Executive producer Steve Molaro explains why Jim Parsons Sheldon in the Young Sheldon finale flashforward featured a big change after The Big Bang Theory. After seven years, Sheldon and the Coopers’ collective story in Texas wrapped up with an emotional last hour that was kicked off by the aftermath of George’s unexpected death. After that, however, the latter half of the special broadcast focused on Sheldon preparing for his move to California to start his post-grad studies. A big part of that was the confirmation that the events of Young Sheldon were part of adult Sheldon’s effort to write his memoir.
Seeing Parsons as his iconic character again was a big treat, but his appearance featured a major change — Sheldon was no longer wearing his signature superhero double shirt get-up from The Big Bang Theory. In a new interview relationship with Glamour, Molaro revealed that this was an intentional creative decision to visually represent how much Sheldon had grown since the nerd-centric sitcom. Read his full quote below:
I remember us thinking we didn’t want Sheldon in the typical comic book store shirts. He’s a dad now, and we wanted him to be a little more mature. We figured Amy might have encouraged him to no longer wear that, or hidden them all. It was nice that he has on a long sleeve sweater that he pushed up the sleeves a little bit to sort of evoke the old Sheldon vibes from Big Bang. That was intentional. Mayim was happy with what Amy was wearing and thought it was right. And those were Mayim’s personal glasses.
Young Sheldon Wrapped Up Sheldon’s Overall Storyline Five Years After TBBT Ended
CBS Is Moving Away From Sheldon-Centric Projects
Young Sheldon ended with Sheldon arriving at Caltech, ready for new challenges. However, Iain Armitage’s version of the character still has several years ahead of him before he becomes Jim Parsons’ iteration from The Big Bang Theory. Despite that, that is likely it for the socially inept genius’ stint on the small screen. While The Big Bang Theory universe will continue via a couple of spinoffs on the way, including Georgie And Mandy’s First Marriage, which will take over its parent series’ timeslot, there are no plans to follow Sheldon’s life beyond this point.
This means that when CBS returns for its 2024-2025 TV season, it will not have a Sheldon-centric project for the first time in almost two decades.
The Young Sheldon finale also marks the end of Sheldon’s reign on TV for 17 years, which started in 2007 when The Big Bang Theory introduced Parsons’ original iteration. While Armitage’s take on the character can return in Georgie And Mandy’s First Marriage, it’s uncertain if that’s in the cards. Even if Sheldon appears, it will only be a cameo. This means that when CBS returns for its 2024-2025 TV season, it will not have a Sheldon-centric project for the first time in almost two decades.
Given how popular the character is, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that CBS revisits Sheldon and explores other aspects of his life after Young Sheldon. Adult Sheldon in the future could be an interesting time setting for the next chapter in his life, although it’s unlikely that Parsons would be willing to return full-time to the role. The Big Bang Theory ended because he wanted to walk away from it. In any case, the universe doesn’t have any scarcity of other interesting characters, which means that it can thrive even with Sheldon taking the back seat.