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


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Missy was separated from her husband at the time of Sheldon's wedding. I'm betting baby #2 wasn't planned and strained the marriage even further.

Since the YS narration said Missy ended up with four kids I like to imagine she left her husband and ended up with Raj 😀

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2 minutes ago, anna0852 said:

Since the YS narration said Missy ended up with four kids I like to imagine she left her husband and ended up with Raj

Inside my head, Missy and Raj got together, Priya inspired Missy to become the scary lawyer we know she could be, and Missy and Raj now have a company specializing in space law. (Raj does the space stuff, Missy does the lawyer stuff.)

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58 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

Here's an article about YS George vs. TBBT George.

Interesting that the author seems to take the POV that they have to reconcile the two George's.  I agree that they have time moving forward to have George behave in ways that explain BBT Sheldon's memories of him - and I think they should - but I don't want YS to turn dark and sad.  Damn I wish BBT had walked back a bit of what they said about Mary and George in those last few years when they had the chance.

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So why is Sheldon so arrogant and entitled? Is it because of Mary? Or would he end up this way with any parents?

I can't remember the title of the episode of TBBT where Leonard's Mom and Sheldon were talking about this very thing.  She wondered how Sheldon would've done given her parenting style vs. the nurturing style of his own mother.  Sheldon made the comparison of having 2 siblings who were "stupid" (in his eyes) - I think this is where he referenced them as mouth-breathing ?.... (I can't remember the line), and he turned out to be a genius, so he probably would've turned out the way he is regardless of who his parents were.  Then he concluded with "and she made me spaghetti with hot dogs."  This was one of the many things that endeared Sheldon to Mary!!  He loved spaghetti and hot dogs!  

I think Mary did the best she could given the information available to her at that time.  Sheldon was a challenge, but the love that Mary showed him was really meaningful to him, as was stated many times on TBBT.  Maybe Sheldon could've used some behavior modification therapy, but we know that he wouldn't have cooperated with that because he never thought anything was wrong with him.  After all, his mother had him tested! 

 

Edited by ChitChat
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18 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

I can't remember the title of the episode of TBBT where Leonard's Mom and Sheldon were talking about this very thing.  She wondered how Sheldon would've done given her parenting style vs. the nurturing style of his own mother.  Sheldon made the comparison of having 2 siblings who were "stupid" (in his eyes) - I think this is where he referenced them as mouth-breathing ?.... (I can't remember the line), and he turned out to be a genius, so he probably would've turned out the way he is regardless of who his parents were.  Then he concluded with "and she made me spaghetti with hot dogs."  This was one of the many things that endeared Sheldon to Mary!!  He loved spaghetti and hot dogs!  

I think Mary did the best she could given the information available to her at that time.  Sheldon was a challenge, but the love that Mary showed him was really meaningful to him, as was stated many times on TBBT.  Maybe Sheldon could've used some behavior modification therapy, but we know that he wouldn't have cooperated with that because he never thought anything was wrong with him.  After all, his mother had him tested! 

 

And now ––even though I am a health food person in every sense of that term–– want canned Spaghetti-ohs with maybe just a few pieces of hot dogs in them.

Anyway, if I was writing a script for either show to explain why “Sheldon so arrogant and entitled” I would build on this week’s YS episode, in which Sheldon was left feeling unwanted and abandoned. Maybe for a change, a different character could do the voiceover explaining that Sheldon’s arrogance and sense of entitlement was really a show he put on as a defense mechanism to cover his crushed feelings. 😞

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7 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Maybe for a change, a different character could do the voiceover explaining that Sheldon’s arrogance and sense of entitlement was really a show he put on as a defense mechanism to cover his crushed feelings.

That's what is tough about being Sheldon.  He can be so annoying and off putting that not many people want to give him a chance.  Older kids don't want to hang around with him (except for Tam,) and those his own age aren't able to communicate with him on his level.  I would imagine it's kind of tough being Sheldon.  

He was lucky to find Leonard later on in life, and although he can be a pain in the butt to him, Leonard learned how to deal with him and got a few verbal jabs in here and there. I really liked the moments on TBBT when Leonard wasn't irritated with him and would say something like "Buddy, are you alright?"  There were moments when their friendship was really great (like Leonard comforting him after Prof. Proton died,) and Leonard as his Best Man at his wedding.  Those were nice moments.  

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41 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

That's what is tough about being Sheldon.  He can be so annoying and off putting that not many people want to give him a chance.  Older kids don't want to hang around with him (except for Tam,) and those his own age aren't able to communicate with him on his level.  I would imagine it's kind of tough being Sheldon.  

He was lucky to find Leonard later on in life, and although he can be a pain in the butt to him, Leonard learned how to deal with him and got a few verbal jabs in here and there. I really liked the moments on TBBT when Leonard wasn't irritated with him and would say something like "Buddy, are you alright?"  There were moments when their friendship was really great (like Leonard comforting him after Prof. Proton died,) and Leonard as his Best Man at his wedding.  Those were nice moments.  

Yes, and didn't even Sheldon and Howard have a meaningful bonding on the train trip?

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The problem with Sheldon is a quite frankly he doesn't have very good manners and he doesn't seem interested in improving them. If he was at least a modicum more polite, I think he'd find life a lot easier.

 Look at Paige. She's in the same position he is and she's able to relate to her peers. There's very much an element of not caring about other people's feelings in Sheldon and it's something that's gonna get worse before it gets better. He has had it pointed out to him time and again about paying attention to other people's emotions, he just doesn't care and doesn't see the point.

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3 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes, and didn't even Sheldon and Howard have a meaningful bonding on the train trip?

I think he even ends up bonding with Bernadette when she is pregnant and he creates that Dungeons and Dragons (I think that game - anyway one like it) game for her as neither of them go on the wine tasting trip.  And of course he and Penny have a very special relationship which is a cross between brother sister and mother son and is very sweet.  He and Raj have had their moments too but I think Sheldon sees Raj as expendable - and has said so a time or two!

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3 hours ago, ChitChat said:

I think Mary did the best she could given the information available to her at that time.  Sheldon was a challenge, but the love that Mary showed him was really meaningful to him, as was stated many times on TBBT.  Maybe Sheldon could've used some behavior modification therapy, but we know that he wouldn't have cooperated with that because he never thought anything was wrong with him.  After all, his mother had him tested! 

More importantly, Mary never thought there was anything wrong with him.The doctor who had him tested reccomended a specialist in Houston. Mary did say multiple times (in TBBT) that she regretted not following up with the specialist in Houston. 

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1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Yes, and didn't even Sheldon and Howard have a meaningful bonding on the train trip?

They took a plane ride to Texas to see his Mom, and that's when he saw her "fornicating" on the sofa with some strange man!  He & Howard also held hands on the plane as they encountered turbulence.  It was a funny scene!  They bonded on that trip.  

1 hour ago, anna0852 said:

He has had it pointed out to him time and again about paying attention to other people's emotions, he just doesn't care and doesn't see the point.

Sheldon can't read social cues.  He did try though when he was older and got a little better at it.  Although it's maddening to see that in someone, I do think it's innate.  I've known a few people along the way that are similar to Sheldon with their inability to empathize with others; always have to be right;  can't read social cues, and it seems to be something they can't easily correct.  They see the world differently than most people do.  I have a close relative who was recently diagnosed as being "on the spectrum."  He's in therapy doing behavior modification, and while it helps to some extent, there are times when he's just an ass.  I don't think he means to be, but I don't think he sees how he talks to others as a problem.  😉  

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3 hours ago, ChitChat said:

I think Mary did the best she could given the information available to her at that time. 

I think it's a real strength of YS that both Mary and George - and even MeeMaw - really are unsure about what to do with Sheldon.  It would have really messed with BBT for one thing to have had Sheldon grow up being perfectly parented and not developing the Sheldony personality those of us who watched BBT are familiar with,  Also though this is small town Texas pre-google.  They did not have the money or the resources to get the help they needed.  They made mistakes.  All parents make mistakes.  I like that they didn't fall into the trap of turning George and Mary into 50s sitcom parents with all the answers.

Edited by WinnieWinkle
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On 3/5/2021 at 1:49 PM, mammaM said:

I do agree with you. I know on the thread people say just think of them as two completely different shows, but I want them connected. 

I meant more along the lines of...yes George had some kind of mid life crisis, booze, women, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then he and Mary decided to get counseling, maybe things were starting to get better, then he died. Doesn't change anything, but it's something Sheldon might not know about especially if he's away at school. That's what I meant by a little more palatable.

PS: I'm also on the team that says the show should end before this happens. Let the show end with Sheldon finally go away to college and the voice over can tell us what happened to everyone "Wonder Years-style"

I really like your solution re: how to tie George as referenced in BBT with George in YS without offending either show's portrayal or making the character look like he died a scoundrel.  However, I don't think the show should end all that soon and I don't think they'll want to end it so soon if the ratings stay high enough.  I am still wondering if the show will actually kill George off or depart from BBT and keep him alive.  It would seem kind of out of place for him to drink, have affairs and die, but I suppose we have a few seasons before that would happen anyway and a lot could change in that time.  At this point I like this show so much I don't even care if they go off on their own alternate timeline.

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14 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I really like your solution re: how to tie George as referenced in BBT with George in YS without offending either show's portrayal or making the character look like he died a scoundrel.  However, I don't think the show should end all that soon and I don't think they'll want to end it so soon if the ratings stay high enough.  I am still wondering if the show will actually kill George off or depart from BBT and keep him alive.  It would seem kind of out of place for him to drink, have affairs and die, but I suppose we have a few seasons before that would happen anyway and a lot could change in that time.  At this point I like this show so much I don't even care if they go off on their own alternate timeline.

Sheldon is 11 right now. I am almost sure he leaves home at age 14. That gives them three more seasons. Ending the season with Sheldon leaving home sounds like a good logical endpoint, and still leaves plenty of seasons before that happens. 

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12 hours ago, Katy M said:
13 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

After this week’s YS episode, I am trying to recall if the word Asperger’s was ever mentioned on TBBT. 

I doubt it.  the writers have always said that Sheldon doesn't have Asperger's or autism.

4 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Can you be more specific as to how and when they said this?  I don't recall this.

Now that you mention it, @Katy M, I do recall reading that too. I suppose they wanted to avoid having to respond to any criticism of depictions of Asperger’s or Autism, which would have likely occurred. Nevertheless, to me Sheldon seems to be on the Asperger’s spectrum. 

But it makes sense not to have it mentioned on YS, as I don't think Asperger's was something that would have been known there at that time.

Edited by shapeshifter
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3 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Can you be more specific as to how and when they said this?  I don't recall this.

Not really. I just remember reading it years ago.  they said that they didn't want people thinking that this was the kind of thing you could friend or love someone out of, so that Sheldon wasn't austistic.

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I remember reading that aside from all else they just didn't want people writing in complaining that they were making mistakes with how Aspergers was depicted if they had come right out and said Sheldon had it.  Makes sense to me.  They had no intention of making Sheldon a role model for one thing and I think the more negative qualities Sheldon portrays would not have gone without criticism.  Or alternatively they would have had people objecting that Sheldon wasn't conveying Asperger extremely enough.  Well let's face it they already got enough criticism for refusing to say that Sheldon had it in the first place.  No way would they not have been picked apart for how they had Sheldon be someone with Aspergers.

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10 hours ago, Katy M said:

Not really. I just remember reading it years ago.  they said that they didn't want people thinking that this was the kind of thing you could friend or love someone out of, so that Sheldon wasn't austistic.

I've seen that in a few interviews too. There are a number of story reasons not to go in that direction. I have seen Mayim and a few others suggest that Sheldon had OCD but that was it and everything else was the result of his environment growing up and that he was capable of growing and changing his behavior.

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Perhaps they should show George getting hit in the head with an errant football and suffering a concussion. or somehow bring to light that he had suffered numerous concussions in his own football career. Sheldon as narrator might innocently state that after the concussion, his dad made a full recovery.  Then, when George's bad behavior starts, his family may not make the connection  to CTE, but the audience will. 

Edited by ItCouldBeWorse
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On 3/12/2021 at 3:49 PM, ChitChat said:

He was lucky to find Leonard later on in life, and although he can be a pain in the butt to him, Leonard learned how to deal with him and got a few verbal jabs in here and there. I really liked the moments on TBBT when Leonard wasn't irritated with him and would say something like "Buddy, are you alright?"  There were moments when their friendship was really great (like Leonard comforting him after Prof. Proton died,) and Leonard as his Best Man at his wedding.  Those were nice moments.  

One of my favorite scenes is in the episode when Sheldon has a mini "breakdown" because he can't solve an equation and ends up in a ball pit at an arcade. They call Leonard to come and get Sheldon, and when he sees Sheldon, he says softly, "Hey, Shelly" because he recognizes how troubled Sheldon is. 

 

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On 3/12/2021 at 3:32 PM, shapeshifter said:

Then he concluded with "and she made me spaghetti with hot dogs."  This was one of the many things that endeared Sheldon to Mary!!  He loved spaghetti and hot dogs!  

Yeah, but would he eat it this way? (Spaghetti is threaded through the dogs before cooking.) "It's Italian!!"

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I posted this in an episode thread, but got no response. Since this is the "Nitpick" thread, maybe someone knows the answer, even thought this isn't a BBT/YS discrepancy:

Something that struck me during the Reba/Connie gambling episode. What casino are they visiting? I didn't think Texas had any casino's in the 90's, and I thought Louisiana only had riverboat gambling until the mid 90's when the land based casino in New Orleans opened up.  The outside shots show that it is clearly not a barge on the river, and it looks much like the small casino's that I've seen on reservation land in southern Alabama. But I'm really just curious as to where these casino's were in east Texas in the 90's.

 

1 hour ago, curbcrusher said:

Something that struck me during the Reba/Connie gambling episode. What casino are they visiting? I didn't think Texas had any casino's in the 90's, and I thought Louisiana only had riverboat gambling until the mid 90's when the land based casino in New Orleans opened up.  The outside shots show that it is clearly not a barge on the river, and it looks much like the small casino's that I've seen on reservation land in southern Alabama. But I'm really just curious as to where these casino's were in east Texas in the 90's.

There probably weren't any.  This isn't a documentary.  And that's not meant snarkily.

2 hours ago, Katy M said:
3 hours ago, curbcrusher said:

Something that struck me during the Reba/Connie gambling episode. What casino are they visiting? I didn't think Texas had any casino's in the 90's, and I thought Louisiana only had riverboat gambling until the mid 90's when the land based casino in New Orleans opened up.  The outside shots show that it is clearly not a barge on the river, and it looks much like the small casino's that I've seen on reservation land in southern Alabama. But I'm really just curious as to where these casino's were in east Texas in the 90's.

There probably weren't any.  This isn't a documentary.  And that's not meant snarkily.

Skimming this Wikipedia article, it looks like the show did stretch reality a bit, but not terribly, as there were at least "slot machines in 1996," but it looks like it would have been the early oughts before a scene like in the episode would have happened in Texas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling_in_Texas
1988 seems to be a crucial date (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Gaming_Regulatory_Act). Do we know what year(s) Young Sheldon encompasses thus far?

Regardless, I'm guessing most of the writers are Californians or familiar with that culture, which is a stone's throw from Reno, Nevada, and may have let their imaginations stray in that direction.

Or the girls were just pulling a bit of a Thelma and Louise and made an excursion. 
In 1990, while I was home with 3 kids, including a baby, my now-ex called from 4+ hours away in Reno to ask if he should come home or go to Las Vegas. 

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On 3/17/2021 at 1:25 PM, Dani said:

This archived post has quotes from an interview with Bill Prady on the subject early in the show’s run. 

That was interesting.  Also interesting were the many comments below the article from people claiming Sheldon has AS anyway because he has so many of the signs of it.  I have a feeling the show didn't want to give him that label because it might cause misunderstanding and be insulting to people with AS since Sheldon can be a jerk and they wouldn't want them to get the impression that they were saying he was a jerk because he had AS.  And that I can fully understand.

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2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

1988 seems to be a crucial date (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Gaming_Regulatory_Act). Do we know what year(s) Young Sheldon encompasses thus far?

They’re in the early 90s somewhere. But yes, there were/are casinos all over the place that are under Indian gaming.

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2 hours ago, kariyaki said:

They’re in the early 90s somewhere. But yes, there were/are casinos all over the place that are under Indian gaming.

That's interesting because in the BBT episode I saw the other night, the one where Penny is giving Sheldon acting lessons, he gets her to use the play he's written about himself and at one point has his mother say " You get in that spaceship. Mommy's late for Indian bingo".  Not sure if the Mary on YS would be doing that but I guess someone's Mom in Texas back then would have!

Edited by WinnieWinkle
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(edited)
On 3/18/2021 at 12:56 AM, Ms Lark said:

Yeah, but would he eat it this way? (Spaghetti is threaded through the dogs before cooking.) "It's Italian!!"

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So I made this for my 11-year-old this week, just because I thought it was hilariously strange and to make my son laugh. It was very time-consuming! I was careful, but some uncooked spaghetti still snapped off in the pot. I do wonder what inspired someone to do/invent this.

Edited by hoodooznoodooz
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17 minutes ago, ChitChat said:

It looks like worms coming out of an anus to me.  I'm really grossed out by it.  😉 

Oh, no!

Now I’m picturing Lisa Rinna’s face on the body of a fish. There’s an earthworm dangling from a fish hook that she has just clamped down on.

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On 2/25/2021 at 6:23 PM, ChitChat said:

Sheldon thought Amy was beautiful and looked like "a pile of swans" on their wedding day.   Mark Hamill married them.  That was some major foreplay for Sheldon!  There's no way he wasn't into the honeymoon festivities! 😉 

Sheldon also initiated sex at least once on their honeymoon, after Amy correctly explained how computers generate pseudo-random numbers.

Tiny nitpick about the latest episode with Sheldon being so interested in the solar neutrino detection experiment. Sheldon has always wanted to be a theoretical physicist and on TBBT he's quite disdainful of experimentalists (including Leonard and the two scientists who confirmed his and Amy's supersymmetry theory). But I can let it slide that, as an 11-year-old college freshman, he was happy to do any kind of physics.

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2 hours ago, chocolatine said:

But I can let it slide that, as an 11-year-old college freshman, he was happy to do any kind of physics.

He was also pretty happy to be the professor's assistant at such a young age.  I liked Sheldon's line about Georgie using his old tests saying that even with him out of high school, he was still bringing up the GPA there!  

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After seeing the teasers for S4E16, I was concerned they were going to go off canon for "the kiss." On TBBT Sheldon claimed he only ever kissed "his sister, his mom, and his Meemaw." When we saw Paige from the back, I knew she was messing with him and doing something to his face (I thought lipstick). Very pleased they kept it canon and I thought the mustache was cute. 😊

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17 hours ago, Driad said:

I would have liked to see Paige as an adult. Too bad we didn't see her on BBT, maybe at a physics conference.

Realistically, by the end of TBBT, there would be people from their pasts who would have died from illness or accidents, etc. I don't think we need a PSA voice over of Sheldon or Amy saying how it was too bad Paige didn't get her HPV shot or her annual breast exam or her car's brakes serviced. But she could just fade from TV existence. 

21 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Realistically, by the end of TBBT, there would be people from their pasts who would have died from illness or accidents, etc.

Also people do just drift apart.  I went to my high school reunion a few years ago and it was kinda sad how few people I actually remembered let alone had stayed in touch with over the years.  I had some guy come up and tell me he used to sit behind me in math class and had a crush on me (wish I'd known that then!!!) and I had absolutely no clue who he even was.  I concede that Sheldon doesn't forget anything, ever, but it's still not surprising that people he knew when he was 12 are no longer part of his life 30 ish years later.

Edited by WinnieWinkle
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20 hours ago, Driad said:

I would have liked to see Paige as an adult. Too bad we didn't see her on BBT, maybe at a physics conference.

I know what you mean. Tam had a random cameo and we found out a little bit about what happened to him. I was always hoping for a similar random cameo by Paige. We see her, find out what she's currently doing, and that's the end of it. I'm hoping we find out what happens to her in the final voice over narration at the end of the series, whenever that is. 

3 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

Also people do just drift apart. 

Especially if Paige did indeed eventually go to an east coast school, possibly settled down in the area for her adulthood, and went into a professional field that had absolutely no crossover with Sheldon, like maybe medical. 

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7 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

Also people do just drift apart.  I went to my high school reunion a few years ago and it was kinda sad how few people I actually remembered let alone had stayed in touch with over the years.  I had some guy come up and tell me he used to sit behind me in math class and had a crush on me (wish I'd known that then!!!) and I had absolutely no clue who he even was.  I concede that Sheldon doesn't forget anything, ever, but it's still not surprising that people he knew when he was 12 are no longer part of his life 30 ish years later.

Besides my sister, i don't think I've seen anyone I went to high school with since maybe a couple of years after college. Actually, I've just thought of one exception.  One of my classmates was my dad's physical therapist a few years ago and I saw her for 5 minutes when I visited.

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