“That doesn’t get me excited,” said EP Steve Molaro.
The childhood adventures — and misadventures — of Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) are firmly in the rearview mirror with the series finale of Young Sheldon now aired. Now the attention of viewers who find the lives of the Coopers interesting turns to what comes next. The final seasons of the show saw the exploration of various ensemble cast members’ plotlines. The whole Cooper family from Missy (Raegan Revord) and the first Cooper kid, Georgie (Montana Jordan) to Meemaw (Annie Potts) and Mary (Zoe Perry), saw their respective character development arcs focused upon. However, to wrap the series, attention turned to its titular character on his way out of Texas to Pasadena, California, and CalTech. Series executive producer Steve Molaro has now addressed the prospects of a sequel series focused on Sheldon’s early years at CalTech, prior to the events in The Big Bang Theory.
The boy genius has only turned 14, and is all alone in an entirely new environment after the sudden death of his father. Despite his incredibly high intellect, that would be a lot for a teenage boy to handle so, perhaps a sequel series with the first years at CalTech being the central narrative seems a good idea. Not for Molaro, sadly. Speaking with Glamour, the executive producer reveals that despite the premise, it is not a story he is interested in telling. Molaro explained:
“And a show called Young Sheldon, where he’s in California now and everyone picking up the pieces of the loss of George… It wasn’t something we felt like we could just jump in or overflowing with ideas we were excited about. I would not have been comfortable digging in on Sheldon at CalTech. Now it’s really trying to be a weird pre-Big Bang. That doesn’t get me excited. Like, there’s the cafeteria set, but he hasn’t met Leonard yet. I don’t know. Weird.”
The years between Sheldon’s arrival at CalTech and the opening scene in The Big Bang Theory admittedly represent a substantial part of Sheldon’s life. However, a decision to explore those years presents a number of challenges, chief among them being the absence of his friends from the iconic show. By the time Sheldon arrives at CalTech, his trio of friends, Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), and Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar), will not have graduated yet. Without those friends, the sense of family that has distinguished the franchise across the previous shows is lost.
No CalTech Sequel Series? No Problem!
In place of a CalTech sequel series, Molaro has gotten behind a project that does have him excited. Come the fall, CBS will premiere the first season of the coming Young Sheldon spin-off series, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. The show will explore the marital union of Georgie Cooper and Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment) as they raise a young family. Currently, Mandy’s parents have been confirmed as returning stars from Young Sheldon. However, there remains an opening for other stars to return as either guests or recurring cast members. The new series will feature some changes both off-screen and on it, as Osment has teased the evolution of her character, highlighting that Mandy won’t be content with just being a stay-at-home mom. With Armitage’s Sheldon now away at CalTech, an appearance from him, should it become necessary, would likely only see him appear as a guest star.
You can watch all seven seasons of Young Sheldon on Paramount+.
