You’re not hallucinating, “Young Sheldon” fans: That’s George Cooper Sr. (Lance Barber) returning to life on “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.”
It’s a TV miracle, since the flawed patriarch famously died last year in CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” prequel. The resurrection is imagined in the feverish mind of Georgie Cooper (Montana Jordan), who has life-stress dreams featuring his dearly departed father in Thursday’s episode (8 EST/PST), titled “Typhoid Georgie.”
Barber, 51, says he felt touched returning as George Sr. and revisiting the Cooper family kitchen. “Some of the people watching the scenes were visually emotional seeing me on that kitchen set. This is a beloved character,” Barber says. “It was fun to feel those feels and be so appreciated, even in the sadness.”
‘Young Sheldon’ tragedy:George Cooper’s death is flawed father’s ‘Big Bang’ redemption
George Sr. died of a heart attack in last year’s seventh and final season of “Young Sheldon,” which was preordained by the “Big Bang” timeline. Struggling to support a child with his wife, Mandy (Emily Osment), Georgie misses his father. When the deceased dad returns, he gives a hug. “Being in that moment made my chest a little heavy a few times,” Barber says.
Bringing back George Sr. meant rebuilding ‘Young Sheldon’ kitchen, minus some missing items
Finding the return premise was only the first logistical issue for executive producers Steve Molaro and Steve Holland, who were also behind “Sheldon.” After the series ended, the Coopers’ Texas house, on Studio 19 of Burbank’s Warner Bros. lot, was dismantled.
The family kitchen had to be rebuilt on the “First Marriage” set about 400 feet away on Studio 25, where the Chuck Lorre-created sitcom, recently renewed for a second season, is filmed before a studio audience.
Even just corraling the “Young Sheldon” kitchen products was challenging, because the cast and crew took home the best items as mementos. Molaro provided his show souvenir: the Cooper tea dish. But a few items never materialized.
“This little hobo figurine didn’t make it back, along with some refrigerator magnets that had been there for years,” says Barber, who says only eagle-eyed viewers will notice the missing items “that were probably pillaged by cast and crew and are sitting in someone’s living room.”
Barber has appeared on all three ‘Big Bang Theory’ series
Barber joins Jordan as the rare actor to appear in all three franchise series. In one “Big Bang” episode, Barber played the reformed school bully Jimmy Speckerman. In “Young Sheldon,” the actor was so committed that he pulled double duty at his own character’s funeral. As George Sr., Barber wore a suit in the open casket and donned a dress as his character’s bereaved sibling, Georgette.
“There was a running joke on our show that if George ever died early, they would allow me to continue to work as his sister, Georgette,” Barber says. “So I could play that role in drag like Max Baer Jr. did on ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ where he played Jethro and Jethro’s sister Jethrine. During the funeral, it seemed appropriate to bring a smile to everybody by seeing that to fruition and pulling off Georgette.”
Being dead and all, George Sr.’s revival is the most challenging of the high-profile “Sheldon” returns. “First Marriage” has already seen the family biggies: Zoe Perry (as Georgie’s mom, Mary Cooper), Annie Potts (as Meemaw) and Raegan Revord (as younger sister Missy Sheldon). Sheldon (Iain Armitage) is the only character who has not visited his brother in Texas. (He’s studying at the California Institute of Technology.)
Before returning, Barber watched a scene shot at George Sr.’s grave, which Georgie visits often on “First Marriage,” that proved touching and surreal. “It’s nice to be represented on the show in that way,” Barber says. “But I felt like the Ghost of Christmas Future watching that scene.”
