S01.E07: An Old Mustang

[chitowngirl]

Georgie worries that he's leaving Connor out of his new project with Jim; Mandy and Audrey struggle to decorate CeeCee's nursery without fighting.
 

Airdate December 12, 2024.

[Magnumfangirl]

Was that supposed to be funny?  👎

[UsernameFatigue]

I loved this episode, my fav of the season so far. So many  great scenes. Georgie singing Soft Kitty to CeeCee. Aw. Jim expressing his worry about what will happen to Connor when they are gone. Georgie's kindness to Connor. And finally the look on Audrey's face when Connor said that Georgie is a great person. You could tell that Audrey realized that maybe Georgie is an asset to the family, and maybe she needs to start appreciating him. Or maybe that is me projecting my feelings, but I thought Rachel Bay Jones did a great job with that scene.  

Edited Friday at 04:47 AM by UsernameFatigue

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I think it's supposed to be a turning point in how Audrey feels about Georgie.

Maybe Connor should get a restaurant bussing job in Medford.

What, exactly, did Audrey give up when she had Mandy?  What was her career beforehand?  Was she planning to go to law school so that she could work for the President (I know she wasn't fully serious about that.)  What was her plan for after she had kids?  Was Mandy also unplanned?

[Yeah No]

12 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I think it's supposed to be a turning point in how Audrey feels about Georgie.

I guess it's also supposed to be a turning point in how Connor feels about Georgie too. Great, but my gut reaction is "who cares?". I don't really care how Audrey and Connor feel about anything.

It was just another episode where nothing really happens. That was mentioned last week and seems to apply here too. Sometimes I think my husband is lurking on this board because he came out with that all by himself after this episode. A show about nothing, lol. Seriously, even he sees it!

Speaking of my husband who 25 years working as a service manager, he said no way would a guy that owned a repair shop have a sweet vintage Mustang becoming decrepit in his garage all those years without fixing it up. Then I reminded him of the old BMW we had in our driveway for years until it was too far gone to save without spending a fortune.

I feel like this episode was shown out of order because last week we saw Thanksgiving but this week we're out of the holidays altogether. Last week's episode would have made a more fitting mid-season finale.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 12/13/2024 at 12:03 AM, Yeah No said:

I guess it's also supposed to be a turning point in how Connor feels about Georgie too. Great, but my gut reaction is "who cares?". I don't really care how Audrey and Connor feel about anything.

It's good to get more information about Connor, though.  I thought that perhaps he was living in the garage, but he seems to be living on an unfinished floor above the garage.  I wonder if he has to come into the main house every time he needs to use the bathroom (can't envision him using a utility sink in the garage.)  So anyway, his living arrangement is a step up from Georgie's previous one in the Cooper's actual garage. And we were finally told what his situation is.  I suppose Audrey gives him money for his equipment, which deprives him of any need to find a job.  Did he attend college? 

Edited Yest. at 02:52 AM by ItCouldBeWorse

[possibilities]

I thought this was a great episode. It was full of character development, and it was our first time really fleshing out who Connor is. It advanced the rapport between Geoergie and everybody in Mandy's family, and it showed Mandy and her mom coming to some understanding.

I liked mandy standing up to her mom about the earrings and the gender sterotyping, and them bonding at last, and finding common ground as they negotiated the way to decorate CeeCee's room.

Georgie is starting to be almost too good to be real, though. I like him. But his character is perfect and everybody else is flawed, which is a little unbalanced.

Still-- I think it's making me hopeful that the obnoxiousness and hostility might be dying down a bit. I would really like to see that trend continue. I was finding it too unpleasant and not funny or touching the way it was before, but it's getting a lot better now, on that front.

[shura]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I feel like this episode was shown out of order because last week we saw Thanksgiving but this week we're out of the holidays altogether. Last week's episode would have made a more fitting mid-season finale.

I was thinking the same thing about it being shown out of sequence.  They had tango music transitions and there were no interactions with anyone but the family members again.  I thought changing these two things had improved the show quite a bit, and now here we go again.

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

I liked mandy standing up to her mom about the earrings and the gender sterotyping, and them bonding at last, and finding common ground as they negotiated the way to decorate CeeCee's room.

Georgie is starting to be almost too good to be real, though. I like him. But his character is perfect and everybody else is flawed, which is a little unbalanced.

I liked how they bonded about the unicorns 😉.  As far as Georgie, yes, too perfect and flawless.  Why would he act or feel all fatherly towards to a 26-year-old?  He is a teenager! 

[Yeah No]

Just now, shura said:

I liked how they bonded about the unicorns 😉.  As far as Georgie, yes, too perfect and flawless.  Why would he act or feel all fatherly towards to a 26-year-old?  He is a teenager! 

Thank you, that was bugging me too. I realize that at the end of YS we saw signs of Georgie suddenly maturing but this feels like too much of a stretch. I realize that Connor is supposed to be immature for his age but you're right, Georgie was acting positively fatherly toward him. I said it last week and I still feel that this is not the same Georgie we knew at all. He's almost like a whole new character. And given his age and personality it's even less like he would be even if he suddenly got more mature. 

[Gregg247]

I really enjoyed this episode; it may be my favorite so far.  For all the seriousness we got in the second half, there were several truly laugh-out-loud moments early on.

I'm glad they fleshed out Connor more and made him more understandable as a character.  Before he was just some throw-away presence who showed up, said something not very funny, and then disappeared again.  I really liked the father-son tension between Connor and Jim.  These are 2 people who've spent years trying and failing to connect in any way at all.  It looks like Georgie is the bridge that's going to tie them together.

Georgie was my favorite character on YS (although I liked everyone on that show).  They're really putting a lot on his character's shoulders so far on this show.  He needs to pull this new family of his together and "earn" his way into the family.  It's a tough row to hoe.  TBH, I didn't think the actor who plays Georgie had the chops to pull that off but he's really surprised me.  He's doing a great job.  I suspect that as the season progresses, we'll see some of the other characters start to take on a bigger share of the various responsibilities of leading an episode.  So far, Jim is the primary contender for that, it seems to me.

[Tom Holmberg]

1 hour ago, shura said:

Why would he act or feel all fatherly towards to a 26-year-old?  He is a teenager! 

He kind of explained that, that he felt guilty about not treating Sheldon more as a little brother. (Not that I'd buy that in real life, but this is Lorre World.)

10 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I think it's supposed to be a turning point in how Audrey feels about Georgie.

If that's the case what's left to fill the short time of each episode (I guess more visits from the YS cast)?

Next Lorre spinoff, "Connor Looks for Work".

[appositival]

If Conner is transforming test equipment into a synthesizer he must have some technical chops. He should apply for a job at a music store and repair amplifiers or apply at an electronics repair shop.

I have to admire Rachel Bay Jones portrayal of Audrey. That constant evil smile as she drips vitriol is impressive (but not attractive).

[Dimity]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

Thank you, that was bugging me too. I realize that at the end of YS we saw signs of Georgie suddenly maturing but this feels like too much of a stretch.

Thank you and @shura you've put your finger on what is just not plausible about this show.  I know they tried on BBT to retro what we had been told about Georgie to that point and made him claim he was the one who held the family together after George died.  Suggesting he had to grow up fast and become the 'man of the family'.  But in this show we're actually seeing that he's distanced himself from the Cooper family and has taken on responsibility not just for Mandy and the baby but also for Mandy's family.  And I am just not buying it.

I mean Saint Georgie?  Come on.  Either they're building up to Georgie cracking under the pressure and we're in for a season or two of "will Georgie cheat or won't he" just like we had on Young Sheldon or else something else will happen equally as dire.  I can't see them continuing to have Georgie be this young man with an old soul.

[Yeah No]

Another thing that bothered me in this episode is the way Mandy's mom mentioned that she originally wanted to go for a career in TV news announcing or something to that effect, as if she never did that. No mention was made of her having been a "weather girl". Also I don't know where I got this impression, but I thought they were setting us up for her wanting to go back to work and finding another job in TV news. It might have been based on something I heard her say in a previous episode. But now that's not happening. And I'm not going to love it if they're setting us up for Georgie becoming very successful and Mandy abandoning her career ambitions.

10 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I mean Saint Georgie?  Come on.  Either they're building up to Georgie cracking under the pressure and we're in for a season or two of "will Georgie cheat or won't he" just like we had on Young Sheldon or else something else will happen equally as dire.  I can't see them continuing to have Georgie be this young man with an old soul.

Yes, I had that thought too. It would certainly cause trouble in their marriage if he did eventually crack and that would actually make the show more realistic and interesting, not to mention how it would help explain the "first" in "first marriage", lol.

[Yeah No]

47 minutes ago, appositival said:

If Conner is transforming test equipment into a synthesizer he must have some technical chops. He should apply for a job at a music store and repair amplifiers or apply at an electronics repair shop.

He may actually have a chance at getting in on the new and growing techno. music producing trend that was exploding at that time. I'm sure Sheldon might appreciate the computer/technical aspects of that. Unfortunately it seems to be whizzing right by his family and Georgie. Also, as soon as I realized that I also realized that he's almost typical of techno. music DJ nerds. I think the show might be going for making him another savant like Sheldon, just in music, not science.

[proserpina65]

It wasn't a funny episode, but I kinda liked it.  I enjoyed seeing Georgie create a bond with Connor and seeing Connor express to his mother what a good person Georgie is.  And even she started to thaw a little during that last scene with Mandy.  I mean, yeah, she's still abrasive, but there was a little glimpse of why she might've become how she is.

I did laugh at Georgie and his father-in-law unknowingly bidding against each other for the water pump, so there's that.

So I'd consider this a good enough episode.

12 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

What, exactly, did Audrey give up when she had Mandy?  What was her career beforehand?  Was she planning to go to law school so that she could work for the President (I know she wasn't fully serious about that.)  What was her plan for after she had kids?  Was Mandy also unplanned?

You don't have to be a lawyer to work for the President.

Maybe she had planned on going to college rather than getting married and settling down in Medford.  Maybe she saw herself working in a government office.  Clearly she did have some idea of what she wanted from life beyond being a wife and mother.  In the mid to late 60s that was harder than it is now.  Honestly, if this is the beginning of Audrey becoming less awful, I don't really need to know the details.

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, shura said:

 Why would he act or feel all fatherly towards to a 26-year-old?  He is a teenager! 

He's a teenager who was thrust into being a father-figure to his younger sister at an early age because of their father's untimely death.  Yes, Connor's older, but he seems pretty immature, so it tracks for me.

[Tom Holmberg]

32 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

Clearly she did have some idea of what she wanted from life beyond being a wife and mother.  In the mid to late 60s that was harder than it is now

Maybe she wanted LBJ to pick her up by her ears?

Edited Friday at 05:50 PM by Tom Holmberg

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

But now that's not happening.

We don't know that it's not going to happen at a future point.  Just that it's not happening at this exact moment.

[MollyMelrose]

My inner Sheldon compels me to say:

"Soft Kitty is for when you are sick. CC is not sick. You should not sing her Soft Kitty."

[shapeshifter]

14 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

the look on Audrey's face when Connor said that Georgie is a great person. You could tell that Audrey realized that maybe Georgie is an asset to the family, and maybe she needs to start appreciating him.

14 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I think it's supposed to be a turning point in how Audrey feels about Georgie.

So is Audrey going to start treating Georgie as her favorite, causing Mandy to not like Georgie anymore? 
Stupid show title.

 

[shura]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

He's a teenager who was thrust into being a father-figure to his younger sister at an early age because of their father's untimely death.  Yes, Connor's older, but he seems pretty immature, so it tracks for me.

Yeah, I didn't phrase it right.  I did not mean that there is no explanation, it was more that I find it weird and would enjoy it more if Georgie acted like a teenager he is supposed to be rather than a father figure to Connor. 

Speaking of Connor, why was he so impressed with Georgie's niceness?  He sounded like his father had ever treated him with respect and understanding before when he commented to his mother that Georgie is a great person.  Is Jim really that kind of person?

"There is still half a bottle of planning left" :)

[Dimity]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

He's a teenager who was thrust into being a father-figure to his younger sister at an early age because of their father's untimely death.

Have they even mentioned Mary or Missy in the last few episodes?

[UsernameFatigue]

I don't look at Georgie as acting fatherly towards Connor, but more brotherly. But Georgie is definitely more mature at 18 than Connor is at 26. Emotional maturity has little to do with chronological age. 

We have already seen Georgie step up to become a husband and father, before his own father passed away. And work with MeeMaw in her businesses. He may be a high school drop out but he was never sitting at home living off his parents. He would hardly be the first successful person to believe that he did not need a high school diploma and degree to make their fortune, and go out and prove it. I have no problem with how Georgie is being written. And we did see an episode where he felt overwhelmed by his responsibilities. 

There were so many good lines in this episode. One of my favourites was Audrey talking about how she doesn't understand Friends, and musing that she missed Cosby, that he was a nice family man. Priceless. 

 

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

We don't know that it's not going to happen at a future point.  Just that it's not happening at this exact moment.

It could have happened when they were still on YS but her lactating breasts (and Chuck Lorre) put the kibosh on it during her interview so there is that. And I worry that we're being set up for it not happening in the future. But good on you for being optimistic! 😉

[Yeah No]

Here's an article with the producers' reasons for not having a holiday episode and just having one for Thanksgiving.

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/georgie-and-mandys-first-marriage-wont-have-christmas-episode-season-1-reason-makes-sens

They keep wanting to segregate Georgie's OG family from this one for some reason. I get that they want this show to stand on its own but the holidays are not the time to make that point in my opinion. The author says they "see the reasoning behind it" but I don't. I think they could have written a holiday episode in addition to the Thanksgiving one and it wouldn't have had to be that similar especially if Sheldon could have made an appearance in the latter one. I think they are engaging in a a lot of mental gymnastics and rationalizations for not doing it and it just doesn't make any sense to me. 

This article discusses the Thanksgiving episode and their decision not to include Sheldon, which I also don't agree with but if they had had a Holiday episode with him in it and not the Thanksgiving one I'd have been OK with that. (I also posted this in the Thanksgiving episode thread).

https://www.cinemablend.com/television/georgie-and-mandys-first-marriage-ep-explained-decision-against-bringing-sheldon-back-thanksgiving-episode

[Dimity]

If they can keep Audrey the way she was in this episode I can see some promise for this show.  I totally get that she's having trouble accepting Georgie and has not been happy with the choices Mandy has made.  Her being sharp tongued I can live with and the way she was in this episode was head and shoulders above her attitude up to now.

Edited Saturday at 02:17 AM by Dimity

[shura]

13 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

I don't look at Georgie as acting fatherly towards Connor, but more brotherly. But Georgie is definitely more mature at 18 than Connor is at 26. Emotional maturity has little to do with chronological age. 

Interesting.  I started thinking about the difference between brotherly and fatherly, what would I need to see to tell which one I am looking at?  It seems that they are almost the same, aren’t they, the only difference is who the relationship is between.  If it’s between people close in age, then it’s brotherly.  If it’s between people of very different maturity, then fatherly.  So Georgie is being… both at the same time?

[Yeah No]

18 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

I don't look at Georgie as acting fatherly towards Connor, but more brotherly. But Georgie is definitely more mature at 18 than Connor is at 26. Emotional maturity has little to do with chronological age. 

I still see it as being a bit presumptuous and full of himself to act that way around his brother in law who is that much older than he is. He barely knows the guy and I don't think it's his place to be acting that way. Whether it's brotherly or fatherly doesn't matter. I thought I was more mature than some of my in-laws too but out of respect for my husband and just knowing what's appropriate I would never do that. And furthermore, he should look in the mirror. Suddenly Georgie thinks he's the expert on how to be mature just because he stumbled into being a husband and father? Meanwhile he got his girlfriend pregnant, he's living at his wife's parents' house and his father in law had to give him a job. Yeah, he's the "authority" on being mature alright! 😏

[possibilities]

How was Georgie supposed to act?

He invited Connor to come with them-- I thought that was friendly, not condescending. He wants to get to know his brother-in-law.

Then he tried to engage him in conversation, and when there was tension  between Connor and his dad, Georgie tried to smooth it over and make Connor feel better. I guess he could have been excused for being silent and not getting involved, but then he might have seemed unfriendly, or uncaring, or even rude. 

Georgie has always been polite, and kind of a peacemaker. He is like his dad and his father in law that way. And he was feeling guilty for not trying to understand and be closer to Sheldon, so he sees another opportunity to do that with his new brother, and he goes for it. It's very in character for him, and I didn't think he was trying to one-up anybody. Connor actually seemed to like it.

 

 

[Dimity]

8 minutes ago, possibilities said:

Connor actually seemed to like it.

I'm wondering what others think of the way Jim treats Connor.  Most of the time we see him as being very easy going and non-judgmental, I guess to show the contrast with Audrey.  But with Connor I feel like they are showing Jim as being impatient and sometimes a little unkind.  In this episode we see that he is worried about what's going to happen to Connor down the road.  Which I can understand but unless Jim knows something about his health no one else does there's no reason to think he won't be around for at least another 20-30 years.

[EtheltoTillie]

I see the difference between brotherly and fatherly.  Even if the father is easygoing like Jim, Connor may feel he's always being judged.  Now Georgie is new to the family and more an age and sibling peer.  So the same advice is reframed and more acceptable. 

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

How was Georgie supposed to act?

He invited Connor to come with them-- I thought that was friendly, not condescending. He wants to get to know his brother-in-law.

Then he tried to engage him in conversation, and when there was tension  between Connor and his dad, Georgie tried to smooth it over and make Connor feel better. I guess he could have been excused for being silent and not getting involved, but then he might have seemed unfriendly, or uncaring, or even rude. 

Georgie has always been polite, and kind of a peacemaker. He is like his dad and his father in law that way. And he was feeling guilty for not trying to understand and be closer to Sheldon, so he sees another opportunity to do that with his new brother, and he goes for it. It's very in character for him, and I didn't think he was trying to one-up anybody. Connor actually seemed to like it.

For me it's not all about how it was intended or might be received. That's not the issue for me. It's setting himself up as the wiser, more mature person in relation to Connor. He really has no business seeing himself that way especially given his own life. And I think that's exactly what he was doing no matter how well intended he was. Georgie needs to get a reality check, that's all. I think Connor didn't mind it because any attention is better than no attention to him; it shows someone cares. But it didn't have to go that way.

I can just imagine if I had very nicely and in a peacemaking way (like Georgie) approached my in-laws about certain things. It wouldn't matter how it was intended or presented, I'm sure it wouldn't have been well received. But to be honest I think women are less well received doing those things than men. Women approaching other women that way are far less often taken in a positive, constructive way, even with the best of intentions and an encouraging approach. The reaction would be "who the hell are you?". And a woman approaching a man that way would get the response, "You're not my mother". So I just wouldn't take that chance. Just my opinion based on many decades of experience.

[UsernameFatigue]

10 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I see the difference between brotherly and fatherly.  Even if the father is easygoing like Jim, Connor may feel he's always being judged.  Now Georgie is new to the family and more an age and sibling peer.  So the same advice is reframed and more acceptable. 

I also think the difference between fatherly and brotherly is the responsibility that the person feels towards the other person. A sibling may or may not give advice to another sibling, and if they like them will want the best for them. (Not all sibs get along of course). But they likely feel no responsibility for how that sib turns out. 

This episode portrayed Mandy's parents feelings and possibly guilt about their children and their decisions. Audrey feels that Mandy is making the wrong choices because she felt that she made the wrong choices. Connor feels that Jim is always mad at him, where in reality Jim is afraid that if something happens to him there will be no one to look after Connor, as he seems incapable of taking care of himself. I also think that parents often think that their children's successes or failures reflect on them as a parent. 

I also think that the dynamic of Audrey being closer to Connor and Jim being closer to Audrey is not unusual. We also saw it in Georgie's family where Missy was a daddy's girl, and Sheldon was definitely a mama's boy. 

I thought that Georgie was being very sweet and supportive of Connor, knowing that it would mean a lot to him. And it did. 

Edited Sunday at 05:31 AM by UsernameFatigue

[iarwain]

23 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Suddenly Georgie thinks he's the expert on how to be mature just because he stumbled into being a husband and father? 

This is the first episode where I was at all interested in Connor, every other time he's appeared I think I even resented his presence.  If he can spontaneously get a job in a town they stopped at along the road, he probably has more potential than he gives himself credit for. 

Georgie is far from perfect himself, but he's always been responsible, and a good and clever worker.  It's his wheelhouse.  Maybe it's a little presumptuous of him to talk to Connor about his situation, but it looks like he clearly needs a push, for his own good.  Obviously he isn't listening to what his father has been telling him.  A fresh perspective couldn't hurt.

[shapeshifter]

On 12/14/2024 at 9:59 AM, Yeah No said:

I still see it as being a bit presumptuous and full of himself to act that way around his brother in law who is that much older than he is.

And with this sentence👆, dear @Yeah No, you have perfectly described the way teenagers think and act. 😉

And, yep, this too:

On 12/14/2024 at 9:59 AM, Yeah No said:

Suddenly Georgie thinks he's the expert on how to be mature just because he stumbled into being a husband and father? 

Although I do think Georgie's acceptance of the responsibilities of fatherhood and partner in marriage are atypically exemplary, both as a teen, and as the average human, which probably overly puffs up his self esteem. 

Edited Sunday at 04:31 PM by shapeshifter

[iarwain]

Look at it this way:  

Connor is 26 years old and has never held a job.  Yet people are complaining about Georgie's behavior?

[shura]

9 hours ago, iarwain said:

Look at it this way:  

Connor is 26 years old and has never held a job.  Yet people are complaining about Georgie's behavior?

Ah, but that’s whataboutism.  There is always something else you could be discussing.  That does not have to stop you from discussing what you want to discuss.

[Yeah No]

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

And with this sentence👆, dear @Yeah No, you have perfectly described the way teenagers think and act. 😉

Today's teenagers, yes. 30 years ago maybe not as much. 

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Although I do think Georgie's acceptance of the responsibilities of fatherhood and partner in marriage are atypically exemplary, both as a teen, and as the average human, which probably overly puffs up his self esteem. 

The thing is though, that I'm not buying this new perfect version of Georgie, which is why I'm not seeing this new behavior as something to admire. Like @Dimity, I'm waiting for him to crack at some point. I just can't buy that the surly, immature, self-centered guy we knew on YS changed overnight just because he became a father. And I can't cheer how he's trying to help Connor when he wasn't all that nice to his own brother Sheldon.

[txhorns79]

On 12/13/2024 at 12:26 PM, proserpina65 said:

He's a teenager who was thrust into being a father-figure to his younger sister at an early age because of their father's untimely death. 

I don't know if I would say Georgie is acting as a father-figure to Missy.  I think she's too old for that, he's too young and realistically, Georgie is not around her enough to take on that role. 

 

22 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Although I do think Georgie's acceptance of the responsibilities of fatherhood and partner in marriage are atypically exemplary, both as a teen, and as the average human, which probably overly puffs up his self esteem. 

I agree. 

[Dimity]

25 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

I don't know if I would say Georgie is acting as a father-figure to Missy.  I think she's too old for that, he's too young and realistically, Georgie is not around her enough to take on that role. 

On an episode of BBT Georgie claimed he was the one who held the family together after George died.  Obviously based on this show that isn't true.  I totally understand them retconning stuff from BBT when Young Sheldon and this show weren't even on the horizon but I have far less patience when they are contradicting things from BBT after Young Sheldon was on the air.

And this is a good example of that.  The other Coopers will guest now and then and they may continue to have Georgie, and possibly Mandy, have some input into Missy's life but he's far from being a father figure and even further from actually helping Mary manage anything.  Georgie may be geographically closer than Sheldon is but realistically he's not holding the family together.

 

 

[Yeah No]

22 hours ago, iarwain said:

Look at it this way:  

Connor is 26 years old and has never held a job.  Yet people are complaining about Georgie's behavior?

I just had this thought about Connor - He may be a late bloomer like one of my nephews by marriage. At 26 he was still living at home and the only "job" he ever had was playing drums in a garage band that played in local dive bars on weekends. His biggest concern was whether or not to get a full body sleeve tattoo (he didn't). Like Connor, he was quiet and lacked social skills. His parents were unable to get through to him and for a time had basically given up trying to get him to go to school, get a career and become independent. After a few more years his mother had had it and started pushing him in a firm yet loving way, and eventually by the time he was almost 30 she told him that either he enroll in college or a trade school or he would have to move out. He decided to take up the offer and went to school to study physical therapy. He liked it so much he ended up getting a good job, which turned into an even better job. He got his own apartment and now at 39 he and his long time live-in girlfriend are saving for their first house. They just hosted us for Thanksgiving and I'm amazed at how far he's come.

I can't tell you how many times my husband and I bit our tongues around him over the years. It really was his parents' responsibility to talk to him and eventually they did. I think my SIL liked having him at home after his younger brother moved out and was struggling with the idea of being an empty nester, so she never really pushed hard enough. But eventually she got over her issues and got a dog. Thankfully she did right by her son. My husband and I stayed out of it even though we talked about that situation all the time. We didn't feel it was our place to talk to him and there are many reasons doing that could backfire on Georgie if Connor gets some weird ideas from him that his parents don't like. Also they may end up feeling like Georgie is usurping their authority, stealing their thunder and making them look bad. 

[proserpina65]

On 12/13/2024 at 4:08 PM, Yeah No said:

Here's an article with the producers' reasons for not having a holiday episode and just having one for Thanksgiving.

I don't expect shows to have holiday episodes.  If they do, and it works, great.  If they don't, I don't much care.  I do hate when they make saccharine, schmaltzy holiday episodes because "It's Christmas and family!".

On 12/14/2024 at 9:59 AM, Yeah No said:

Meanwhile he got his girlfriend pregnant, he's living at his wife's parents' house and his father in law had to give him a job. Yeah, he's the "authority" on being mature alright! 

His father-in-law may have given him his current job, but Georgie's been hustling since before he dropped out of school, so I don't count that against him.  And the towing thing was entirely his own idea, not Jim's.

On 12/14/2024 at 1:16 PM, Dimity said:

I'm wondering what others think of the way Jim treats Connor.  Most of the time we see him as being very easy going and non-judgmental, I guess to show the contrast with Audrey.  But with Connor I feel like they are showing Jim as being impatient and sometimes a little unkind.  In this episode we see that he is worried about what's going to happen to Connor down the road.  Which I can understand but unless Jim knows something about his health no one else does there's no reason to think he won't be around for at least another 20-30 years.

I think seeing George die youngish and seeing Georgie having to take on so much of the burden in the wake of his father's death has made Jim think a little more about mortality and the future.  We know that George had heart problems, but I don't think Jim would know that.

14 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Today's teenagers, yes. 30 years ago maybe not as much. 

I was a teenager more than 30 years ago.  Not that much has changed in how highly they thought of themselves.

14 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I just can't buy that the surly, immature, self-centered guy we knew on YS

Except we've already seen Georgie grow from the immature, self-centered guy before YS ended.  (I'd dispute that Georgie was ever particularly surly except for one or two episodes.  He was mostly the easy going one in the family.)  Hell, we saw him start to mature before he even met Mandy.  So his continuing to grow up after becoming a father is not really such a big change.  And it actually is fairly realistic.  Some young men do mature rapidly when faced with the responsibility of a child.  Not all, sure, but a lot of them do.

1 hour ago, Dimity said:

Georgie may be geographically closer than Sheldon is but realistically he's not holding the family together.

He certainly seemed to be doing so in the Thanksgiving episode, far more than Mary was.

[iarwain]

4 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I can't tell you how many times my husband and I bit our tongues around him over the years. It really was his parents' responsibility to talk to him and eventually they did.

As I said earlier, I think despite his situation, Connor showed he has potential.  And it sounds like his father at least has certainly talked to him already.  I don't think Georgie is trying to talk down to Connor as much as showing his curiosity.  Georgie doesn't think that way, so he's trying to understand how Connor can allow himself to sink to the depths that he has.  In any case, Georgie could be a positive role model for him, if nothing else. 

[possibilities]

I also don't think Georgie was pushing Connor in some direction or other. All he did was invite him to work on the car together, and then go on the road trip together. Later, he told Connor he thought he'd be okay. He didn't try to get him to DO anything, he didn't undercut anything his parents were suggesting, all he did was basically be nice to him.

[shapeshifter]

14 hours ago, possibilities said:

I also don't think Georgie was pushing Connor in some direction or other. All he did was invite him to work on the car together, and then go on the road trip together. Later, he told Connor he thought he'd be okay. He didn't try to get him to DO anything, he didn't undercut anything his parents were suggesting, all he did was basically be nice to him.

Yes.
This line from the episode stood out to me and keeps rattling around in my head everytime I stop by to read posts here:

• [GEORGIE TO MANDY] Growing up in my family, nobody really understood Sheldon. Sometimes I wish I tried harder.

When I just looked it up, I noticed it was followed by:

• [MANDY] Well, he's still your brother. You can always call him.
• [GEORGIE] Eh.

I guess this means Georgie thinks a talk on the phone is ineffective, hence the road trip with Connor?
Or it's just a segue to the episode's action with the characters available, maybe even hanging a lantern on Connor being a stand-in for Sheldon in this series.

[Dimity]

15 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

When I just looked it up, I noticed it was followed by:

• [MANDY] Well, he's still your brother. You can always call him.
• [GEORGIE] Eh.

I missed that.  I think it also means that Georgie isn't really all that invested in having any kind of real relationship with Sheldon.  Which I like.  My big problem with Georgie on this show is he's been presented as just a little too perfect.  This little comment makes me realize that he's still not as mature as he thinks he is, so good on you writers.  A mark for believability!