TBBT vs Young Sheldon: Nitpicks, Anomalies, and Historical Facts In An Evolving Universe, presented by Sheldon L. Cooper

[anna0852]

I know this topic is for what *doesn't* line up between the two shows but can we use this thread to talk about their connections in general as well? Next week's BBT is probably going to give us a bunch of info about how Georgie turns out and I'm trying to figure out if this will be the appropriate place to discuss it.

[OtterMommy]

4 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I know this topic is for what *doesn't* line up between the two shows but can we use this thread to talk about their connections in general as well? Next week's BBT is probably going to give us a bunch of info about how Georgie turns out and I'm trying to figure out if this will be the appropriate place to discuss it.

I think this is the perfect thread for that!  Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing grown up Georgie next week.  Are we also going to get Missy?  

[formerlyfreedom]

9 hours ago, anna0852 said:

I know this topic is for what *doesn't* line up between the two shows but can we use this thread to talk about their connections in general as well? Next week's BBT is probably going to give us a bunch of info about how Georgie turns out and I'm trying to figure out if this will be the appropriate place to discuss it.

Absolutely!

[Gothish520]

20 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

I think this is the perfect thread for that!  Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing grown up Georgie next week.  Are we also going to get Missy?  

According to CBS.com,

Spoiler

the actress who played adult Missy, Courtney Henggeler will be in the season finale, so yay!

[anna0852]

Having now watched last night's BBT, I wanted to say I'm so glad that Georgie ultimately turned out well. Sure he might have had some bumps when he was younger but he's now a very successful businessman and a good salesman as well. Nor does he roll over and take Sheldon's crap. I thought he made some very valid points about what it was like to grow up as Sheldon's brother, especially after George senior dies. And it really underscored just how much Sheldon tends to rewrite history in his own favor. Almost to the point then we have to assume anything the adult is saying over on Big Bang should probably be taken with a large grain of salt.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, anna0852 said:

And it really underscored just how much Sheldon tends to rewrite history in his own favor.

So true!  Didn't they say in an earlier episode of YS that Georgie ended up in jail?  I think Jim Parsons said it in the narration.  I'm not sure now.  Anyway, looks like on BBT, that didn't seem to be the case.  It sounded like Georgie had been working really hard since high school to get his own tire store, and yay for him for being more successful than Sheldon lets on!  I thought that Jerry O'Connell did a good job as Georgie, but he didn't have as much of that Texas "twang" as our young Georgie does.  I wanted to hear that!

It was also nice to know how much younger Georgie looked out for Sheldon, even when Sheldon wasn't aware of it.  He was just trying to keep him from getting beat up with his "girl" costume!  

[DkNNy79]

8 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

So true!  Didn't they say in an earlier episode of YS that Georgie ended up in jail?  I think Jim Parsons said it in the narration.  I'm not sure now.  Anyway, looks like on BBT, that didn't seem to be the case. 

I think both can be the case.  Georgie could've been a screw up when he was younger, but that doesn't mean that he couldn't turn his life around.  Maybe his father's death did that for him.  From what we've learned he got married young and I think they're divorced (did he get remarried?).  Also, we know Mary didn't like Georgie's wife, called her a "ho" right?  That's why she didn't give Georgie her ring to propose.

[anna0852]

I think Georgie got busted for urinating in public. Certainly in poor taste but not like it's a massive felony or anything

[3 is enough]

On 3/4/2018 at 6:13 AM, CherryAmes said:

How old is MeeMaw supposed to be?  In Young Sheldon she seems to be mid 60s (which is how old Annie Potts is - not that the age of the actor is always the same as the age of the character they play) but in the BBT episode when MeeMaw visits I think she was meant to be about 80 or so.  That doesn't work with the time line though of YS taking place about 30 years ago.  Is 1989 MeeMaw meant to be younger than I thought?

I was wondering about this too. My guess is despite Annie Potts' age in real life (and I can only hope I look that good when I am 65!) MeeMaw is in her mid to late 50's on Young Sheldon.  I am basing this on Mary's age, which I am guessing to be early 30's given that she was pregnant with Georgie before she got married.  She was probably 18-19- just out of high school. I know she was pretty young based on Connie's comments to George in the brisket episode.

  They never specifically state ages on TBBT, but my guess is they are in their mid-30's, so 25-30 years have passed since Young Sheldon.

[CherryAmes]

What I liked about the most recent BBT episode in terms of how it relates to Young Sheldon is we do get a reminder that Mary has a lot more influence over Sheldon than we may see from YS.  I know a lot of people see Mary as being indulgent of Sheldon but if she is she certainly also has a line with him that she won't let him cross.  BBT has always made it clear that Sheldon listens to Mary and will do what she tells him to do even if he isn't happy about it.

[AnnaRose]

10 hours ago, LadyKenobi said:

How on earth are the writers going to reconcile the sweet and principled George Sr we see here with the hard-drinking, plate-shooting philanderer presented in BBT? That wasn’t just a one-episode throwaway line. They hit that well a *lot*. We saw a troubled marriage earlier in the season and it’s been mentioned twice now that George and Mary were a shotgun wedding, but you’d think that if they weathered the first few years together, especially with twins, they’d be OK.

This is not a dark show. It’s even gentler than TBBT. I don’t see them going to alcohol-based violence and infidelity with the tone that’s been established so far. 

I want them to ignore all that BBT stuff.  I think they have to in order to keep the tone of YS as it is and not ruin it.

[CherryAmes]

Of course we're assuming they want as long a run - and I think we're assuming right.  But if that's the case even if they completely ignore every negative thing they ever said about the marriage and George's alcoholism and infidelity they can't ignore that George Sr dies when Sheldon is 14.  That gives them 5 years.  Would they be happy with a 5 year run?  I can't imagine they would be if the show continues to bring in the viewers.  It will certainly be interesting to see how they handle things.

Edited May 5, 2018 by CherryAmes

[anna0852]

That's the tricky part and something I hope they've thought about. George Sr.'s death is pretty much set in stone, as is Sheldon leaving for college at that age. BBT double-down on that last night in regards to the timeline. 

And it's not like they can just have some sort of floating timeline where no one is aging (ala the Simpsons) as these are live actors, three of whom are kids. Montana, Ian and Regean are all going to look different from year to year. There's no way to hide that time is passing.

[BitterApple]

4 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I want them to ignore all that BBT stuff.  I think they have to in order to keep the tone of YS as it is and not ruin it.

I'm thinking that as well, otherwise this show is going to take a very dark turn. As it stands I'm having a hard time reconciling the George we see now with the version Sheldon describes in TBBT. 

3 hours ago, LadyKenobi said:

 

The more I think about it, though, the more I wish this were set up as a limited run series. Part of the reason this works is that Ian is so cute and the character clearly needs mothering despite his intelligence. I don’t know how that’s going to work in four years.

I'm wondering how they're going to make it work with Sheldon going off to college? Unless he stays close to home, I'm not sure how the show could continue with its' original cast. I'd hate to see Meemaw, Georgie and Missy get dumped in order to watch Sheldon: The College Years. 

Edited May 5, 2018 by BitterApple

[Chit Chat]

I only see this show going a few years at best.  The kids will be growing up and will probably lose the innocence and cuteness factor.  If they stay somewhat true to TBBT, then losing George will be a major blow to the show, IMO.  That is such a downer, and I really don't want to see that happen.  I think people will tune out if they portray George the way he's been described on TBBT.  I don't want to see the womanizing.  I will just ignore everything from TBBT regarding George if they'll write his character differently for YS.  

[SmithW6079]

On 5/4/2018 at 4:18 PM, 3 is enough said:

They never specifically state ages on TBBT, but my guess is they are in their mid-30's, so 25-30 years have passed since Young Sheldon.

But now we know how old the kids are. "Young Sheldon" takes place in 1989. Sheldon and Missy are 9, and Georgie is 14. Therefore, Sheldon is 38 in "Big Bang Theory"; Georgie, 43. If Mary was 18-19, when she got pregnant with Georgie, she's in her early 60s now (Laurie Metcalf is 63). Meemaw should be in her 80s.

[3 is enough]

17 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

But now we know how old the kids are. "Young Sheldon" takes place in 1989. Sheldon and Missy are 9, and Georgie is 14. Therefore, Sheldon is 38 in "Big Bang Theory"; Georgie, 43. If Mary was 18-19, when she got pregnant with Georgie, she's in her early 60s now (Laurie Metcalf is 63). Meemaw should be in her 80s.

Well I feel stupid.  I must have missed the reference to 1989.   I should pay more attention. 

[LoneHaranguer]

On 5/5/2018 at 9:29 PM, SmithW6079 said:

If Mary was 18-19, when she got pregnant with Georgie, she's in her early 60s now (Laurie Metcalf is 63). Meemaw should be in her 80s.

For all of the numbers to work, Mary would have been in her mid to late 20's. Her comment to a 25 y.o. Penny that she could be had for a car ride and a bottle of strawberry wine at her age also wouldn't have made sense if she had been married with three kids at Penny's age.

On 5/5/2018 at 3:21 PM, BitterApple said:

I'm wondering how they're going to make it work with Sheldon going off to college? Unless he stays close to home, I'm not sure how the show could continue with its' original cast.

Summer and Christmas vacations? Sheldon starts college at 11, but doesn't leave home until 12, so they do have one year of college when he can still be local. If they put him in one of those programs where you take college classes part time while finishing high school, they could put off any meaningful changes for at least a season.

[OtterMommy]

In the s01e22 thread, @Gothish520 wrote:

Quote

Watching Young Sheldon has enhanced my viewing of Big Bang, definitely. What they've accomplished here with these two very different, yet both thoroughly entertaining shows is really something special.

This reminds me of a conversation I recently had.  I was telling a friend (who had quit watching TBBT some time ago) about how much I loved this show.  They had said that it just looked dumb to them and I admitted that, yes, I thought the premise was pretty darn iffy, but I was very pleasantly surprised.  Then they said they probably couldn't watch it because they hadn't watched TBBT in years.  I thought about this for a moment before telling them that you can easily watch Young Sheldon without watching The Big Bang Theory, but I'm not so sure you can watch The Big Bang Theory now without watching Young Sheldon.

[CherryAmes]

I had a somewhat similar conversation last night.  A friend of mine stopped watching BBT a while ago and I told him last night that if he never watches another episode again at least watch the wedding.  I'll be very surprised if he's disappointed!  This same friend won't watch YS because he stopped liking Big Bang Theory.  I've been trying to explain that YS is not BBT and you don't have to watch one to like the other.  But maybe I'm wrong?  Do people watch YS who've never watched Big Bang?

[OtterMommy]

5 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

I had a somewhat similar conversation last night.  A friend of mine stopped watching BBT a while ago and I told him last night that if he never watches another episode again at least watch the wedding.  I'll be very surprised if he's disappointed!  This same friend won't watch YS because he stopped liking Big Bang Theory.  I've been trying to explain that YS is not BBT and you don't have to watch one to like the other.  But maybe I'm wrong?  Do people watch YS who've never watched Big Bang?

I don't know of any...I think the hook for a lot of people is the character of Sheldon from TBBT, although he has become enough of an iconic character that I think someone who was simply aware of him, but had never seen an episode of TBBT, would still catch on with Young Sheldon.  Of course, I would be interested to hear what someone who went into Young Sheldon completely blind would think.  The two shows have such different feel that I'm sure one could watch YS and just accept it for its own story.

[Sarah 103]

On 5/5/2018 at 3:21 PM, BitterApple said:

I'm wondering how they're going to make it work with Sheldon going off to college? Unless he stays close to home, I'm not sure how the show could continue with its' original cast. I'd hate to see Meemaw, Georgie and Missy get dumped in order to watch Sheldon: The College Years. 

Each episode usually has multiple storylines. They can continue this with Sheldon in college away from home. You have one storyline about Sheldon in college while he's away from home then another storyline about what's happening at home. 

On 5/9/2018 at 6:50 PM, LoneHaranguer said:

Sheldon starts college at 11, but doesn't leave home until 12, so they do have one year of college when he can still be local.

That works for me. Maybe he does his first year of college locally in Texas and then transfers after that. 

[Bort]

2 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

I don't know of any...I think the hook for a lot of people is the character of Sheldon from TBBT, although he has become enough of an iconic character that I think someone who was simply aware of him, but had never seen an episode of TBBT, would still catch on with Young Sheldon.  Of course, I would be interested to hear what someone who went into Young Sheldon completely blind would think.  The two shows have such different feel that I'm sure one could watch YS and just accept it for its own story.

Young Sheldon by itself comes across to me as similar to The Wonder Years.

[theredhead77]

On 5/4/2018 at 11:47 PM, LadyKenobi said:

How on earth are the writers going to reconcile the sweet and principled George Sr we see here with the hard-drinking, plate-shooting philanderer presented in BBT? That wasn’t just a one-episode throwaway line. They hit that well a *lot*. We saw a troubled marriage earlier in the season and it’s been mentioned twice now that George and Mary were a shotgun wedding, but you’d think that if they weathered the first few years together, especially with twins, they’d be OK.

This is not a dark show. It’s even gentler than TBBT. I don’t see them going to alcohol-based violence and infidelity with the tone that’s been established so far. 

 

On 5/5/2018 at 10:38 AM, AnnaRose said:

I want them to ignore all that BBT stuff.  I think they have to in order to keep the tone of YS as it is and not ruin it.

Sheldon, for all his genius has been shown to re-write history (as someone mentioned upthread). It is completely possible that Sheldon was so angry about his father dying and unable to fully process it due to his emotional challenges that he re-wrote his memories to make George out to be a terrible person.

[BlossomCulp]

13 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

Sheldon, for all his genius has been shown to re-write history (as someone mentioned upthread). It is completely possible that Sheldon was so angry about his father dying and unable to fully process it due to his emotional challenges that he re-wrote his memories to make George out to be a terrible person.

That's one way they could go I guess but it just doesn't ring true to me.  I know some of Sheldon's memories are Sheldon judging others by his own standards and finding them lacking - usually this is related to intelligence.  I just don't see him as an adult man though making up things like his father sleeping with another woman in the marital bed!  That's not the kind of thing Sheldon would think about let alone make up.  The funny thing is those memories are from later seasons of BBT - the initial times Sheldon's father is referenced it's not negative as far as I remember.  It's well into the series when we start hearing these dark stories.  I guess it was their way of explaining why Sheldon is the way he is but it was completely unnecessary and I bet they're regretting it now!

Edited May 25, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[CherryAmes]

19 minutes ago, BlossomCulp said:

  I guess it was their way of explaining why Sheldon is the way he is but it was completely unnecessary and I bet they're regretting it now!

IF they stay on the air long enough they're either going to have to address some of these memories - the adultery, drunkenness and constant fighting - not to mention George's death - or they will need to do some fast talking to explain away what is a huge discrepancy!  Much as I am liking YS and liking George Sr I really don't want them throwing Sheldon under the bus and twisting things so that his memories of his father were all lies, made up for whatever reason.

[anna0852]

 I think it'll end up being a combination of Sheldon Reinterpreting his memories + actual problems that did happen. I think even now we can see a bit of friction between George and Mary and if it continues, it could very well lead to infidelity. Not to say that George becomes a full-blown alcoholic and that the fighting is as bad as Sheldon describes, but that there was friction and perhaps George Did cheat towards the end of his life. I don't think they can rewrite George's death. It's been established so many times on BBT that he died when Sheldon was 14 that it'd be very difficult to change that now. And because Young Sheldon is working with child actors they can't use a floating timeline either. The kids are going to grow up. You can't have 12 year old Ian playing 9 year old Sheldon.

[theredhead77]

22 hours ago, anna0852 said:

perhaps George Did cheat towards the end of his life.

Maybe they were on a break!

[libad]

On 5/12/2018 at 11:40 PM, kariyaki said:

Young Sheldon by itself comes across to me as similar to The Wonder Years.

In ways that any show about the family dynamic is similar.  From Ozzie & Harriet to Wonder Years to Joan of Arcadia to Young Sheldon they all mine the multiple relationships, just with a POV that reflects their times.  And they succeed when they're truthful. 

It will be a while before Sheldon meets his Winnie Cooper in this incarnation.

[FinnishViewer]

Quote

It will be a while before Sheldon meets his Winnie Cooper in this incarnation.

I thought he already did? The girl who wants to be a geologist?

[PurpleMonkey34]

One thing i noticed is how he has an eidetic memory so he would remember the age he got into Comic Books which was 9 in Young Sheldon so he'd remember that cause he remembers what ages he was in each grade right

But when he gets a new wallet and has to get rid of something from it lenard says how about his honorary Justice League of America card and he says he's had it in every wallet since he was 5 but apparently didnt like comics till 9

[LoneHaranguer]

On 7/8/2018 at 6:40 AM, PurpleMonkey34 said:

But when he gets a new wallet and has to get rid of something from it lenard says how about his honorary Justice League of America card and he says he's had it in every wallet since he was 5 but apparently didnt like comics till 9

Sounds like he watched some Saturday morning cartoons when he was 5.

[PurpleMonkey34]

On 2018-07-11 at 4:33 PM, LoneHaranguer said:

Sounds like he watched some Saturday morning cartoons when he was 5.

Naw Missy wants to watch cartoons and he wants to watch Professor Proton cause with cartoons you don't learn anything

[LoneHaranguer]

9 hours ago, PurpleMonkey34 said:

Naw Missy wants to watch cartoons and he wants to watch Professor Proton cause with cartoons you don't learn anything

How would he know that if he hadn't tried watching them before?

[PurpleMonkey34]

11 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

How would he know that if he hadn't tried watching them before?

Not sure that's just what he said

[HazelEyes4325]

One minor (??) detail that stuck out to me in the 2.2 episode is that Sheldon is now 10, which I'm assuming means 1 season = 1 year.  I get why they have to do this--with child actors, a show is pretty much at the mercy of the actors' growth.  However, it does put this show in a finite position.  We know from TBBT that Sheldon leaves home when he is 12, which means we have 3 more seasons (including this one) of the show pretty much as-is.  So, I wonder if this is just going to be a 4 season show or if they are going to do some logistical gymnastics to keep it going longer but while also keeping it true to the timeline presented in TBBT.

[HighMaintenance]

On 5/12/2018 at 11:40 PM, kariyaki said:

Young Sheldon by itself comes across to me as similar to The Wonder Years.

Same.  I guess I would be the one that occasionally watches Young Sheldon, but never liked BBT.  I've attempted to watch it in syndication, but I just don't think its funny or entertaining.  Although the laugh track sure thinks it is hilarious.  

But I also have a history of not liking long running sitcoms, e.g.  2 & a Half Men, Everyone Loves Raymond, King of Queens, World According to Jim and of course BBT.

[Driad]

22 hours ago, HazelEyes4325 said:

We know from TBBT that Sheldon leaves home when he is 12

It would be helpful to have the exact BBT line about this.  Do we know where Sheldon started college?  Maybe he started fairly near home and transferred farther away later.

[CherryAmes]

12 minutes ago, Driad said:

Maybe he started fairly near home and transferred farther away later.

We do know that at 13 he lived away from home but was close enough to travel back easily as he surprised his father in bed with another woman.  I'm assuming he had to be going to school somewhere in Texas at this point.  If the show gives this any thought I would expect he was living in a private home somewhere and not in a university dorm.  It would be nice if they clarified this at some point.  Somewhere after this point he receives his degrees, wins the Stevenson Award (at 14 1/2) and is a visiting professor in Germany.   In looking this up I found a site that states this:

While it is never explicitly mentioned which universities Sheldon attended for his education, in "The Parking Spot Escalation", Howard takes Sheldon's doctoral diploma from his office wall – "California Institute of Technology" is discernible. It reappears in "The Colonization Application", where "Ph.D. Physics" can be clearly seen. 

I am guessing all his other degrees were earned in Texas.

Edited October 2, 2018 by CherryAmes

[Frost]

Sheldon has an undergrad, one Masters, and two PhDs.  So at least one PhD is from Caltech.   I would agree that the undergrad must be in Texas, just because I can't imagine Mary letting him go off somewhere too far away.  Sheldon's alma maters are like Penny's last name, we may never know!

[Driad]

Maybe Sheldon went to Rice.  Maybe Penny's last name is Rice.  Although I would have preferred Lane or Wise.

[rmontro]

This is two weeks in a row I think Young Sheldon has had a better show than Big Bang Theory.

[Chit Chat]

In regards to Sheldon telling his Mom that "the precision of the universe at least makes it logical to conclude there's a Creator," implies to me that young Sheldon is at least open to the idea of a God, but as we see with older Sheldon, he seems to have ruled that out.  In season 3 when Sheldon goes back home to Texas and the guys go to get him, he said that he wasn't going back to California and that he was going to spend the rest of his life teaching evolution to Creationists (one of my favorite scenes with Laurie Metcalf.)   He's also quite condescending to her in regards to religion in TBBT, but he always reverts back to "yes, ma'am" and backs down.   Another one of my favorite scenes with grown-up Sheldon is when he thanked his Mom before his wedding by saying "Thank you. I mean for everything, my whole life."  It's interesting to watch just how much Mary did for him and how difficult it was to navigate those younger years when she and George had nobody (except for MeeMaw) to help them figure out to help a kid like Sheldon.  

[Driad]

After "S02.E04: A Financial Secret and Fish Sauce" I can sort of see a connection between YS's Meemaw and the rather bitter nasty Meemaw in BBT. (Talking about characters, not actors.)
 

[BckpckFullaNinjas]

2 hours ago, Driad said:

After "S02.E04: A Financial Secret and Fish Sauce" I can sort of see a connection between YS's Meemaw and the rather bitter nasty Meemaw in BBT. (Talking about characters, not actors.)
 

TOTALLY see that. 

If YS writers are turning Meemaw into a viprous ingrate and Sheldon’s mom, Mary,  into a myopic idiot who doesn’t see how Meemaw is using her innately good-hearted husband (a) for Meemaw’s own advantage and (b) against Mary’s own happiness —- then George’s descent into the bottle and adultery and early death will be a relief for the character. 

Which I guess is what they want, otherwise the loss of such a loving, well-intentioned man would be heartbreaking. 

That said, I’ll find Laurie Metcalf’s character even harder than usual to enjoy. Only Georgie & Missy seemed to have learned anything of the surviving characters. Meemaw remains vicious and Mary remains willfully stupid. 

All that said, I’ll watch YS and not TBBT any day. Turn on the closed captions and mute the sound and YS’s superiority in plot, characters and dualigbis just head and shoulders better. 

Edited October 12, 2018 by BckpckFullaNinjas

[CherryAmes]

2 minutes ago, BckpckFullaNinjas said:

If YS writers are turning Meemaw into a viprous ingrate and Sheldon’s mom, Mary,  into a myopic idiot who doesn’t see how Meemaw is using her innately good-hearted husband (a) for Meemaw’s own advantage and (b) against Mary’s own happiness —- then George’s descent into the bottle and adultery and early death will be a relief for the character. 

Bouncing off this, if the writers excuse the future alcoholism and adultery on George's part as being the fault of Mary and Meemaw then I'm out.  I really like YS but not if they're going to pull the "it's always the woman's fault" garbage.

[anna0852]

Of course George cheating is ultimately a choice George makes. Neither Mary nor Meemaw forced him to do it. But as a human being I can also understand how you seek out comfort and happiness when you seem to be stuck in a situation where you're growing unhappier by the day. No, you shouldn't cheat. You should use your big boy words and make choices to extricate yourself from the situation. But I can also see how things can happen as humans.

[rmontro]

This last episode (season 2, episode 5) suggested that Missy might actually be the smartest kid in the family.

I couldn't help but remember Missy's appearance on Big Bang Theory, and think that reinforces this idea.  She came nowhere near to letting herself get seduced by any of the "nerds".  Smarter than Penny, for sure (although I guess that's a low bar).

[CherryAmes]

I was just thinking that the latest episode gives us a further clue that George, while not a bad father, definitely has no scruples about using his family to further his own ends.  I think it's a good move on the part of the writers to make us aware that George has imperfections and that it's not going to get better.

[Gothish520]

21 hours ago, rmontro said:

This last episode (season 2, episode 5) suggested that Missy might actually be the smartest kid in the family.

I couldn't help but remember Missy's appearance on Big Bang Theory, and think that reinforces this idea.  She came nowhere near to letting herself get seduced by any of the "nerds".  Smarter than Penny, for sure (although I guess that's a low bar).

But in the latest Missy sighting at Sheldon and Amy's wedding, Missy is pregnant and miserable and separated from her husband. Crap happens, I know, but it irked me that she was so snappy and rude.