Love him or hate him, The Big Bang Theory wouldn’t be the same without Sheldon Cooper. Sheldon, the socially awkward theoretical physicist expertly portrayed by breakout star Jim Parsons, is one of the reasons that viewers got hooked on The Big Bang Theory for years. Despite all his annoying moments in the Emmy-winning CBS sitcom, viewers stuck around and watched Sheldon fall in love, win the Nobel Prize, and exclaim ‘bazinga’ over the years. And so, it made sense for showrunner Chuck Lorre to follow up The Big Bang Theory with Young Sheldon, a prequel about Sheldon’s life as a young genius living with his family in East Texas with Iain Armitage taking on the titular role. The cast includes veteran stars Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, and Emmy nominee Annie Potts, who plays Sheldon’s beloved Meemaw.
Like its mothership, Young Sheldon would become one of CBS’ most successful shows. Even as networks came under pressure from streaming, the sitcom easily reached the top of the ratings, even bringing in viewership numbers comparable to The Big Bang Theory week after week. Young Sheldon became the top network comedy after The Big Bang Theory ended, maintaining its top spot through the 2023 to 2024 season. Fans and cast members alike were blindsided when the show was canceled after being the number-one comedy for years.
Jim Parsons Came Up With the Idea for ‘Young Sheldon’
As The Big Bang Theory propelled Parsons to Hollywood A-lister status, it didn’t take long for the four-time Emmy winner to start thinking about doing more work behind the camera. Hence, the actor and his husband, Todd Spiewak, launched their production company, That’s Wonderful Productions. The company would eventually enter an exclusive deal with Warner Bros TV, leading to several projects in development for streaming and networks alike.
With the massive success of The Big Bang Theory, CBS executives were keen to keep working with Parsons. They even invited the star to pitch possible projects and suggested where to get good ideas. “‘Would you look into your own life? Because those pitch well,’” Parsons recalled during an interview with ET in 2017. And so, he did just that, turning to his family for inspiration, particularly his sister’s oldest child, who is “very smart” but “not like in a Sheldon way.”
Nonetheless, that got Parsons thinking about Sheldon’s origin story. So he wrote to Lorre and pitched the idea of doing a spinoff around it. Lorre and The Big Bang Theory producer Steve Molaro loved the concept and got working with Parsons. Together, the trio came up with Young Sheldon. As expected, the show didn’t take long to get a series order from CBS. Lorre and Molaro would serve as showrunners, while Parsons would be credited as one of the executive producers.
The trio soon got to work casting the titular role, which led them to Armitage. At that time, he only had a few acting credits, although he’s already accomplished more than most. Aside from doing a guest stint on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Armitage starred with Brie Larson, Naomi Watts, and Woody Harrelson in the drama The Glass Castle. He also shared the screen with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda in the romantic drama Our Souls at Night and played Shailene Woodley’s son in the HBO critical hit Big Little Lies. For his Young Sheldon audition, Armitage kept it simple, putting himself on a home video where he delivered a lengthy monologue that Lorre and Molaro specifically wrote for the audition. After seeing his taped performance, the trio knew they had found their lead.
According to Nielsen, Network TV dominated last month.
‘Young Sheldon’ Replaced ‘The Big Bang Theory’ As the Top Sitcom on CBS
CBS would later grant Young Sheldon a slot in its fall premiere for the 2017-2018 season, with Parsons’ Sheldon serving as the show’s narrator. Unlike its mothership show, Young Sheldon was written as a single-camera show, meaning they weren’t doing scenes in front of a live audience. For Lorre, the format worked better for this sitcom. While speaking with Channel 4, he explained that a single-camera format was “more appropriate” since the cast includes children. Also, this way, the show’s stars wouldn’t have to “hold for laughs,” as is the case on The Big Bang Theory.
Young Sheldon aired its pilot episode on September 25, 2017, temporarily taking over a slot after The Big Bang Theory on a Monday night to mark its debut. The premiere ended up being CBS’ biggest yet, raking in 17.21 million viewers in live-plus-same-day ratings as it retained 98% of the lead-in audience from its mothership. This also meant that Young Sheldon brought in the best new show on any network since the 1999 to 2000 season. Not long after that, CBS extended its initial 13-episode order of Young Sheldon to a full season pickup of 22 episodes. Fans also continued to follow the quirky adventures of Young Sheldon after the show moved to its original Thursday night slot (still after The Big Bang Theory). During its first year on the air, the CBS sitcom drew in around 16 million viewers. Young Sheldon ranked second among all comedy shows on television in the 2017 to 2018 season, while The Big Bang Theory took the top spot.
The 2018 to 2019 season was particularly tough for networks as it dealt with viewer losses due to streaming. Despite this, Young Sheldon still managed to command significant viewership, averaging 11.14 million viewers per episode. The CBS sitcom also maintained its top two spot in the television comedy landscape, just behind The Big Bang Theory, which averaged 13 million viewers per episode during its final season.
With The Big Bang Theory off the air in the 2019 to 2020 season, Young Sheldon had no problem taking over the top spot in network comedy. Season 3 drew in an average of 11.4 million viewers, easily outperforming competition, including the other CBS comedy, Mom. Later on, during the 2020 to 2021 season, Young Sheldon remained in the top comedy spot even as networks continued to suffer ratings decline. After Season 4 averaged 9.45 million viewers, it was an easy decision for CBS to give Young Sheldon a three-year renewal.
When the sitcom returned for CBS’ 2021 to 2022 season, Young Sheldonaveraged nine million viewers per episode as it remained the most-watched network comedy. The show also retained its top spot when it returned in the 2022 to 2023 season, becoming one of the five CBS shows to average 11 million viewers or more. A year later, Young Sheldon also finished the 2023 to 2024 season at the top, as it drew in an average of 12.9 million viewers in combined linear and streaming ratings.
“That doesn’t get me excited,” said EP Steve Molaro.
CBS Canceled ‘Young Sheldon’ After Seven Seasons Despite Good Ratings
With Young Sheldon dominating network comedy throughout most of its run, the last thing fans expected was for the hit sitcom to get the ax. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened with CBS confirming that the beloved comedy would end after Season 7. Following the announcement, some of the show’s cast members expressed shock over the network’s decision.
During an interview with Variety, Potts questioned CBS’ move since Young Sheldon was its highest-rated comedy for years. “It just seemed like such a stupid business move,” the actress remarked. “If a show is starting to drag or lag or have a lack of stories or whatever, then you kind of see it coming. We were totally ambushed by this. I was, anyway.” Meanwhile, Armitage, the show’s lead star, also expressed a similar sentiment. “This is a real loss for me. More than anyone,” he said. “I definitely think we could have done a lot more.”
That said, the decision to end Sheldon’s story when it did may not have been up to CBS in the first place. During a February 2024 interview with Deadline, Young Sheldon executive producer Steve Holland explained that they decided to conclude the series since Sheldon had already reached his early teen years, and he’s supposed to be attending Caltech at 14. “It felt like the right time to end it strong while it was on top,” he added. In the Young Sheldon season finale, Parsons briefly reprised his role as the older Sheldon to send off the show. The star was joined by fellow The Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik, who returned to play Amy Farrah Fowler.
Meanwhile, fans would be thrilled to learn that CBS isn’t done exploring Sheldon’s family just yet. The network ordered the Young Sheldon spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. The series follows Sheldon’s older brother, Georgie (Montana Jordan), as he navigates life as a young father after he and his girlfriend, Mandy (Emily Osment), unexpectedly become parents. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage will be part of the CBS 2024 to 2025 season lineup.
