S11.E23: The Sibling Realignment

[Bort]

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When Sheldon learns that his mother won’t attend his wedding unless he invites his brother, Georgie, he and Leonard travel to Texas to end a family feud. Also, the Wolowitz kids inadvertently infect Amy, Bernadette, Wolowitz and Koothrappali with pinkeye.

[Trey]

2 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Also, the Wolowitz kids inadvertently infect Amy, Bernadette, Wolowitz and Koothrappali with pinkeye.

Sounds like an episode of Full House.

[BlossomCulp]

I'm assuming they are exploring the curse of having your kids in daycare - they get every damn thing that comes along, and then, oh joy, so do you!

[jumper sage]

The casting of Georgie is perfect!

[ams1001]

I have a hard time believing that Mary Cooper wouldn't go to Sheldon's wedding. 

So is the pediatrician going to prescribe medicine for the adults who aren't his patients? If Amy needed to know what kind of pinkeye it was, why not go to her own doctor as soon as the symptoms started? (I know, because that would make sense and we can't have that on a sitcom.)

Does the whole city of Pasadena have pinkeye?

[Browncoat]

3 minutes ago, ams1001 said:

Does the whole city of Pasadena have pinkeye?

Except Penny.

[Spartan Girl]

Finally, Georgie! Oops I mean George!

I too thought it was harsh for Mary to threaten skipping the wedding, but I think she just wanted Sheldon and George to suck it up and work it out. But it had some good stuff at the end with George airing out his resentment and admitting that he did protect Sheldon, in his own messed-up way.

Pink eye sucks.

Next week, the wedding and MARK HAMILL!

[theredhead77]

The onion ninjas decided to hang out right around the time Sheldon and Georg(i)e were talking. This was a great episode.

[friendperidot]

Perfect casting of Jerry O'Connell as the grown up Georgie! And such a sweet moment at the end with the brothers.

[Babalooie]

24 minutes ago, jumper sage said:

The casting of Georgie is perfect!

I had my doubts when I first learned that Jerry had been cast.  Some were pulling for Matthew McConaughey, which seemed the best fit.  I must say, though, Jerry was great!   You could tell that he had been watching Young Sheldon and had the brother's mannerisms down pat.  Very impressive.

[mojoween]

Didn’t Sheldon say that Georgie was at Mary’s house when Missy gave birth?  That was like a year ago, not ten.

I feel like Jerry was cast because Montana Jordan bears a passing resemblance to him.  

As someone who finds all things related to eyes to be incredibly gross, this ep was horrifying.

[msani19]

4 minutes ago, Babalooie said:

You could tell that he had been watching Young Sheldon and had the brother's mannerisms down pat.  Very impressive.

 

You're not wrong. I saw him on the Talk this afternoon (don't judge, it was on at my nail place) and he did say that he had watched Young Sheldon repeatedly to get Georgie down. He was really excited about playing the character too, so it was nice to see him as Georgie.

[greekmom]

I agree.  Jerry did a wonderful job as Georgie.  Much better than the previous Meemaw. I hope they recast Meemaw for the wedding.

I loved the fact that Leonard was moved with Georgie and Sheldon's reconcile.  

[Snow Apple]

Love George's hair. He looks just like Georgie all grown up. Great casting.

Also love how George grew up successful. It was great how he let Sheldon have it. That life happened even though Sheldon wasn't there to see it and that it was him who kept the family going.

Edited May 4, 2018 by Snow Apple

[Babalooie]

24 minutes ago, msani19 said:

I saw him on the Talk this afternoon (don't judge,

Haha, I saw him when I tried to watch him filling in for Wendy Williams while she was out sick, and he was ridiculously hyper.  I was worried that he was going to be this way on Big Bang, but as I said, he was great.

[Runningwild]

Loved seeing grown up George!! (My cousin Buddy became George after his father died.). Everything about George was perfect. I am thrilled he is so successful.

My eye itches. Anyone else?

[SmithW6079]

While I thought Jerry O'Connell was good as Georgie, he looked like Charlie Sheen, which threw me out of the scene sometimes. 

I'm glad they didn't make Georgie an asshole and loser who bullied Sheldon, as Sheldon has so often relayed. 

I was really hoping for some flashback scenes of young Sheldon and young Georgie; too bad this wasn't an hour-long episode.

I think they've done some more retconning. Previously, Sheldon talked about his dad's girlfriend, which I assumed meant Mary and George had been divorced, but from what Georgie said, Mary was devastated when George died.

[CherryAmes]

2 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

Previously, Sheldon talked about his dad's girlfriend, which I assumed meant Mary and George had been divorced, but from what Georgie said, Mary was devastated when George died.

I never thought they had divorced.  There were too many references to Mary handling the funeral and dealing with estate issues afterwards for one thing.  I think it was clear that the marriage broke down and George Sr started messing around with other women.  It's not a stretch for me to believe that despite that though Mary still loved George.

[Chit Chat]

From the previews, looks like Amy will be wearing the "pile of swans" dress.  That's a whole lot of dress!  It kind of swallows Amy, but if she's happy, then that's all that matters. 

[BooksRule]

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My eye itches. Anyone else?

Yes.  Now I have to go put my evening eye drops in (not for pinkeye, though).  I did learn something new--I didn't know that there was more than one kind of pinkeye.

[Frost]

49 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

I'm glad they didn't make Georgie an asshole and loser who bullied Sheldon, as Sheldon has so often relayed.

Georgie admits he sat on Sheldon's head when he tried to watch Star Trek.  I think that falls into bully territory.

[friendperidot]

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Georgie admits he sat on Sheldon's head when he tried to watch Star Trek.  I think that falls into bully territory.

even older siblings with fairly normal, average siblings can be bullies a few times in our lives. Not that I as the big sister I have any experience with that...

[shapeshifter]

46 minutes ago, CherryAmes said:

 

50 minutes ago, SmithW6079 said:

Previously, Sheldon talked about his dad's girlfriend, which I assumed meant Mary and George had been divorced, but from what Georgie said, Mary was devastated when George died.

I never thought they had divorced.  There were too many references to Mary handling the funeral and dealing with estate issues afterwards for one thing.  I think it was clear that the marriage broke down and George Sr started messing around with other women.  It's not a stretch for me to believe that despite that though Mary still loved George.

Or Mary could have been mostly devastated financially. Maybe they were separated and George was paying a sizable amount of child support. After he died that would be gone. There might have been significantly less Social Security than child support and maybe alimony had been paid while George was living too. Mary might have had to start working 2 minimum wage jobs. There could have also been guilt about not being able to have made the marriage work while he was alive. It's also a lot easier to forgive the faults of a dead person.

 

 I cannot stand to watch so-called comedy about infectious diseases. If I wasn't watching live over the air, I would've fast forwarded through those parts.

OTOH, I loved the Georgie scenes for all the reason mentioned upthread, which surprises me because my family has dysfunctional sibling relationships through at least three generations.

 

While I get the point about bacterial pinkeye being treatable, it seemed to me that by the time they got around to seeing the doctor, the viral type would have run its course in the same amount of time ("2-3 days" more). Plus, the viral kind would be less likely to recurr. So the relief about it being bacterial seemed naïve to me.

Anyway, when my kids got it, I'd first use cotton balls to bathe their eyelids in warm eyebrite tea for a day. Only once was it still necessary to get the prescription drops.

[Bort]

How do we know that Sheldon didn’t put on Star Trek while Georgie was watching something else first, thus deserving the head-sitting? Like with the explanation about the Halloween costume, there may be more to the story.

[SmithW6079]

8 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

How do we know that Sheldon didn’t put on Star Trek while Georgie was watching something else first, thus deserving the head-sitting? Like with the explanation about the Halloween costume, there may be more to the story.

And Sheldon has more than once shown he has little or no consideration for others.

[CherryAmes]

17 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

How do we know that Sheldon didn’t put on Star Trek while Georgie was watching something else first, thus deserving the head-sitting?

Georgie is 5 years older than Sheldon.  If they were my kids there is nothing that would get Georgie off the hook if he sat on his little brother's head.

[SmithW6079]

Well, I can see this is going to turn into a debate about bullying and Georgie and Sheldon's behavior, so I'm bowing out now.

[BlossomCulp]

29 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

How do we know that Sheldon didn’t put on Star Trek while Georgie was watching something else first, thus deserving the head-sitting? Like with the explanation about the Halloween costume, there may be more to the story.

Georgie thought it was hilarious that he had sat on Sheldon's head.  Anyway that aside I liked that we saw Georgie's side and that the brothers made up.  So nice. I also liked that we get to see that Georgie made a success of himself despite the fact that he's still not the sharpest tool in the shed!

Edited May 4, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[jumper sage]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Pink eye sucks.

I don't know anyone who has had pink eye.

2 hours ago, Snow Apple said:

Also love how George grew up successful.

I loved that he called himself Dr.  

[chocolatine]

Wasn't Georgie in the running for Sheldon's best man? How does Sheldon go from that to not inviting him at all?

2 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

I'm glad they didn't make Georgie an asshole and loser who bullied Sheldon, as Sheldon has so often relayed. 

This! I hope that if Sheldon ever makes another reference to what an idiot and/or loser Georgie is, Leonard will check him and tell everyone that Georgie is a successful businessman. Sheldon's disdain for everyone who isn't smart and accomplished in the exact same way that he is has gotten really old.

Edited May 4, 2018 by chocolatine

[bybrandy]

My niece's pediatrician always writes pink eye scripts for the parents.  Although , I can't imagine him doing it for random friends of the family.  So, yeah, everybody hanging out at the pediatrician's office was a little weird.   

Jerry O'Connell SLAYED as Georgie.  He was so good with Georgie inflections and mannerisms. Well done.  

[BlossomCulp]

What struck me was that Georgie described teenage Missie as being stupid (perhaps he used a different word but that's what he meant).   We all know that Sheldon and Mary have expressed this opinion of both Missie and Georgie before but it surprised me that they had Georgie basically agreeing with them about Missie!  It will be interesting to see how she gets presented when we see her next week.

[Mystery]

I think George might have called Missy a "dumb teenager," maybe not in the "mental capacity" kind of dumb, more like the self-centered type. I didn't tape this though, so I'm not positive. 

Loved George making the point that I've thought about a lot: how the rest of the family must have sacrificed for Sheldon's educational dreams. As others have said, I'm glad he's successful (ridiculous that I care about a fictional character being successful, but whatever!) 

Again, i have no idea why Leonard or anyone allows Sheldon to drag them all over the place. I would've liked to see Leonard and George have some fun bonding over how horrible it is to live with Sheldon. 

Thanks to those who provided information about Jerry studying how to act as Georgie!

[SmithW6079]

3 minutes ago, BlossomCulp said:

What struck me was that Georgie described teenage Missie as being stupid (perhaps he used a different word but that's what he meant).   We all know that Sheldon and Mary have expressed this opinion of both Missie and Georgie before but it surprised me that they had Georgie basically agreeing with them about Missie!  It will be interesting to see how she gets presented when we see her next week.

I took that to mean Missy was a typical teenage girl, coupled with the loss of her father and changes in the family financial situation. (Although, given the presence of Meemaw in their lives, I can't see how it would have gotten so bad.)

We've seen Missy before (and the same actress will be playing her), so I hope they kept her street-smart. I believe she has a couple of kids now. 

If George died when the twins were 14, then Georgie really had to step up at age 19 (during his first marriage, if we go by "Young Sheldon"). (And sorry, Georgie, once you have a diminutive family nickname, you'll have it forever in your family. I speak from experience. )

[displayname]

Is Tam next?

[SpiritSong]

4 hours ago, Frost said:

Georgie admits he sat on Sheldon's head when he tried to watch Star Trek.  I think that falls into bully territory.

I think that just falls into sibling territory.

[Gulftastic]

I'm so glad they didn't crap all over the Georgie we know from Young Sheldon. BBT making my eyes leak. That was a great ep.

[Bobbin]

Georgie was well-treated in both TBBT and YS tonight, presenting sides of him we never knew. And a credit to both actors, Montana for creating Georgie as well as Jerry for being faithful to the character.

I'm pretty sure when adult Georgie referred to Missy as a "dumb teenager", he meant in the sense of being clueless and self-absorbed, as teenagers can be, and which he no doubt remembered, being one himself before the full weight of adulthood fell upon him.

As someone mentioned upthread, it seems silly to care about fictional characters. But every week, the more I learn about them the more I love the whole Cooper clan. Damn it.

[Chit Chat]

2 hours ago, Bobbin said:

I'm pretty sure when adult Georgie referred to Missy as a "dumb teenager", he meant in the sense of being clueless and self-absorbed, as teenagers can be, and which he no doubt remembered, being one himself before the full weight of adulthood fell upon him.

That's the way it saw it.  He was telling Sheldon how rough it was after their Dad died and how he had to take care of things.  Her being a "dumb teenager" wasn't literal.  He meant it in the way that she was too young to grasp the full impact of how his death affected their Mom emotionally and financially (emphasis on the financial part.)  If she had been a child, Georgie would've said "she was just a dumb kid."  No offense was intended, IMO.

It broke my heart that Georgie still feels like Sheldon is his Mom's favorite.  I've always liked Sheldon, warts and all, but with what was revealed by Georgie, it made me like Sheldon a little less.  Of course, if no one told Sheldon how difficult things were at home (we know Sheldon doesn't pick up on the obvious,) then I can cut him a little bit of slack for the situation.  As smart as Sheldon is, he's still dumb in social settings.  

Edited May 4, 2018 by ChitChat

[Helena Dax]

I think Georgie has been heavily retconned and that before"The Young Sheldon", he was supposed to be dumb. Let's not forget Mary suscribed that opinion too. Also, they needed money for Sheldon's education? I doubt that. I mean, I'm not saying Georgie's lying, just that the writers are forgetting logic and going for the drama. Someone like Sheldon would get the best scholaship ever and it's been implied several times that universities were fighting for him back then.

[anna0852]

 Scholarships are great and they probably did cover Sheldon's tuition. But that doesn't necessarily mean they covered his living expenses. Not to mention travel and needing a caregiver for him while he was under 18. Or if Mary was accompanying him then someone had to stay home with George and Missy. All of that can suck up money very quickly.

[BlossomCulp]

I'm not really buying the financial hardship retcon.  Mary has never been shown as someone struggling for money.  Unless we're supposed to believe Georgie has been supporting Mary since her hsuband's death I'm seeing Georgie as a self absorbed teenager seeing problems that didn't really exist.  For that matter glad though I am that Georgie made a success of his life exactly what help did he expect to get from Mary that he didn't get?  No way was Georgie going to college, he made a young marriage, and unless we're supposed to ignore everything we've ever been told about Georgie he got into drinking at a young age, got arrested etc.  This was not a kid, even  before George's death who was making good choices.  

BTW I totally buy though that he blames Sheldon for things.  I've known so many siblings who carry grudges well into adulthood and when you actually delve into what happened to cause the grudge it's never as straightforward as the grudgecarrier thinks it is.

ETA: And with regard to college we know Sheldon had his first phd by 16 only two years after George's death - by this point he was absolutely being given a free ride by any university that wanted him and he was winning awards etc that meant money coming in.  Given the way Sheldon feels about his mother there is no way in this world that he wasn't helping with expenses at home if this help was needed.  Sheldon may be selfish in many ways but he loves his mother and respects her, if she needed help he'd do it willingly.

Edited May 4, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[Driad]

Really enjoyed the Sheldon & Georgie plot. Wondering if we will learn next week how many times Georgie has been married. Also if he is still left handed. (The adult Georgie actor has watched YS so I hope he noticed that.)

People on TV get airline reservations at the last minute and change them with hardly a second thought. Sheldon and Leonard must make good salaries, and and we don't need to see them hassling with airlines, but it's so much easier for TV characters that it's practically a trope, like how there is always a parking space where someone wants to go.

[kili]

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Given the way Sheldon feels about his mother there is no way in this world that he wasn't helping with expenses at home if this help was needed.

According to George, she never told him it was needed because she was protecting him. That seems consistent with her character.

Quote

This was not a kid, even  before George's death who was making good choices.  

George wouldn't be the first teenager to step up and go on the straight and narrow path after the loss of a parent and needing to help the family.

Sheldon is a completely unreliable narrator who only sees things from his own perspective. He seems himself as a gift and given the behaviour we've seen him label as mean on the show, he's not a fair judge. I've always felt his Georgie stories were likely not the whole truth. Just in this episode, Sheldon claimed that Georgie is "just some loser that sells tires" which is a far cry from somebody who owns a chain of stores and is the biggest seller of tires in Texas.

Quote

No way was Georgie going to college

Sheldon said that Georgie did go to college. Granted, it was only community college, but he have may have wanted to go longer or taken a trade. I can't imagine how degrading it was like growing up being called stupid by your brother and Meemaw. Georgie clearly isn't as smart as Sheldon, but he's not stupid and college was something he could have done.

Quote

People on TV get airline reservations at the last minute and change them with hardly a second thought.

Last minute tickets are expensive, but with that expense often comes the ability to easily change them. Last minute fairs are intended for business travellers.

Edited May 4, 2018 by kili

[Frost]

I cracked up when Leonard handed his beer bottle back to Georgie to be opened.  "It's a screw top."  "I know."  Also, interesting that Georgie has a beer fridge in his office.  I'm glad that Dr Tires is successful and that we saw Georgie doing his salesman routine during the show.   It would break my heart to think of the Young Sheldon Georgie being a deadbeat adult.  

I'm kind of surprised that Georgie would name his business "Dr Tires".  I would think it would be a daily reminder of his "inferiority" to his little brother who has two doctorates.  Act of defiance maybe?

(to make sure it's perfectly clear, I don't think Georgie is inferior to Sheldon)

[BlossomCulp]

Just now, kili said:

Georgie clearly isn't as smart as Sheldon, but he's not stupid and college was something he could have done.

I don't know, I think in this episode we are shown that Georgie is not particularly intelligent.  It was odd - they want us to believe he's smart enough to own his own successful business and yet he didn't recognize a very common German word and there were a few more instances where he was shown as being dim to say the least.  

[Frost]

Just now, BlossomCulp said:

It was odd - they want us to believe he's smart enough to own his own successful business

The phone call shows he has the salesman gift to persuade.  That's a valuable skill.  Maybe he's been lucky to hire really good office managers!

[kili]

Quote

I don't know, I think in this episode we are shown that Georgie is not particularly intelligent.  It was odd - they want us to believe he's smart enough to own his own successful business and yet he didn't recognize a very common German word and there were a few more instances where he was shown as being dim to say the least. 

There are several types of intelligence. Georgie isn't book smart (although, thank you in German is fairly well known thanks to Wayne Newton- don't tell me Georgie hasn't watched "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"). Georgie demonstrated some strong Social Intelligence here (of which his brother has none) which is a pretty useful skill for a salesman to have. 

Just because you lack a piece of common knowledge doesn't make you stupid. I don't watch football at all, but I know who Tony Romo is. Leonard isn't stupid for not knowing that piece of common knowledge. People's interests are different. 

Edited May 4, 2018 by kili

[highway61]

Isn't that BBT in a nutshell  - brother's plot: Awesome. (O'Connell - perfect, and by the way, speaking as a The Librarians fan, he's a very lucky man.) 

Pinkeye plot: a complete waste, and fast-forward fodder forever.

[BlossomCulp]

18 minutes ago, kili said:

Just because you lack a piece of common knowledge doesn't make you stupid.

Absolutely true but it wasn't just that one instance.  I'll have to watch the episode again it moved fast, which was a good thing.  It was a great episode and both stories were engaging.  I really liked that they didn't make Georgie an oafish fool (it would have killed me if they'd done that to young Georgie!!) but I honestly did feel they were also conveying to us that while Sheldon was wrong about Georgie's success as an adult he wasn't wrong about Georgie not being the brightest penny in the drawer.

ETA;  remembered another - he talks about Sheldon's costume being a woman scientist, when Leonard says "Madame Curie?" he responds "oh a madame" so he's never heard of Marie Curie and he immediately assumes Sheldon was dressed as a madame in the prostitute sense of the word.  

Edited May 4, 2018 by BlossomCulp