Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 03/08/23

Previously on Young Sheldon:

Somewhere between the wokestream media and faith-based entertainment there’s CBS’ Young Sheldon. Despite being both extremely well-written and TV’s most popular broadcast comedy, The Big Bang Theory spinoff about the childhood and teen years of young Sheldon Cooper (Iian Armitage) gets little-to-no love at the Emmys or any of the other countless corporate media award presentations that seem to occur on an almost weekly basis. The reason, I suspect, is the respect and love it shows toward the honest, goodhearted and, basically redneck Texas family at its core. On the other hand, with the exception Sheldon’s mother Mary (Zoe Perry), the Coopers are not exactly a religious bunch which probably means it’s not apt to be officially celebrated by the industry’s faith-based sector either.

What Young Sheldon has going for it – and why audiences have embraced it – is its non-judgemental and pretty much pitch-perfect depiction of a likable American family. I, personally, like the way the series handled its unplanned pregnancy story arc. No preaching. It was unstated but clear that abortion was simply not considered an option for these particular characters, including expectant single mom Mandy (Emily Osment).

The core characters include the eponymous young genius-but-socially awkward Sheldon, his non-genius-but-socially savvy twin sister Missy (Raegen Revord), his entrepreneurial older brother Georgie (Montana Jordan), his “meemaw” Connie (Annie Potts), his kind (and surprisingly wise) good-old-boy dad George Sr. (Lance Barber) and aforementioned religious mom Mary and non-religious mom (and recent addition) Mandy.

Currently, the fans of the show are debating how closely it should adhere to Big Bang Theory canon that has (probably within the next season) the beloved Cooper patriarch being discovered (by Sheldon) in bed with another woman and later dying (probably of a heart attack). For those of you unfamiliar with the show, here’s an explainer of where the story stands now.

Though, IMHO, the above summary makes the last two seasons of Young Sheldon sound a tad darker than they actually played, it does pretty much sum up the situation facing the show’s writers. Meanwhile, as the comments section in this TVLine post on the issue reveals, fans are divided on how closely Young Sheldon should follow events discussed in The Big Bang Theory before the spinoff was even conceived and George Sr. joined the annals of TV’s most loved dads.

As a fan, here’s how I think the writers should handle it. On the matter of George Sr.’s death, unfortunately, the character does have to die if the show is to maintain its narrative integrity. But, on the matter of his infidelity to his wife, that could relatively easily be retconned as an event that was misinterpreted by young Sheldon. There are all kinds of plausible explanations for why Sheldon could have been mistaken regarding what he thinks he saw. As a writer and classic TV buff myself, I tend toward the school of thought that its usually best to give an audience what it wants – especially an audience that has loyally followed a show for several seasons. While, again, unfortunately, George Sr. has to die to maintain the integrity of the narrative, there is no reason to further fan disappoint by having a role model who has shown great faithfulness to his wife and family (in one episode even giving up a great career opportunity in favor of their happiness) be unfaithful. Sure, such things happen – but, more often, good men like George remain faithful until the end. That’s what the audience wants to see honored and that’s what they should get.

Young Sheldon airs Thursday at 8:00 PM ET on CBS.
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