they want in their marriage.
In the episode, Audrey is forcing her opinions on how Cece should be raised on Mandy and Georgie. She wants to let Cece cry herself out rather than give her a pacifier, which makes Mandy angry, because it’s not what she wants to do. Georgie is caught in the middle, not sure what to do, until Jim tells him he should side with Audrey when he’s with Audrey and Mandy when he’s with Mandy, and keep his true feelings to himself.
This leads Georgie to mindlessly agree with everything Mandy says in order to pacify her. Mandy catches on to what he’s doing, and deduces that her dad gave him this advice.
Georgie says that he was told agreeing is the key to a happy marriage.
“Do my parents seem happy to you?” Mandy asks.
“I don’t know, they’re still married,” Georgie replies.
“Well, I want us to be better than that,” Mandy says.
“I agree,” Georgie says, sincerely this time. And then he says that her mom is right about something, and Mandy accepts.
At the end of the episode, Mandy calls her mother out for not letting her father speak his mind, and they argue, while Georgie and Jim slip out to get snacks.
What does Young Sheldon tell us about Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage?
The episode establishes potential settings for Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage—Audrey and Jim’s house, and the tire shop where Audrey, Jim and Georgie work—plus the conflicts and character dynamics that will shape each episode. Audrey and Mandy fight, Georgie gets caught in the middle, Jim makes it worse, and then Georgie and Mandy work it out.
It’s actually how a lot of episodes of Young Sheldon already work and have always worked. Mandy and Audrey are kind of like Mary (Zoe Perry) and Connie, Jim is a lot like George Sr. (Lance Barber), and Georgie is Georgie.
So if you liked this episode, you’ll probably like Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage when it premieres this fall.
That spinoff’s title suggests that Georgie and Mandy will not find happily ever after—at least not at first. The Big Bang Theory canon has established that Georgie got divorced from his first wife. But maybe they’ll work out their problems on the second round of marriage.
Emily Osment suggested as much before the title was announced, telling TVLine that she hopes Mandy is Georgie’s first wife and next wife. “People do that. People get divorced and then get remarried,” she said. “Why can’t she be both?”
Osment and Jordan are the only cast members set so far, but we would be shocked if Rachel Bay Jones and Will Sasso aren’t announced as series regulars.
Young Sheldon airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBS, with the series finale set for May 16. The show is available to stream on CBS.
Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage will air Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBS this fall.
