Young Sheldon is an American coming-of-age sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro for CBS.
The series, set from 1989 to 1994, is a spin-off prequel to the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory and follows main character Sheldon Cooper growing up with his family in East Texas. Iain Armitage stars as young Sheldon, alongside Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, and Annie Potts. Jim Parsons, who portrays the adult Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, narrates the series and is also an executive producer.
Young Sheldon | |
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Genre | Period sitcom |
Created by | |
Based on | |
Starring |
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Narrated by | Jim Parsons |
Theme music composer | Steve Burns |
Opening theme | "Mighty Little Man" by Steve Burns |
Ending theme | "Mighty Little Man" (instrumental) |
Composers | Jeff Cardoni John Debney |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 7 |
No. of episodes | 134 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Timothy Marx |
Cinematography | Fred "Buzz" Feitshans IV |
Editor | Brian Merken |
Camera setup | Single-camera |
Running time | 18–21 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 25, 2017 present | –
Related | |
Development of the prequel series began in November 2016, from an initial idea that Parsons passed along to The Big Bang Theory producers. The following March, Armitage and Perry were cast, and the series was ordered by CBS. Young Sheldon premiered as a special preview on September 25, 2017, and was picked up for a full season that began airing weekly on November 2, 2017. In March 2021, CBS renewed the series through to a seventh season. The seventh and final season premiered on February 15, 2024. In November 2023, CBS announced that the final season would end with a one-hour series finale, which is scheduled to air on May 16, 2024.
In January 2024, it was announced that a spin-off series focused on Georgie Cooper and Mandy McAllister was in development. In March 2024, CBS greenlit the series.
The timeline for the series begins in the fall of 1989, and it follows Sheldon Cooper's early life as a child prodigy in the fictional town of Medford, Texas. As he grows up, he tries to fit into a world of people, including his own family and friends, who struggle to cope with his intellectual capabilities and social ineptitude. The passage of time is indicated by episodes referencing historic or pop cultural events from the early 1990s, some of which are unique to the US.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Rank | Avg. viewers (millions) | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||||
1 | 22 | September 25, 2017 | May 10, 2018 | 6 | 16.30 | |
2 | 22 | September 24, 2018 | May 16, 2019 | 5 | 14.37 | |
3 | 21 | September 26, 2019 | April 30, 2020 | 8 | 11.45 | |
4 | 18 | November 5, 2020 | May 13, 2021 | 12 | 9.45 | |
5 | 22 | October 7, 2021 | May 19, 2022 | 8 | 9.21 | |
6 | 22 | September 29, 2022 | May 18, 2023 | 6 | 9.32 | |
7 | 14 | February 15, 2024 | May 16, 2024 | TBA | TBA |
In November 2016, it was reported that CBS was in negotiations to create a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory centered on Sheldon Cooper as a young boy. The prequel series, described as "a Malcolm in the Middle-esque single-camera family comedy" would be executive produced by The Big Bang Theory co-creator Chuck Lorre and producer Steven Molaro, with The Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady expected to be involved in some capacity, and intended to air in the 2017–18 season alongside The Big Bang Theory. The initial idea for the series came from Jim Parsons (who portrays the adult Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory), who passed it along to The Big Bang Theory producers. On March 13, 2017, CBS ordered the spin-off Young Sheldon series, which was created by Lorre and Molaro. Jon Favreau directed and executive produced the pilot. Parsons, Lorre, Molaro and Todd Spiewak also serve as executive producers on the series, for Chuck Lorre Productions and Warner Bros. Television. On September 27, 2017, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 22 episodes. On January 6, 2018, the show was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 24 of that same year.
On February 22, 2019, CBS renewed the series for both a third and a fourth season. The third season premiered on September 26, 2019. Warner Bros. Television suspended production on March 13, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the third season with only 21 episodes. Production for the fourth season began on September 22, 2020, and premiered on November 5, 2020. Production for the fourth season concluded on March 15, 2021.
On March 30, 2021, CBS renewed the series for a fifth, sixth, and seventh season. The fifth season premiered on October 7, 2021. The sixth season premiered on September 29, 2022. The seventh season was on hold due to 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. In October of that year, writing resumed when the strike ended. The seventh and final season premiered on February 15, 2024. On November 14, 2023, CBS announced that the series will end after seven seasons, with the series finale set to air on May 16, 2024. The final season will consist a total of 14 episodes and it finished filming on April 16, 2024.
In early March 2017, Iain Armitage was cast as the younger Sheldon, and Zoe Perry as his mother, Mary Cooper. Perry is the real-life daughter of Laurie Metcalf, who portrays Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory. Lance Barber stars as George Cooper Sr., Sheldon's father; he had previously appeared in one episode of The Big Bang Theory. Raegan Revord stars as Missy Cooper, Sheldon's twin sister; Revord only got the part after repeatedly asking her mother to be allowed to read for the role. The show also stars Montana Jordan as George Cooper Jr., Sheldon's older brother. Jim Parsons reprises his role as adult Sheldon Cooper, as narrator for the series. In July 2017, Annie Potts was cast as Meemaw, Sheldon's grandmother. In March 2024, it was announced that Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik will guest star on the series finale as their original characters from The Big Bang Theory.
Jim Parsons provides voiceover for the series. In the Season 4 episode "Graduation", Mayim Bialik (as Amy, the wife of adult Sheldon) has a brief voice-over role while Sheldon describes the graduation party for their son Leonard, whom he reveals was named after Leonard Hofstadter and Leonard Nimoy. Bob Newhart appears as Professor Proton in both series; with the appearance in this series, the character is made to look younger. Iain Armitage (Sheldon), Lance Barber (George), and Montana Jordan (Georgie) make a guest appearance in the parent series in a scene in which a VHS tape recorded decades earlier is played. There are other actors who appear in both series but as different characters. This includes Barber, who had another guest appearance in the parent series as a different character, and Kaley Cuoco who stars in the parent series and makes an uncredited voice appearance in this series, voicing an inanimate object. Elon Musk made cameo appearances as himself in both series, appearing in the sixth episode of the first season of Young Sheldon.
The second-season finale episode aired immediately following the one-hour series finale of the parent series. In a tribute to the parent series finale, several references are made to it in the Young Sheldon episode. The references are both general to the entire parent series, as well as to the series finale in particular. In one scene in the Young Sheldon episode, Sheldon promises his father that when he wins the Nobel Prize, Sheldon will mention him in his acceptance speech. In the parent series finale, Sheldon wins the Nobel Prize, and he does mention his father (among others) in the acceptance speech. In another scene in the Young Sheldon episode, Nobel Prize winners are announced out over a montage showing the main characters from the parent series Leonard, Penny, Raj, Howard, Bernadette, and Amy as children. Christine Baranski and Carol Ann Susi, who respectively portray Leonard's mother and Howard's mother in the parent series, make a voice appearance in the montage (a posthumous appearance in the case of Susi). Following the montage, adult Sheldon says that he was wrong about feeling at the moment of the Nobel prize announcement that he would be all alone for the rest of his life.
The show's title sequence is played to Steve Burns' "Mighty Little Man", the first track from his 2003 album Songs for Dustmites. The background in the first two seasons shows mountains and a desert, whilst the foreground has Sheldon (usually in bow tie, checked shirt, shorts and cowboy boots) walking out, standing triumphantly, noticing a cow, and backing away from it before resuming his triumphant look as the logo appears and tilts to the sky. Occasionally, a tumbleweed appears, instead of the cow. The title sequence was changed from Season 3 onwards to include the entire Cooper family, as well as showing Sheldon in different costumes, such as Albert Einstein, Mr. Spock, The Flash, an astronaut, and a train engineer. Season 5 features a black bull in place of the cow. In Season 7, the title sequence was slightly changed to include Mandy & CeCe. The Cooper Family doesn't walk away from the bull. Instead, Georgie shoos the bull away.
Young Sheldon began airing weekly episodes on CBS on November 2, 2017, after The Big Bang Theory. It premiered as a special preview on September 25, 2017. The one hour series finale is set to air on May 16, 2024.
This section needs to be updated.(January 2024) |
Reruns of Young Sheldon aired on Nick at Nite from 2020 until 2022, and CMT from 2023 until 2024. On September 27, 2021, the series entered syndication in local markets, covering roughly 90% of the United States. The series also entered off-network syndication on TBS and began airing on September 27, 2021. Season 6 premiered on September 29, 2022, and concluded on May 18, 2023.
In the United Kingdom, Young Sheldon is aired on the free-to-air channel E4. Season 1 premiered on February 22, 2018, Season 2 on November 8, 2018, Season 3 on October 10, 2019, Season 4 on October 20, 2021, Season 5 on April 24, 2022, and Season 6 on July 16, 2023.
In Israel, Young Sheldon is aired on Yes Comedy.
In May 2020, it was announced that the first three seasons of the series would stream on the WarnerMedia's HBO Max service; no release date was announced at that time. The first three seasons were added on September 2, 2020. The sixth season was added in September 2023.
In October and November 2021, Netflix in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom picked up the streaming rights to the show. Young Sheldon was added to Netflix in the United States on November 24, 2023.
The first season of Young Sheldon was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Warner Bros. on September 4, 2018. The second season was released on DVD and manufacture-on-demand Blu-ray on September 3, 2019. The third season was released on DVD and manufacture-on-demand Blu-ray on September 1, 2020, by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and Warner Archive Collection respectively. The fourth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 7, 2021. The fifth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 6, 2022. The sixth season was released on DVD on September 5, 2023; no Blu-ray version was released.
For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 76% approval rating, with an average rating of 6.6/10 and based on 46 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Young Sheldon's appealing cast and relatable themes bring a fresh—and overall enjoyable—perspective to its central character's familiar story." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Viewership rank | Avg. viewers (millions) | 18–49 rank | Avg. 18–49 rating | ||
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Date | Viewers (millions) | Date | Viewers (millions) | ||||||||
1 | Thursday 8:30 p.m. | 22 | September 25, 2017 | 17.21 | May 10, 2018 | 12.44 | 2017–18 | 6 | 16.30 | 10 | 3.3 |
2 | 22 | September 24, 2018 | 10.58 | May 16, 2019 | 13.60 | 2018–19 | 5 | 14.37 | 11 | 2.6 | |
3 | Thursday 8:00 p.m. | 21 | September 26, 2019 | 8.24 | April 30, 2020 | 10.14 | 2019–20 | 8 | 11.45 | 20 | 1.6 |
4 | 18 | November 5, 2020 | 6.77 | May 13, 2021 | 7.21 | 2020–21 | 12 | 9.45 | 22 | 1.2 | |
5 | 22 | October 7, 2021 | 7.12 | May 19, 2022 | 7.06 | 2021–22 | 8 | 9.21 | 16 | 1.0 | |
6 | 22 | September 29, 2022 | 6.88 | May 18, 2023 | 6.97 | 2022–23 | 6 | 9.32 | 12 | 0.9 | |
7 | 14 | February 15, 2024 | 7.99 | May 16, 2024 | TBD | 2023–24 | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
The fourth season was one of 101 out of the 200 most-popular scripted television series that received the ReFrame Stamp for the years 2020 to 2021. The stamp is awarded by the gender equity coalition ReFrame and industry database IMDbPro for film and television projects that are proven to have gender-balanced hiring, with stamps being awarded to projects that hire female-identifying people, especially women of color, in four out of eight key roles for their production.
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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Artios Awards | January 31, 2019 | Television Pilot & First Season — Comedy | Nikki Valko, Ken Miller, and Peter Pappas | Nominated | |
Critics' Choice Television Awards | January 13, 2019 | Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Zoe Perry | Nominated | |
Annie Potts | Nominated | ||||
March 13, 2022 | Best Actor in a Comedy Series | Iain Armitage | Nominated | ||
January 15, 2023 | Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Annie Potts | Nominated | ||
Golden Reel Awards | February 17, 2019 | Broadcast Media: Live Action Under 35:00 | "An 8-Bit Princess and a Flat Tire Genius" | Nominated | |
Golden Trailer Awards | May 29, 2019 | Best Comedy Poster for a TV/Streaming Series | "Norman Rockwell" | Won | |
July 22, 2021 | Best Animation/Family Poster for a TV/Streaming Series | "Chalkboard" | Nominated | ||
People's Choice Awards | December 6, 2022 | The Comedy Show of 2022 | Young Sheldon | Nominated | |
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards | May 2, 2020 | Favorite Family TV Show | Young Sheldon | Nominated | |
March 13, 2021 | Favorite Family TV Show | Young Sheldon | Nominated | ||
Favorite Male TV Star | Iain Armitage | Nominated | |||
April 9, 2022 | Favorite Family TV Show | Young Sheldon | Nominated | ||
Favorite Male TV Star (Family) | Iain Armitage | Nominated | |||
March 4, 2023 | Favorite Family TV Show | Young Sheldon | Nominated | ||
Teen Choice Awards | August 12, 2018 | Choice Breakout TV Star | Iain Armitage | Nominated | |
National Television Awards | September 5, 2023 | Comedy | Young Sheldon | Won |
In January 2024, it was announced that there will be a spin-off series of Young Sheldon focused on Georgie Cooper and Mandy McAllister that will be slated for the 2024–25 season on CBS. On March 5, 2024, CBS announced that the series had been ordered.
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