The show’s initial shift in focus could’ve easily handled another big storyline.
Young Sheldon ’s TV run came to its end several weeks ago, leaving its titular character at the point of his departure from the family house in Texas to continue his studies in California, though such a happy ending coded plot twist wasn’t a real solid reason for ditching the show.
Before the seventh season finale aired back in May, Young Sheldon actress Annie Potts, who in the series portrayed Sheldon’s grandma Meemaw, heavily criticized CBS for letting the show go, considering it was one of the network’s most successful projects to-date.
Now that CBS’ viewership data officially went out to the public a while ago, it is indeed clear that there was zero need for Young Sheldon’s cancellation, even considering that its spinoff is already on its way.
Launched back in 2017, The Big Bang Theory prequel gave a radically different perspective of the quirky physicist’s life story compared to what the original series’ long-standing fans were expecting all along.
Instead of putting its focus exclusively on younger Sheldon, the prequel gave more screen time to the character’s family members, not only creating some kind of sneak peek into the atmosphere Sheldon grew up in, but also letting its side characters receive a proper development rather than leaving them all in their genius relative’s shadows.
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This idea eventually turned out to be a lucky strike that let another spinoff come along, this time with the plot line revolving around Sheldon’s older brother Georgie and his wife Mandy.
Young Sheldon’s changed perspective thus would easily allow the show to continue its run even without the lead character and with others being brought to the main stage, and CBS’ recent viewership data seems to confirm a wasted opportunity.
According to the network’s latest TV season results, Young Sheldon still kept a number one position among all comedy series with more than 9 million viewers, once again having become the most-watched sitcom.
Related: Young Sheldon’s Most Ambitious Episode Made The Big Bang Theory So Much Sadder
This comes as yet another big reason pointing out the uselessness of the upcoming new spinoff, given that Georgie and Mandy ’s storyline could’ve been swapped with Sheldon’s one as soon as the latter is off to college and isn’t the show’s lead anymore.
