S07.E10: Community Service And The Key To A Happy Marriage

[DanaK]

Quote

Meemaw gets assigned a tough probation officer (Octavia Spencer), and Georgie takes marriage advice from his father-in-law, on YOUNG SHELDON, Thursday, May 2 (8:00-8:31 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+

 

[andidante]

11 hours ago, DanaK said:

 

I love Octavia Spencer! She also played a DMV worker in Big Bang Theory. 

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, andidante said:

I love Octavia Spencer! She also played a DMV worker in Big Bang Theory. 

Same! I can't wait to see her match wits with MeeMaw!

[anna0852]

4 hours ago, andidante said:

I love Octavia Spencer! She also played a DMV worker in Big Bang Theory. 

She appeared with Jim in Hidden Figures as well.

[Dimity]

4 hours ago, andidante said:

I love Octavia Spencer! She also played a DMV worker in Big Bang Theory. 

"Don't make me climb over this counter!" Loved her in that one!!!

Edited April 27 by Dimity

[ams1001]

New Testament Hokum, Old Testament Hokum, and General Nonsense. 😂

I wish I could get Sheldon to come organize my place...

[Spartan Girl]

I was just about done with Connie this episode, trying to use both George and Sheldon to weasel her way out of community service. Mary was absolutely right to call her out on it. I’m actually mad that Mary still wound up covering for her at the end. She’s an adult, she needs to take responsibility for her actions!

Poor Mandy’s dad.

[anna0852]

11 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I was just about done with Connie this episode, trying to use both George and Sheldon to weasel her way out of community service. Mary was absolutely right to call her out on it. I’m actually mad that Mary still wound up covering for her at the end. She’s an adult, she needs to take responsibility for her actions!

Poor Mandy’s dad.

I don’t see it as Mary covering for her, I see it as Mary could either take Sheldon down there and let him loose or deal with an irritated Sheldon and in her home. That was clearly in self-defense!

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Eh, I don't have a problem with Sheldon helping with something he's the best at.  Connie was still there taking direction from him.  It doesn't make it any better if she does it all by herself, and probably in an inferior manner.

If she was volunteering at a soup kitchen, for instance, she wouldn't be doing it alone.

And for all we know, Mary's been putting off organizing that room herself for all the years she was working at the church.

Edited May 3 by ItCouldBeWorse

[kay1864]

Despised Mandy‘s mom and her 1950s “let the baby cry it out” mindset. She’s never added any humor to any episode.

Poor Connie can’t catch a break. She lost her home, all the cash she had stored in it, and her two legitimate businesses. You’d think in a small Texas town that a bought cop would stay bought. Not to mention he’s not getting any kickbacks now. 🤨

She’s always been my favorite character on the show, so I hope she can go out on a high note.

I don’t foresee the Georgie and Mandy show doing too well.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 4/27/2024 at 9:00 AM, andidante said:

I love Octavia Spencer! She also played a DMV worker in Big Bang Theory. 

She was also on Mom. I guess she’s a Lorre favorite. 

[Spartan Girl]

46 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

If she was volunteering at a soup kitchen, for instance, she wouldn't be doing it alone.

She’d still be doing the work. Whereas in this case she felt free to slack off while Sheldon was doing the lion’s share.

Believe me, I hate that I’m siding with Mary of all people on this, but a broken click is right twice a day.

[nelroy78]

Originally Episode 11

[EtheltoTillie]

PSA:  Looks like back to back episodes the next two weeks to finish out the show. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

17 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

She’d still be doing the work. Whereas in this case she felt free to slack off while Sheldon was doing the lion’s share.

Sheldon was deciding the categories and she was boxing them.  Still boring (to her), still work (to me).

Edited May 3 by ItCouldBeWorse

[ams1001]

Just remembered my other favorite line:

Sheldon turns on Teddy Ruxpin and considers it for a moment: "...nightmare."

Connie: "I'll start a new box."

[Dimity]

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

If she was volunteering at a soup kitchen, for instance, she wouldn't be doing it alone.

Thank you!!!  This was what I was practically yelling at the TV!!  No one ever said Connie had to do her community service alone.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with Sheldon or anyone else helping her.  Doing it while she sat back and watched now that would have been different of course.  But Sheldon was directing her and she actually was doing something.

[ams1001]

One of the community service options involved some kind of pipe that requires a hazmat suit? Um...

[Skooma]

2 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I don’t see it as Mary covering for her, I see it as Mary could either take Sheldon down there and let him loose or deal with an irritated Sheldon and in her home. That was clearly in self-defense!

Ah yes, a shout-out to an early Season 1 episode of The Big Bang Theory where, after Sheldon sees Penny's messy apt for the first time, he can't sleep but gets up and breaks into it in the middle of the night and starts picking up and organizing it, eventually with Leonard's help.  One of the funniest scenes in the entire series.

So this Octavia Spencer was the actor that dealt with Sheldon the time he went in to get a driver's license?  That was a stand-out scene in the series too.

Now I want to go watch some Big Bang episodes and clear my head of that train wreck of a spinoff they were showcasing tonight.  Every time they switched away from Connie's scenario and to the married with a kid and boring in-laws scenario the show came to a grinding and totally unfunny halt of total boredom.

Edited May 3 by Skooma

[EtheltoTillie]

23 minutes ago, Skooma said:

Ah yes, a shout-out to an early Season 1 episode of The Big Bang Theory where, after Sheldon sees Penny's messy apt for the first time, he can't sleep but gets up and breaks into it in the middle of the night and starts picking up and organizing it, eventually with Leonard's help.  One of the funniest scenes in the entire series.

So this Octavia Spencer was the actor that dealt with Sheldon the time he went in to get a driver's license?  That was a stand-out scene in the series too.

Now I want to go watch some Big Bang episodes and clear my head of that train wreck of a spinoff they were showcasing tonight.  Every time they switched away from Connie's scenario and to the married with a kid and boring in-laws scenario the show came to a grinding and totally unfunny halt of total boredom.

Mandy’s mother is a buzzkill. So hard to watch. Not funny. 

Here’s a question:  it looks like they are announcing the new show as Georgie and Mandy’s first marriage. So does that mean they were married, divorced and remarried to each other ?  

[BitterApple]

22 minutes ago, Skooma said:

 Every time they switched away from Connie's scenario and to the married with a kid and boring in-laws scenario the show came to a grinding and totally unfunny halt of total boredom.

If the only plot for this spinoff is the miserable dynamic between Mandy and her mother, it's going to crash and burn very quickly. Georgie is one of my favorite characters but his relationship with Mandy is such a drag. He had way better chemistry with his high school girlfriends and the storylines were much funnier. 

I thought Octavia Spencer was a fantastic guest star. I liked that she didn't give MeeMaw a pass. 

Sheldon and his rubber gloves organizing the donation room was hilarious. I'm sad we barely got any Missy. 

[Skooma]

12 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Mandy’s mother is a buzzkill. So hard to watch. Not funny. 

Here’s a question:  it looks like they are announcing the new show as Georgie and Mandy’s first marriage. So does that mean they were married, divorced and remarried to each other ?  

Yeah I think that is exactly what they mean.  They weren't too subtle about the long-winded title to this train wreck spinoff.

Oh boy let's watch this funny sitcom about the buzzkill mother-in-law and the annoying wife and the now civilized "generic Georgie" as they give us tons of laughs dooming their first marriage.  This should be side-splitting hilarious ... not.

Edited May 3 by Skooma

[EtheltoTillie]

I wonder if they will get Jerry O’Connell to do the voice overs. 

[MollyMelrose]

Big Bang Mary and her take no crap attitude was definitely in the house tonight. Meemaw richly deserved it.

Where has Georgie's personality gone? Being a stand up guy doesn't mean he should turn into a pod person. It's like he's 18 going on 45. Wouldn't be surprised to see him ditch the jeans and break out the polyesters in the near future.

AMBER Alert for Missy Cooper!!!

[Driad]

When and how did Mary start working at the church again?

We're seeing some of how Connie turns into the bitter Meemaw of BBT.

[EtheltoTillie]

Missy had one funny line tonight, about watching paternity reveal on Ricki Lake. 

[Spartan Girl]

Okay, fine, there was nothing wrong with Sheldon helping Connie. But she was still trying to weasel her way into shortening her time.  For that, she totally deserved Octavia’s smackdown

[rmontro]

9 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Eh, I don't have a problem with Sheldon helping with something he's the best at.  Connie was still there taking direction from him.  It doesn't make it any better if she does it all by herself, and probably in an inferior manner.

Yeah, I didn't see anything written in the rules that she had to organize the room by herself.  If Sheldon wanted to volunteer his time to the church, so much the better.

9 hours ago, kay1864 said:

I don’t foresee the Georgie and Mandy show doing too well.

You might be right, but Georgie is likable enough.  You make a good point that Mandy's mom doesn't really add any comedy to the situations, that might be a problem in the new show.  They showed clips of it during the commercials, did they start filming it already?  It appeared so.  The show is called Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage. That suggests they might have married each other more than once, which is something I had wondered about before.

[appositival]

I'm hoping that Mandy's parents get divorced in the pilot episode of the 'First Marriage' show. Mandy's mother reminds me of a humorless version of Hyacinth from the British "Keeping Up Appearances" sitcom.

7 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

So does that mean they were married, divorced and remarried to each other ?

Divorced yes, (per TBBT) but I can't imagine that they would get remarried to each other. That show would be called 'marriage go round' or some such.

[EtheltoTillie]

7 hours ago, Driad said:

When and how did Mary start working at the church again?

We're seeing some of how Connie turns into the bitter Meemaw of BBT.

Mary started working for the church again a few episodes back.  I think it was partly that George wanted to get her out of his hair so he brokered a settlement between Pastor Jeff and Mary. 

3 minutes ago, appositival said:

I'm hoping that Mandy's parents get divorced in the pilot episode of the 'First Marriage' show. Mandy's mother reminds me of a humorless version of Hyacinth from the British "Keeping Up Appearances" sitcom.

Divorced yes, (per TBBT) but I can't imagine that they would get remarried to each other. That show would be called 'marriage go round' or some such.

My take is that they are being cutesy with the title so that they do indeed get remarried, as unlikely as it seems.  This also gibes with some dim memory I have of some other poster saying something to this effect. 

[Tom Holmberg]

9 hours ago, BitterApple said:

If the only plot for this spinoff is the miserable dynamic between Mandy and her mother, it's going to crash and burn very quickly.

Yes, while I like Georgie, all the Georgie, Mandy and Mandy's family scenes were uninteresting and annoying. A lot of pointless bickering is not the basis of a show.

[proserpina65]

On 4/27/2024 at 9:00 AM, andidante said:

I love Octavia Spencer! She also played a DMV worker in Big Bang Theory. 

I do too but her appearance in this episode was kinda tepid, as was the episode as a whole.  Not one of the better ones this season, that's for sure.

12 hours ago, kay1864 said:

Despised Mandy‘s mom and her 1950s “let the baby cry it out” mindset.

I think letting them cry it out for a little while rather than rushing in the minute they start crying is fine, but she definitely took it way too far.  (Edited to note that I mean giving babies a few minutes to see if they go back to sleep, not however many hours poor CC was crying.)

11 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Sheldon turns on Teddy Ruxpin and considers it for a moment: "...nightmare."

I worked at KMart the Christmas that Teddy Ruxpin came out.  "Nightmare" is the right word for it.

9 hours ago, MollyMelrose said:

Big Bang Mary and her take no crap attitude was definitely in the house tonight. Meemaw richly deserved it.

Yep.  Honestly, Connie got off easy being able to do her community service at Mary's church.  Someone else would be a lot tougher on her.

56 minutes ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Yes, while I like Georgie, all the Georgie, Mandy and Mandy's family scenes were uninteresting and annoying. A lot of pointless bickering is not the basis of a show.

I did like the scenes with Georgie and Mandy's dad.  I'd watch a show about them, without Mandy and her mother.  And maybe without the baby, although CC is pretty cute as babies go.

Edited May 3 by proserpina65

[Artsda]

Mandy's mom is really annoying.  Can't they move back now? 

Georgie and Mandy on their own island, didn't even interact with anyone else.  

[Tom Holmberg]

21 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

did like the scenes with Georgie and Mandy's dad. 

Show should be "Dr. Tire." That might be worth watching.

[meep.meep]

11 hours ago, Skooma said:

Oh boy let's watch this funny sitcom about the buzzkill mother-in-law and the annoying wife and the now civilized "generic Georgie" as they give us tons of laughs dooming their first marriage.  This should be side-splitting hilarious ... not.

They sure aren't doing anything to make people want to watch it.  A spinoff has to attract viewers not repel them.

[tennisgurl]

I love Octavia Spencer, she was a great guest star. Watching her match wits with Connie was great, I'm glad that she's not letting her weasel her way out of her community service. I am also happy that Mary called her mom out on how she refuses to admit that she did anything wrong or that she's a criminal while trying to pass the buck to everyone else. Her crime might not have been all that bad, but she did still very much break the law, if anything she's getting off pretty easy considering everything she was up to and her obvious lack of remorse. 

I don't have a problem with Sheldon helping organize the church as long as Connie's still doing most of the leg work, no one said she had to do her community service all alone and Sheldon is a great organizer. 

Poor George, he was just trying to help. "I just made it worse, didn't I?"

I hope that Mandy's mom isn't a big part of the spin-off, she's just so awful, and not even in a funny way. Yeah, Mandy's parents do not have a very happy marriage, it only seems to work because Mandy's dad is scared of ever speaking. I am not particularly excited about this spin off, so the name of the show is "Georgie and Mandy's first marriage"? Does that mean they divorce and get married again? Or do they get divorced and marry other people, then the show is about them trying to co-parent? Or is it just a silly title? None of that sounds super appealing. 

Edited May 3 by tennisgurl

[JayDub1987]

As someone who has married the same woman twice, I'm completely in on Georgie and Mandy splitting and then getting back together. I assure you, many of the jokes write themselves. 

[Dimity]

56 minutes ago, meep.meep said:

They sure aren't doing anything to make people want to watch it.  A spinoff has to attract viewers not repel them.

I admit I was not enthused about Young Sheldon when it was initially pitched.  That actually might be an understatement.  Anyway when I finally got around to watching it I was hooked.  That said it had a lot more going for it that this new spin off seems to.  Missy and really younger Sheldon were great, Meemaw was a hoot and, at least in the first years, it was a fun watch.  This new one better have a lot more going for it than an adorable baby and Lorre's trademark bitchy women and emasculated men.

28 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Her crime might not have been all that bad, but she did still very much break the law, if anything she's getting off pretty easy considering everything she was up to and her obvious lack of remorse. 

I did like that she took the blame and didn't throw  Georgie and, for that matter, Mandy (who indirectly worked for the gambling den) under the bus with her.  But otherwise, yeah, she definitely has no remorse and in the last episode even talked about starting another gambling den.  Hopefully her tough parole officer will scare her straight!

Edited May 3 by Dimity

[ams1001]

12 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Here’s a question:  it looks like they are announcing the new show as Georgie and Mandy’s first marriage. So does that mean they were married, divorced and remarried to each other ?  

That's what I was wondering. I saw an article this morning that saw it as an explanation/re-interpretation of a line from BBT where Sheldon mentions getting messages from his brother's first ex-wife and his second ex-wife (when he wins his Nobel, I believe), and the title of the spinoff suggests that they are the same person. But that line still implies two separate messages from different people. But that interpretation also suggests that they were married, divorced, remarried, and divorced again (unless he marries someone else in between, but the article's interpretation didn't consider that). I can't see this new show lasting long enough for us to find out, though.

2 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Show should be "Dr. Tire." That might be worth watching.

How Georgie goes from "the dumb one" to successful Dr. Tire would be more interesting. I hope they aren't living with her parents the whole time.

 

[Dimity]

2 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

I can't see this new show lasting long enough for us to find out, though.

That's the thing. It's like the powers that be haven't been paying any attention to what the viewers are saying.  I really don't think those of us posting here (and elsewhere) are in the minority when we say we didn't like the pregnancy storyline and that we don't like Mandy and Georgie taking centre stage these past few years. 

If I could have changed anything about Young Sheldon it would have been that they let Georgie continue to be a happy go goofy teenager and that they'd never had him meet Mandy.  I honestly can't see droves of YS/BBT fans flocking to this new show if the only regular Cooper on it is going to be Georgie.

[snarkylady]

Oh boy, I'm not liking what I'm seeing/hearing at all.  It's as though Chuck Lorre et al don't know what fans want or what's funny.  Seems odd for someone so successful in the sitcom world.  I have no interest in seeing Mandy and Georgie, especially if Mandy's mother is involved in any way.  I would love to see Missy and Meemaw included in the new show but apparently that's not the plan. 

They have two hours of YS remaining.  Give George a loving and respectful send off, fix the ridiculous gambling story line they stuck Meemaw with, let Missy find solace of some sort with Billy and take Mandy's mother, Mary, pastor Jeff and pastor Rob far far away never to be seen again. 

[Sarah 103]

16 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

And for all we know, Mary's been putting off organizing that room herself for all the years she was working at the church.

My guess is that it was one of the tasks/chores she meant to do, but there was always something more pressing or urgent that needed to be done. 

2 hours ago, meep.meep said:

They sure aren't doing anything to make people want to watch it.  A spinoff has to attract viewers not repel them.

At first, I was willing to give the new spin-off a chance, but after this episode, I'm not so sure. I love sitcoms. I love old-fashioned sitcoms with three cameras and a laugh track. I am not some super-woke Social Justice Warrior person that hates everything/thinks everything is problematic. That being said, the relationship dynamic between Mandy's parents bothers me. It feels so dated and wrong. It makes me uncomfortable. 

1 hour ago, Dimity said:

If I could have changed anything about Young Sheldon it would have been that they let Georgie continue to be a happy go goofy teenager and that they'd never had him meet Mandy.  I honestly can't see droves of YS/BBT fans flocking to this new show if the only regular Cooper on it is going to be Georgie.

Huge YES to this! Or if they had to do the Mandy storyline, change it so the pregnancy never happens. She thinks she's pregnant, but she's not. The pregnancy scare is what causes her to reevaluate her life, what she wants, and causes her to find a new better job far away from Medford. 

35 minutes ago, snarkylady said:

They have two hours of YS remaining.  Give George a loving and respectful send off, fix the ridiculous gambling story line they stuck Meemaw with, let Missy find solace of some sort with Billy and take Mandy's mother, Mary, pastor Jeff and pastor Rob far far away never to be seen again. 

I just came up with a great plotline involving Billy they won't have time to do. Billy joins the football team, becomes somewhat popular (maybe 2nd tier), and Missy has multiple things to figure out. Does she tell Billy the only reason he's more popular and people want to be his friend is that he's on the football team? Does she want to go out with him because he's popular, even though she really only likes him as a friend? Is it just me or is this storyline/story-arc better than the Georgie Mandy pregnancy/marriage arc we actually got? 

[StaceyNotStacie]

6 hours ago, appositival said:

I'm hoping that Mandy's parents get divorced in the pilot episode of the 'First Marriage' show. Mandy's mother reminds me of a humorless version of Hyacinth from the British "Keeping Up Appearances" sitcom.

Divorced yes, (per TBBT) but I can't imagine that they would get remarried to each other. That show would be called 'marriage go round' or some such.

Since we already know that George dies, why not kill off Mandy’s mom and put her dad and Mary together. A spinoff where Mandy and Georgie struggle with their young marriage with young kid(s) while dealing with the fact that their recently widowed parents have married each other could be interesting. 

[Chit Chat]

3 hours ago, Dimity said:

That's the thing. It's like the powers that be haven't been paying any attention to what the viewers are saying.  I really don't think those of us posting here (and elsewhere) are in the minority when we say we didn't like the pregnancy storyline and that we don't like Mandy and Georgie taking centre stage these past few years. 

I agree.  I hope that the new show is successful, but I'm going to watch with one eye open!  I don't expect much.  Mandy is rather unpleasant, and I blame that on her relationship with her mother.  I hate seeing them bicker all of the time, just like I hated the potential of George cheating on Mary, and her flirtation with youth pastor Rob.  

This show lost its way, then kind of got back on track, and then veered off again while focusing on a spin-off.  It's not fair to the other characters.  I also dislike that MeeMaw is now a felon.  

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, StaceyNotStacie said:

Since we already know that George dies, why not kill off Mandy’s mom and put her dad and Mary together. A spinoff where Mandy and Georgie struggle with their young marriage with young kid(s) while dealing with the fact that their recently widowed parents have married each other could be interesting. 

Hahaha, no. Audrey is the worst but let’s not pretend Mary would be much of an upgrade.

[Browncoat]

18 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Just remembered my other favorite line:

Sheldon turns on Teddy Ruxpin and considers it for a moment: "...nightmare."

Connie: "I'll start a new box."

Sheldon is 100% correct about Teddy Ruxpin.  One of my college friends had one, and it was creepy as hell.

[tkc]

6 hours ago, Tom Holmberg said:

Show should be "Dr. Tire." That might be worth watching.

How about “Hangin’ with Dr. Tire”? 😄

[shapeshifter]

How old is Meemaw? Annie Potts is 71. A lot of people that age (like me) are no longer able to do as much physical work as they did when they were young.
Plus, she lost her house in the tornado. 
If she didn't have a bf to live with, maybe they would've gone easier on her.
 

There were some vague hints in this episode that Mandy's parents weren't happy in their marriage. Maybe they'll separate and Audrey and Meemaw will move in together for financial reasons or something. Big changes like these (if not these exactly) could be enough to explain a personality makeover for Audrey.

[Skooma]

3 hours ago, StaceyNotStacie said:

Since we already know that George dies, why not kill off Mandy’s mom and put her dad and Mary together. A spinoff where Mandy and Georgie struggle with their young marriage with young kid(s) while dealing with the fact that their recently widowed parents have married each other could be interesting. 

That would be like 200% split from the canon.  Mary remained unmarried all the way through The Big Bang Theory.  Nobody would accept that.

She did have a bit of a fling in the episode where Sheldon and Howard visit her in Texas and Sheldon is totally shocked by it.  But that was about it.

Also the entire Mandy/baby/in-laws storyline which includes the destruction of the Georgie character as well has been a total bust from start to finish.  Period.  The milking of TBBT/YS to produce a spin-off instead of just creating a new sitcom from scratch is both lazy and insane.

[Sarah 103]

58 minutes ago, Skooma said:

The milking of TBBT/YS to produce a spin-off instead of just creating a new sitcom from scratch is both lazy and insane.

There are shows that could work, just not the way they went with. Geezer Bus would've been great and a great fit for the CBS demographic.

If the powers that be insisted on using some of the final season of Young Sheldon to set up the spin-off, Meemaw's community service would have been the perfect set-up. She can't drive the bus, but maybe she can check people in when they board, or answer the phone so they have a list of who needs to be picked up and where they are going. If working at the church counts as community service, than helping with one of the church's programs should count as well. 

Also, spin-offs of spin-offs do not have a great track record. There's Good Times (Good Times was a spin off of Maude which was a spin-off of All in the Family), and NCIS: LA, New Orleans, Hawaii, and Sidney  (They were spin-offs of NCIS which was a spin-off of JAG). 

Backdoor pilots do not have a great track record either, but I understand the financial reason and why it actually kind of makes sense to do them. 

Edited May 3 by Sarah 103