Young Sheldon

Young Sheldon is an American coming-of-age sitcom television series created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro for CBS. The series, set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is a spin-off prequel to 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, Raegan Revord, 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
Title card used in the first two seasons
Genre	Period sitcom
Created by	Chuck Lorre Steven Molaro
Based on	The Big Bang Theory by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady
Starring	Iain Armitage Zoe Perry Lance Barber Montana Jordan Raegan Revord Jim Parsons Annie Potts Matt Hobby Wyatt McClure Emily Osment
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	6
No. of episodes	125 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Steven Molaro Jim Parsons Todd Spiewak Chuck Lorre Steve Holland Jon Favreau (pilot only)
Producer	Timothy Marx
Cinematography	Fred "Buzz" Feitshans IV
Editor	Brian Merken
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	18–21 minutes
Production companies	Chuck Lorre Productions Warner Bros. Television
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
Original release	September 25, 2017 (2017-09-25) – present (present)
Related
The Big Bang Theory

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 from November 2, 2017. In March 2021, CBS renewed the series through to a seventh season. The sixth season premiered on September 29, 2022.

Premise

The series takes place in the late 1980s and early 1990s and 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 do not quite understand his unique intellectual capabilities and social ineptitude.^[1][2]

In the series premiere, adult Sheldon states "nobody I knew in East Texas in 1989 cared about Newtonian physics".^[3][a] Several other episodes make spoken or written references to, or reference historic or pop cultural events from the early 1990s.^[4][5][b]

Cast and characters

Main article: List of The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon characters

Main

• Iain Armitage as Sheldon Lee Cooper, a child prodigy well-versed in various branches of mathematics and science. He states that he decided to pursue physics around the same time as the show began. While academically gifted, Sheldon sometimes lacks a full understanding of social cues, in addition to having a sense of superiority over everyone around him. He is also extremely self-righteous, selfish, rude, obnoxious and condescending. Nevertheless, Sheldon has proven to love his family and almost always has his heart in the right place. He is Georgie's younger brother and Missy’s fraternal older twin brother. He begins attending high school at age 9 and college full time at age 11.
  • Jim Parsons is the voice of adult Sheldon Cooper, who provides the perspective of an adult recalling his childhood.^[1]
• Zoe Perry as Mary Cooper (née Tucker), mother of Sheldon, Missy, and Georgie. She is very overprotective and overly patient with Sheldon, but also struggles to understand him at times. Nevertheless she has given him a long leash and almost always forgives him for anything and everything even if it is unforgivable and hence has spoiled Sheldon very much. She is a devout Southern Baptist, working at her local church, and sometimes objects to Sheldon's atheism. Nevertheless, she deeply loves her son and wants to protect him for as long as she can.^[6] Perry's mother, Laurie Metcalf, played Mary on The Big Bang Theory.
• Lance Barber as George Cooper Sr., Sheldon, Missy, and Georgie's father; a Vietnam veteran; and the head football coach at Medford High. George does not share Sheldon's intellect, which sometimes leads others, especially Meemaw, to doubt his genetic relationship to Sheldon. He is often at odds with his children and particularly struggles to understand Sheldon, but he does try to be a caring and responsible father. In The Big Bang Theory, it is stated that George Cooper Sr. will die when Sheldon is 14 years old in 1994. Barber appeared in a Season 5 episode of The Big Bang Theory as one of Leonard's high school bullies, Jimmy Speckerman, before making an appearance via a 1990s videotape as his Young Sheldon character in a final season episode.
• Montana Jordan as George Marshall "Georgie" Cooper Jr., Sheldon and Missy's older brother. Georgie resents the attention his parents pay to Sheldon. He does not do well at school and gets mocked and teased for it by the rest of the family, particularly Sheldon and Meemaw. He does not get along with his brother Sheldon because he's tired of always being compared to his brother. He attends Medford High with Sheldon and plays on the school's football team.^[1][2] At age 17, he drops out of school to work full-time and discovers a talent for sales that will lead him to become the wealthy owner of a tire store chain in The Big Bang Theory, on which he is played by Jerry O'Connell.
• Raegan Revord as Melissa "Missy" Cooper, Georgie's younger sister and Sheldon's younger twin sister. She teases Sheldon along with Georgie but not as much. She does not share Sheldon's intelligence, but is very perceptive. Occasionally, she does not get along with Sheldon, but she finds in her twin brother a solid confidant and has admitted to not feeling as whole without him. She also shows love for her brother even though she constantly denies it.^[1] Courtney Henggeler plays adult Missy in The Big Bang Theory.
• Annie Potts as Constance "Connie" Tucker, Sheldon, Missy, and Georgie's maternal grandmother, whom they refer to as "Meemaw". She is a fun-loving woman who can be sarcastic and often mocks those around her, especially George. On the other hand, she is patient with Sheldon and sometimes struggles to understand him, whom she affectionately calls 'Moonpie', and advises Mary to trust that Sheldon will find his way.^[7] In the fourth season, she is said to be 68 years old. June Squibb plays old Constance in The Big Bang Theory.
• Matt Hobby as Pastor Jeff Difford (season 3–present; recurring seasons 1–2), the upbeat pastor at the Cooper family's Baptist church. Like Mary, he too sometimes has friction with Sheldon's irreligious side and often challenges Sheldon to explore their line of thought through logic exercises.
• Wyatt McClure as William "Billy" Sparks (season 5–present; recurring seasons 1–4), the son of Herschel and Brenda, whom his mother implies is in no danger of going to college. He was originally portrayed as Sheldon's nemesis, but becomes much friendlier early in the series. He has an unrequited crush on Missy.
• Emily Osment as Mandy McAllister (season 6;^[8] recurring season 5), Georgie's 29-year-old girlfriend, with whom he has a child.

Recurring

• Wallace Shawn as John Sturgis (season 1–present), a college physics professor whose class Sheldon attends as his first college course. He dates Meemaw with Sheldon's encouragement in seasons 1 through 3. He also works for a grocery store from later season 4 to early season 5 after being fired from working on a hadron super collider, before getting fired again.
• Ryan Phuong as Tam Nguyen (seasons 1–4), Sheldon's Vietnamese-American childhood best friend and classmate. Tam is responsible for introducing Sheldon to many of his non-scientific interests, including comic books and role-playing games. Tam is Sheldon's only friend who consistently puts up with him. Robert Wu plays adult Tam on The Big Bang Theory.
• Billy Gardell as Herschel Sparks (seasons 1–2), Billy's father and Brenda's husband, who owns a garage and divorces his wife in season 4
• Melissa Peterman as Brenda Sparks (season 1–present), Billy's mother, Herschel's wife until season 4, and Mary's initial nemesis and eventual friend, who works at the bowling alley frequented by Meemaw
• Doc Farrow as Assistant Coach Wayne Wilkins (season 1–present), Sheldon's P.E. teacher and the former assistant, now head football coach at Medford High. He was originally given the name Roy, but it was changed to Wayne as of the episode "A Broom Closet and Satan's Monopoly Board".
• Valerie Mahaffey as Victoria MacElroy (seasons 1–3), Sheldon's homeroom and English teacher at Medford High
• Danielle Pinnock as Evelyn Ingram (seasons 1–4), Sheldon's math teacher at Medford High.
• Brian Stepanek as Hubert Givens (season 1–present), Sheldon's science teacher at Medford High
• Rex Linn as Tom Petersen (season 1–present), the principal of Medford High
• Sarah Baker as Sheryl Hutchins (season 1–present), the Medford High librarian
• Jason Alexander as Gene Lundy (seasons 1–5), Medford High School's resident drama teacher
• Nancy Linehan Charles as Peg (seasons 1–5), Pastor Jeff's chain-smoking secretary
• Chris Wylde as Glenn (seasons 1–3), the owner of the comic book store King Kong Comics
• Isabel May as Veronica Duncan (seasons 2–3), Georgie's Halloween date who is introduced in "Seven Deadly Sins and a Small Carl Sagan". She becomes a Christian after witnessing the "lust" room in Mr. Lundy's haunted house and loses interest in Georgie, who continues trying to win her over. She starts liking Georgie but backs off after he starts dating Jana.
• Ed Begley Jr. as Dr. Grant Linkletter (season 2–present), a colleague of Dr. Sturgis. He regularly pursues Connie but is continually rebuffed.
• Mckenna Grace as Paige Swanson (season 2–present), a child prodigy whom Sheldon views as his rival.
• Andrea Anders as Linda Swanson (seasons 2–4, 6), Paige's mother
• Mary Grill as Officer Robin (seasons 2–3), Pastor Jeff's second wife who works as a police officer
• Craig T. Nelson as Dale Ballard (season 3–present), Missy's baseball coach and Meemaw's new boyfriend after Dr. Sturgis breaks up with her;^[9] he owns a sporting goods store and hires Georgie and George to work there.
• Reba McEntire as June (seasons 3–5), Dale's ex-wife, the local hairdresser whom Meemaw befriends.
• Ava Allan as Jana Boggs (season 3–5), Georgie's girlfriend after he gives up pursuing Veronica, but she breaks up with him in season 5 since she is upset that he decided to drop out of school
• London Cheshire as Marcus Larson (seasons 3–4), Missy's boyfriend
• Wendie Malick as President Linda Hagemeyer (season 4–present), the president of Sheldon's university
• Dan Byrd as Pastor Rob (season 5-present), a young, unorthodox pastor hired by Pastor Jeff to teach Sunday school. He and Mary appear to become mutually interested in one another during the fifth season, which upsets George.
• Caleb Emery as Darren (season 5), one of Sheldon's new college dorm room neighbors
• Ivan Mok as Oscar (season 5), one of Sheldon's new college dorm room neighbors
• Rachel Bay Jones as Audrey McAllister (season 6), Mandy's mother^[10]
• Will Sasso as Jim McAllister (season 6), Mandy's father^[10]

Guest

• Melissa Tang as Ms. Fenley, a music teacher at Sheldon's high school. Tang had previously played the character Mandy Chao in an episode of The Big Bang Theory.
• Vernee Watson as Nurse Althea Robinson, a nurse who caters to George when he suffers a mild heart attack and then to Sheldon when he has his gall bladder removed. Watson also plays a nurse named Althea in numerous episodes of The Big Bang Theory, including its pilot.
• John Hartman as Dr. Goetsch, the psychiatrist Sheldon sees when he has Phagophobia and when he loses at the Medford High science fair.
• Ray Liotta as Vincent, Meemaw's bookie.
• Jason Kravits as Dr. Ronald Hodges, a NASA engineer and college roommate of Mr. Givens. He makes a presentation about his work to Mr. Givens' science class, which intrigues Sheldon to solve the challenges of reusable launch systems.
• Elon Musk makes a cameo appearance in the episode "A Patch, a Modem, and a Zantac®" in a flashforward scene set 27 years into the future.
• Dave Florek as Dr. Eberland, Sheldon's doctor.
• Karly Rothenberg as Mrs. Janice Veazey, Dr. Hodges' secretary.
• Frances Conroy as Dr. Flora Douglas, headmaster of the boarding school Sheldon briefly attends.
• Harry Groener as Elliot Douglas, Dr. Douglas' husband.
• Paul Yen as Le Nguyen, Tam's father. He runs Medford Mart with his wife.
• VyVy Nguyen as Trang Nguyen, Tam's mother and Mr. Nguyen's wife.
• Phil Morris as the voice of One and Anjali Bhimani as the voice of Zero in a dream Sheldon has.
• Richard Kind as Ira Rosenbloom, one of Meemaw's boyfriends.
• Zuleyka Silver as Selena, Pastor Jeff's ex-wife
• Anjelika Washington as Libby, an eleventh grade student who aspires to be a geologist and whom Sheldon and Tam befriend.
• Ella and Mia Allan as Bobbi Sparks, Billy Sparks' younger sister with a reputation for tormenting Sheldon.
• Cleo King as Mrs. Costello, a Medford High School counselor
• Michael Cudlitz as a NASA supervisor who appears in Sheldon's daydream sequence.
• Josh Cooke as Barry Swanson, Paige's father.
• Ella Anderson as Erica, Paige's sister, who bonds with Georgie and Missy because they share common experiences being siblings of child prodigies
• Paul Fusco appears as ALF in "A Race of Superhumans and a Letter to Alf" when he reads Missy's letter.^[11]
• Mauricio Lara as Ricky, Sheldon's hospital roommate in "A Tummy Ache and a Whale of a Metaphor"^{[citation needed]}
• John Rubinstein as Rabbi Schneiderman^{[citation needed]}
• Benjamin Stockham as Preston
• Maree Cheatham as Dorothy, Veronica's grandmother.
• Diedrich Bader as the voice of Batman in one of Sheldon's daydreams.
• Steve Burns as Nathan. Burns also is the performer of the show’s theme song.
• Taylor Spreitler as Sam, a member of Sheldon's project group.
• Nolan Bateman as Keith, a member of Sheldon's project group.
• Louie Anderson as Ralph, the owner of a trophy shop where Mary wants to buy one for Missy.
• Ryan Stiles as Dr. Bowers, Sheldon's dentist.
• Melanie Lynskey as Professor Dora Ericson, Sheldon's college philosophy professor
• Dave Foley as Gary O'Brien, Sheldon's university benefactor
• David Hasselhoff as himself
• Julia Pace Mitchell as Darlene Wilkins, Coach Wilkins' wife
• Diane Ladd, Alan Rachins and Marla Gibbs as Hortense, Vern and Doris, Meemaw's friends.
• Bill Fagerbakke as Jake, a police officer and Dale Ballard's acquaintance.
• Lance Reddick as Professor Boucher, a former Army engineer and a professor of engineering at Sheldon’s university.
• Stephen Hawking as himself (voice-only).
• Ming-Na Wen as Dr. Carol Lee, a physicist from UC Berkeley brought in to lead a project that Sheldon, Dr. Sturgis, and Dr. Linkletter are working on.
• Penn Jillette and Teller as Pimple and Pus, Sheldon's imaginary personifications of his first pimple and its pus, who appear when he begins going through puberty. Teller also appeared in multiple episodes of The Big Bang Theory as Larry Fowler, the father of Sheldon's future wife Amy.

Original cast cameos

• Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler, Sheldon's wife and the mother of his son, Leonard Cooper, as well as at least one other child. This role is reprised from The Big Bang Theory. She appears as part of the narration.
• Kaley Cuoco as the voice of the pool water in one of Sheldon's nightmares. Cuoco previously played Penny in The Big Bang Theory.^[12]
• Simon Helberg as Howard Wolowitz, an aeronautical engineer and one of Sheldon’s adulthood friends. This role is reprised from The Big Bang Theory. He appears as part of the narration.
• Bob Newhart as Arthur Jeffries, a scientist who plays the title character of Professor Proton, Sheldon's favorite educational television series. The character is an homage to Mr. Wizard.^[13] Newhart reprises his portrayal of the character from The Big Bang Theory.

Episodes

Main article: List of Young Sheldon episodes

Season	Episodes		Originally aired		Rank	Avg. viewers (millions)
			First aired	Last aired
1	22		September 25, 2017 (2017-09-25)	May 10, 2018 (2018-05-10)	6	16.30^[14]
2	22		September 24, 2018 (2018-09-24)	May 16, 2019 (2019-05-16)	5	14.37^[15]
3	21		September 26, 2019 (2019-09-26)	April 30, 2020 (2020-04-30)	8	11.45^[16]
4	18		November 5, 2020 (2020-11-05)	May 13, 2021 (2021-05-13)	12	9.45^[17]
5	22		October 7, 2021 (2021-10-07)	May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)	8	9.21^[18]
6	22^[19]		September 29, 2022 (2022-09-29)	May 18, 2023 (2023-05-18)^[20]	TBA	TBA

Production

Development

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.^[21][22] 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.^[6] 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.^[1] On September 27, 2017, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 22 episodes.^[23] On January 6, 2018, the show was renewed for a second season, which premiered on September 24 of that same year.^[24][25]

On February 22, 2019, CBS renewed the series for both a third and a fourth season.^[26] The third season premiered on September 26, 2019.^[27] Warner Bros. Television suspended production on March 13, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the third season with only 21 episodes.^[28] Production for the fourth season began on September 22, 2020, but was paused on October 9, 2020, for one day, due to a positive COVID-19 test.^[29] The fourth season premiered on November 5, 2020.^[30]

Production for the fourth season concluded on March 15, 2021.^[31]

On March 30, 2021, CBS renewed the series for a fifth, sixth, and seventh season.^[32] The fifth season premiered on October 7, 2021.^[33] The sixth season premiered on September 29, 2022.^[34]

Casting

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.^[6] Lance Barber stars as George Cooper Sr., Sheldon's father; he had previously appeared in one episode of The Big Bang Theory.^[35] 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.^[36] 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.^[2] In July 2017, Annie Potts was cast as Meemaw, Sheldon's grandmother.^[7]

Overlap with the parent series

In most cases different actors are used to portray a given character in the two series, to account for the age difference. Jim Parsons is a notable exception in that he appears in both series as the same character, though in this series his appearance is limited to voice only. 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.^[37] 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.^[38][12] Elon Musk makes cameo appearances as himself in both series.^[39][40]

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 (amongst 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.^[41]

Title sequence

The show's title sequence is played to the song "Mighty Little Man" by Steve Burns. The song is the first track in Burns' 2003 album Songs for Dustmites.^[42] The background in the first two series shows mountains and a desert, whilst the foreground has Sheldon (usually in bow tie, checked shirt, shorts and cowboy boots) walking out, standing triumphantly, before he notices a cow and backs 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.^[43] Season 5 features a black bull in place of the cow.

Release

Broadcast

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.^[2]

Syndication

Young Sheldon entered off-network syndication on Nick at Nite as of November 30, 2020.^[44][45]

In the United Kingdom, Young Sheldon is aired on the free-to-air channel E4, with season 1 premiered on February 22, 2018.^[46] Subsequent seasons premiered on November 8, 2018, and October 10, 2019, for seasons 2 and 3 respectively.^[46] Season 4 of Young Sheldon premiered on October 20, 2021, on E4 at 9 pm ^[47] Season 5 of Young Sheldon premiered on April 24, 2022 at 8pm on E4.^[48] On September 27, 2021, the series entered syndication in local markets, covering roughly 90% of the United States.^[49] The series also entered off-network syndication on TBS and began airing on September 27, 2021.^[50]

Streaming

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.^[51] The first three seasons were added on September 2, 2020.^[52] The fifth season debuted on September 7, 2022.

In October and November 2021, Netflix in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom picked up the streaming rights to the show.^[53]

Home media

The first season of Young Sheldon was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Warner Bros. on September 4, 2018.^[54][55] The second season was released on DVD and manufacture-on-demand Blu-ray on September 3, 2019.^[56] 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.^[57] The fourth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 7, 2021.^[58] The fifth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 6, 2022.^[59]

Reception

Ratings

Further information: List of Young Sheldon episodes § Ratings

Viewership and ratings per season of Young Sheldon

Season	Timeslot (ET)	Episodes	First aired		Last aired		TV season	Viewership rank	Avg. viewers (millions)	18–49 rank	Avg. 18–49 rating
			Date	Viewers (millions)	Date	Viewers (millions)
1	Thursday 8:30 p.m.^[c]	22	September 25, 2017 (2017-09-25)	17.21^[60]	May 10, 2018 (2018-05-10)	12.44^[61]	2017–18	6	16.30	10	3.3^[14]
2		22	September 24, 2018 (2018-09-24)	10.58^[62]	May 16, 2019 (2019-05-16)	13.60^[63]	2018–19	5	14.37	11	2.6^[15]
3	Thursday 8:00 p.m.^[d]^[19]	21	September 26, 2019 (2019-09-26)	8.24^[65]	April 30, 2020 (2020-04-30)	10.14^[66]	2019–20	8	11.45	20	1.6^[16]
4		18	November 5, 2020 (2020-11-05)	6.77^[67]	May 13, 2021 (2021-05-13)	7.21^[68]	2020–21	12	9.45	22	1.2^[17]
5		22	October 7, 2021 (2021-10-07)	7.12^[69]	May 19, 2022 (2022-05-19)	7.06^[70]	2021–22	8	9.21	16	1.0^[18]
6		22	September 29, 2022 (2022-09-29)	6.88^[71]	May 18, 2023 (2023-05-18)^[72]	TBD	2022–23	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Critical response

For the first season, the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 76% approval rating with an average rating of 6.6/10 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."^[73] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 63 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[74]

Accolades

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.^[75]

Accolades received by Young Sheldon

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Artios Awards	January 31, 2019	Television Pilot & First Season — Comedy	Nikki Valko, Ken Miller, and Peter Pappas	Nominated	^[76]
Critics' Choice Television Awards	January 13, 2019	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Zoe Perry	Nominated	^[77]
			Annie Potts	Nominated
	March 13, 2022	Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Iain Armitage	Nominated	^[78]
	January 15, 2023	Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series	Annie Potts	Nominated	^[79]
Golden Reel Awards	February 17, 2019	Broadcast Media: Live Action Under 35:00	"An 8-Bit Princess and a Flat Tire Genius"	Nominated	^[80]
Golden Trailer Awards	May 29, 2019	Best Comedy Poster for a TV/Streaming Series	"Norman Rockwell"	Won	^[81]
	July 22, 2021	Best Animation/Family Poster for a TV/Streaming Series	"Chalkboard"	Nominated	^[82]
People's Choice Awards	December 6, 2022	The Comedy Show of 2022	Young Sheldon	Nominated	^[83]
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards	May 2, 2020	Favorite Family TV Show	Young Sheldon	Nominated	^[84]
	March 13, 2021	Favorite Family TV Show	Young Sheldon	Nominated	^[85]
		Favorite Male TV Star	Iain Armitage	Nominated
	April 9, 2022	Favorite Family TV Show	Young Sheldon	Nominated	^[86]
		Favorite Male TV Star (Family)	Iain Armitage	Nominated
	March 4, 2023	Favorite Family TV Show	Young Sheldon	Nominated	^[87]
Teen Choice Awards	August 12, 2018	Choice Breakout TV Star	Iain Armitage	Nominated	^[88]

See also

• The Wonder Years

Notes

1. Dr. Sturgis and Dr. Linkletter, two college physics professors who teach the classes in which Sheldon enrolls, are not introduced until Season 1 Episode 19 and Season 2 Episode 13 respectively.
2. In the clip, ALF is reading a fan letter from Missy, so the footage is not from the original show.
3. Both seasons premiered on a Monday, with all the other episodes in the respective seasons broadcasting at the designated time slot.
4. The eleventh episode of the fourth season aired at 8:30 p.m. due to President Biden's address on the one-year anniversary of the Covid-19 shutdown which aired on 8:00 p.m. on March 11, 2021.^[64]

References

1. Andreeva, Nellie (March 13, 2017). "'The Big Bang Theory' Spinoff 'Young Sheldon' Gets CBS Series Order, Rounds Out Cast; Jon Favreau Set To Direct". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
2. Andreeva, Nellie (May 17, 2017). "CBS Fall 2017 Schedule: No Major Changes, 'Young Sheldon' Joins 'The Big Bang Theory', 'S.W.A.T.' On Thursday". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
3. Fallon, Kevin (September 25, 2017). "'Young Sheldon' Is the Anti-'Big Bang Theory.' That's Why It's Great". The Daily Beast. from the original on November 30, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
4. . Springfield Scripts. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
5. Bhatt, Jinal (July 15, 2019). "Young Sheldon's Iain Armitage Talks About Playing The 9 YO Version Of The Most Beloved Genius on Television". Mashable India. from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
6. Andreeva, Nellie (March 2, 2017). "'Big Bang' Sheldon Spinoff Inches Closer With Iain Armitage & Zoe Perry Castings". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on March 13, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
7. Goldberg, Lesley (July 18, 2017). "'Young Sheldon' Taps Annie Potts to Play Key 'Big Bang Theory' Role (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
8. Petski, Denise (April 27, 2022). "'Young Sheldon': Emily Osment Upped To Series Regular For Season 6". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
9. Petski, Denise (September 11, 2019). "'Young Sheldon': Craig T. Nelson To Play A Coach On CBS Comedy Series". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
10. Campione, Katie (October 26, 2022). "'Young Sheldon': Rachel Bay Jones & Will Sasso Join CBS Comedy As Recurring". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
11. "Listings – YOUNG SHELDON on CBS". The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
12. Schwartz, Ryan (February 19, 2020). "Kaley Cuoco's Young Sheldon Role Confirmed: The Inside Story Behind That Big Bang Theory Easter Egg". TVLine. from the original on February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
13. Strecker, Erin (November 7, 2013). "'Big Bang Theory': Bill Nye's preview". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
14. de Moraes, Lisa; Hipes, Patrick (May 22, 2018). "2017-18 TV Series Ratings Rankings: NFL Football, 'Big Bang' Top Charts". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
15. de Moraes, Lisa (May 21, 2019). "2018-19 TV Season Ratings: CBS Wraps 11th Season At No. 1 In Total Viewers, NBC Tops Demo; 'Big Bang Theory' Most Watched Series". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
16. Porter, Rick (June 4, 2020). "TV Ratings: 7-Day Season Averages for Every 2019-20 Broadcast Series". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
17. Porter, Rick (June 8, 2021). "2020-21 TV Ratings: Complete 7-Day Ratings for Broadcast Network Series". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on June 9, 2021.
18. Porter, Rick (June 8, 2022). "2021-22 TV Ratings: Final Seven-Day Numbers for Every Network Series". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
19. "Shows A-Z - young sheldon on cbs". The Futon Critic. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
20. Mitovich, Matt Webb (March 14, 2023). "CBS Sets Finale Dates for NCIS, Ghosts, Supersized Sheldon and 16 Others". TVLine. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
21. Andreeva, Nellie (November 7, 2016). "'The Big Bang Theory' Eyes Young Sheldon Spinoff Prequel Series on CBS". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
22. Goldberg, Lesley (November 7, 2016). "'Big Bang Theory' Sheldon Prequel Series in the Works at CBS". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
23. Andreeva, Nellie (September 27, 2017). "'Young Sheldon' Gets Full-Season Order From CBS After Strong Debut". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
24. Andreeva, Nellie (January 6, 2018). "'Young Sheldon' Renewed For Season 2 By CBS". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
25. Andreeva, Nellie (July 9, 2018). "CBS Fall 2018 Premiere Dates: 'Big Bang' & 'Young Sheldon' To Help Launch 'Magnum PI' & 'Murphy Brown' Revival". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
26. Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (February 22, 2019). "'Young Sheldon' Renewed For Two More Seasons By CBS". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on February 22, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
27. Petski, Denise; Andreeva, Nellie (June 13, 2019). "CBS Sets Fall Premiere Dates: 'Bob ♥ Abishola', 'All Rise', 'Evil', 'Young Sheldon', 'NCIS', 'Blue Bloods' & More". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on June 13, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
28. Goldberg, Lesley (March 12, 2020). "Coronavirus Impact: Netflix Shuts Down Film, TV Work in U.S. and Canada as Production Nears Standstill". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
29. Andreeva, Nellie (October 9, 2020). "'Young Sheldon' Production Paused For A Day Because Of Positive COVID-19 Test". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
30. Andreeva, Nellie; Petski, Denise (October 13, 2020). "CBS Sets Premiere Dates For 10 Scripted Series Including 'NCIS' Trio, 'Young Sheldon' & 'S.W.A.T'". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
31. "Young Sheldon (Season 4)". Production List | Film & Television Industry Alliance. May 18, 2020. from the original on April 26, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2021.
32. Goldberg, Lesley (March 30, 2021). "'Young Sheldon' Scores 3-Season Renewal at CBS". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on March 30, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
33. Mitovich, Matt Webb (July 12, 2021). "CBS Sets Fall Dates for Survivor 41, NCIS: Hawai'i, FBI Trifecta and Others". TVLine. from the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
34. Schwartz, Ryan (June 23, 2022). "CBS Sets Fall Premiere Dates for FBI, Ghosts, NCIS, Young Sheldon and More". TVLine. from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
35. "Young Sheldon interview: Lance Barber on playing Sheldon's father George Cooper Sr". CarterMatt. September 22, 2017. from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
36. Sutrishna, Ghosh (October 12, 2018). ""I would love to be an author one day": 'Young Sheldon's Missy aka Raegan Revord gets candid about her future plans". Meaww. from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
37. Petski, Denise (November 14, 2018). . Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019 – via MSN.
38. Bradley, Bill (September 26, 2017). "The Weird 'Young Sheldon' Casting Choice You Might've Missed". Huffington Post. from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
39. Malik, Tariq (November 20, 2015). "Watch Elon Musk Talk Turkey on Big Bang Theory". Space. from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
40. McCarthy, Tyler (November 30, 2019). "Young Sheldon Episode 6 recap: Sheldon discovers physics". Fox News. from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
41. Gonzalez, Sandra (May 17, 2019). "'Young Sheldon' paid sweet tribute to 'The Big Bang Theory'". CNN. from the original on October 16, 2019. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
42. Williams, Liam (November 21, 2017). "Young Sheldon's Theme Song Is by Steve From Blue's Clues, of All People". TV Guide. from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
43. Ashurst, Sam (November 6, 2019). "Young Sheldon season 4 air date, cast, plot, trailer and everything you need to know". Digital Spy. from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
44. "Genius Loves Company as Top-Rated Sitcom Young Sheldon Joins Nick at Nite's Family Comedy Lineup in November" (Press release). Nickelodeon. August 26, 2020. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2020 – via The Futon Critic.
45. Petski, Denise (August 26, 2020). "Young Sheldon Joins Nick At Nite Fall Comedy Lineup". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on August 26, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2020.
46. "Young Sheldon Listings (E4)". Geek Town. from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
47. Palmer, Katie (January 13, 2021). "'Young Sheldon': Season 4 Gets October UK Premiere Date On E4". Daily Express. from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
48. "'Young Sheldon' Season 5 & 'The Goldbergs' Season 9 Get April UK Premiere Dates on E4". April 14, 2022. from the original on April 14, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
49. Schneider, Michael (April 12, 2021). "'Young Sheldon' Set For Broadcast Off-Network Syndication This Fall, Clearing 90% of the Country". Variety. from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2021.
50. Hipes, Patrick (August 17, 2021). "'Young Sheldon' Inks Cable Syndication Deal With TBS, Joining 'Big Bang Theory'". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
51. White, Peter (May 29, 2020). "HBO Max Scores 'Young Sheldon' Streaming Rights". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on May 29, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
52. "Young Sheldon". HBO Max. from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
53. "'Young Sheldon' Seasons 1-3 Arrives on Netflix UK & Australia". What's on Netflix. November 1, 2021. from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
54. "Young Sheldon DVD Release Date". DVDs Release Dates. from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
55. "Young Sheldon: The Complete First Season". September 4, 2018. from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2018 – via Amazon.
56. "Young Sheldon: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray". from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
57. "Young Sheldon: Season 3 Announced". Skewed & Reviewed. June 19, 2020. from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
58. "Young Sheldon: The Fourth Season (DVD)". Amazon. from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
59. "Young Sheldon: The Complete Fifth Season". Amazon. September 6, 2022. from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
60. Porter, Rick (September 26, 2017). . TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
61. Porter, Rick (May 11, 2018). . TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 12, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
62. Welch, Alex (September 25, 2018). . TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
63. Rejent, Joseph (May 17, 2019). . TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
64. Maeghan, Darwish (March 11, 2021). "How President Biden's Prime-Time Address Will Affect Broadcast TV Schedules". TV Insider. from the original on March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
65. Rejent, Joseph (September 27, 2019). . TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 28, 2019. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
66. Metcalf, Mitch (May 1, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 4.30.2020". Showbuzz Daily. from the original on May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
67. Metcalf, Mitch (November 6, 2020). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Thursday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 11.5.2020". Showbuzz Daily. from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
68. Bauder, David (May 18, 2021). "CBS' 'Mom' exits after 8 seasons with season ratings high". Associated Press. from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
69. Metcalf, Mitch (October 8, 2021). "ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Thursday Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.7.2021 Updated". Showbuzz Daily. from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
70. Salem, Mitch (May 20, 2022). "ShowBuzzDaily's Thursday 5.19.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
71. Salem, Mitch (September 30, 2022). "ShowBuzzDaily's Thursday 9.29.2022 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
72. Mitovich, Matt Webb (March 14, 2023). "CBS Sets Finale Dates for NCIS, Ghosts, Supersized Sheldon and 16 Others". TVLine. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
73. "Young Sheldon: Season 1 (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
74. "Young Sheldon: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
75. Behzadi, Sofia (July 19, 2022). "ReFrame Gives 117 Shows Gender-Balance Seal of Approval Including 'Pose,' 'Bridgerton,' 'WandaVision,' More". Deadline Hollywood. from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
76. Nordyke, Kimberly (January 31, 2019). "Casting Society of America's Artios Awards: 'Green Book,' 'Vice' Among Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
77. DaMour, Henrique (January 13, 2019). "See the full list of Critics' Choice Award winners". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
78. Jackson, Angelique; Shanfeld, Ethan (March 13, 2022). "Critics Choice Awards 2022: The Power of the Dog, Ted Lasso, Succession Win Big (Full Winners List)". Variety. from the original on March 14, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
79. Nordyke, Kimberly (January 15, 2023). "Critics Choice Awards: Full List of Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
80. Giardina, Carolyn (February 17, 2019). "Bohemian Rhapsody Wins Pair of Trophies at Sound Editors' Golden Reel Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on February 19, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
81. Hipes, Patrick (May 30, 2019). "'John Wick: Chapter 3' Wins Tops Honors At Golden Trailer Awards". Deadline. from the original on July 27, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
82. Crist, Allison; Perez, Lexy (July 22, 2021). "Golden Trailer Awards: A Quiet Place: Part II, Black Widow Among Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on August 13, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
83. Piña, Christy (December 6, 2022). "People's Choice Awards: Doctor Strange 2, Don't Worry Darling Take Top Prizes". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
84. Gennis, Sadie (May 3, 2020). "Kids Choice Awards 2020: Full Winners List". TV Guide. from the original on February 21, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
85. Lauren Huff (February 2, 2021). "Justin Bieber, Stranger Things, and Ariana Grande top 2021 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards nominees". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
86. Gajewski, Ryan (April 9, 2022). "Kids' Choice Awards: Spider-Man: No Way Home Wins Big; Dr. Jill Biden Speaks". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
87. Nordyke, Kimberly (January 31, 2023). "Kids' Choice Awards: Nate Burleson, Charli D'Amelio to Host; Stranger Things Leads Noms". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
88. "Teen Choice Awards: Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. August 12, 2018. from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2022.

External links

• Official website
• Young Sheldon at IMDb