The last two episodes of “Young Sheldon” focused on one long-dreaded event — the passing of George Cooper Sr. (Lance Barber). But fans of the franchise are concerned that another beloved member of the “Big Bang Theory” universe might not be among the living anymore: Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki).
The concern has sprung up from two factors: first, that Penny (Kaley Cuoco) is mentioned, but not Leonard, when Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) talk about their post-“The Big Bang Theory” lives together, in which Penny has looked after their progeny. Second, the couple’s son is named Leonard — after both Sheldon’s ex-roommate and best friend as well as Leonard Nimoy, a fact revealed during the Season 4 premiere of “Young Sheldon.”
While this could be a loving tribute to a lost friend, Amy notes during “Graduation” that she vetoed calling their son “Leonard Nimoy Cooper” and was reluctant to name the kid after Leonard in the first place. That would be a pretty tart tribute to someone who’s died — but believable behavior from the sometimes acidic and socially awkward Amy and Sheldon.
Since Amy sometimes thought Leonard was the worst, it’s natural she’d be reluctant to give him such a tribute. For now, there’s no empirical evidence either way that Leonard remains among the living. But it turns out there’s a reason why more members of the sprawling “The Big Bang Theory” cast didn’t make more appearences in “Young Sheldon.”
They couldn’t squeeze every TBBT character into Young Sheldon
“Young Sheldon” executive producer Steve Holland told Variety why Penny got a namedrop in the series finale and the rest of the characters did not. “We didn’t want to go with the whole cast,” he said. “And we also wanted to keep it on Sheldon and Amy and their kids’ relationship, so it just seemed like a nice coda at the end.” Holland noted that Penny and Sheldon’s friendship is important to the universe, making it a nice footnote to close out the series with, while also scoring her a verbal Easter egg.
There could be a number of other reasons why Leonard didn’t score a direct mention on “Young Sheldon.” It’s quite possible, after all, that Penny has divorced Leonard at some point in the ensuing years. The simplest explanation is that he’s still living with Penny and their child — or children, if they’ve had more kids after the one Penny was pregnant with at the end of “The Big Bang Theory” — and Sheldon simply never mentioned him. After all, Leonard and Penny’s relationship had a tendency to be quite strange, a pattern that was unlikely to change as the years passed.
It’s worth noting that at least one other friend of Sheldon’s – Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) – made a voiceover cameo during Season 5 of “Young Sheldon,” indicating that they’re not only still friends but that he’s still alive. Time — and perhaps future sequel series — will similarly tell the world where Leonard has landed.