Young Sheldon: How Changing George Hurt The Big Bang Theory's Universe

One of the biggest problems with prequel shows that surround a pre-established character, such as Sheldon Cooper, is that the already-known characters can not develop beyond a certain point. Their characterizations by the prequel's series finale can not surpass who they are when the audience originally meets the character. Otherwise, it risks feeling as if the character has somehow regressed as they have grown older.

Young Sheldon had already backed itself into a corner in a way. As an adult, Sheldon undergoes plenty of character development from the pilot to the series finale of The Big Bang Theory. However, his siblings and mother, while seen multiple times, had a bit more leeway in how their younger counterpart's stories were told. Unfortunately, it is George's characterization in Young Sheldon that creates a massive plot hole for both shows.

The Big Bang Theory never paints a positive picture of George Cooper with Sheldon, Missy, Georige, and Mary never quite having great things to say about him. By the original show's description, George was considered to be a mean parent who often got drunk, cheated on his wife, and then died. However, Young Sheldon's desire to be a comedy and make the family dynamic likable meant that George Cooper needed to be a solid and loving family man.

It could have worked in the beginning, and especially as Young Sheldon's tone changed in later seasons, the series could have begun George's fall from grace as he began to transform into the man that Sheldon and Missy describe as adults. But, in the seventh season of Young Sheldon, George Cooper is still being portrayed as a good man, and one of his biggest betrayals is transformed into a fake-out.

In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon, in a rare vulnerable moment, tells Penny the true story of why he knocks three times. In adult Sheldon's description, he walks in on his father cheating on his mother, the duo lock eyes, and Sheldon runs away to his room. He and George never discuss the incident again.

However, Young Sheldon's dedication to its own characters prevents George's downfall even here and changes history in the process. It turns Sheldon's childhood trauma into a bit of a joke as George's "affair" is just Mary roleplaying. While it may play for laughs, and to keep the show's wholesome concept alive, it is also a slap in the face to The Big Bang Theory and fans who have waited to see such a significant part of Sheldon's childhood play out.

Young Sheldon was never required to tell every story Sheldon had referenced in his childhood on The Big Bang Theory. There is even something to be said about how an altered perspective of childhood impacts memories and how there may be a difference between childhood perception and the true events that unfolded.

However, Young Sheldon never should have taken so many liberties as to make it seem like this version of George Cooper comes from an alternate universe, rather than the truth of Sheldon's childhood.

Young Sheldon had created its own sweet family dynamic but at the cost of making it seem like adult Sheldon had been constantly lying about his home life. The Big Bang Theory's descriptions of George and Young Sheldon's portrayal of George are two entirely different people, and at no point does The Big Bang Theory suggest that Sheldon's memory is so bad, or that the character had been paying such little attention to his surroundings, to misremember his father so badly.

While Sheldon is certainly a selfish character, thinking more about himself and his scientific exploits than those around him, it seems a bit out there to claim that Sheldon's viewpoint of his childhood could have been so drastically off the mark, especially regarding claims of George's alcoholism and cheating.

It certainly does not help that other characters on The Big Bang Theory backed up Sheldon's descriptions of his father's attitude and behavior.

To a degree, this universe also begs the question of whether it will repeat similar mistakes with Young Sheldon's upcoming spinoff surrounding Georgie and Mandy. The Big Bang Theory had already stated that Georige, by the time he was originally introduced, had been married and divorced twice. So, what could that possibly mean for the upcoming spinoff? Georgie is single as a grown adult, so what does that mean about what becomes of his relationship with Mandy?

Based on already existing confirmation, Georgie and Mandy's marriage eventually ends. So, in what direction could the spinoff go to continue that story? Or, will it ignore that aspect of Georgie's history entirely?

Although Young Sheldon has crafted an integral family dynamic that has held strong throughout the show's seven seasons, perhaps the show would have been better leaning into the Multiverse theory and allowing this iteration of characters to exist separately from The Big Bang Theory if it was going to change so many fundamental aspects of Sheldon's childhood.