Young Sheldon is a spin off from the hit T.V. show, The Big Bang Theory, and focuses on the childhood of the most beloved character of the show. Young Sheldon is a comedy show centered around Young Sheldon Cooper and his family in 1989. Sheldon is a 9 year old genius high schooler who skips four grades; as a result, he starts school at the same time as his less intelligent brother. Sheldon realizes that intelligence and knowledge may not be the most important thing in life.
The main cast of Young Sheldon is the Cooper family. First is Sheldon Cooper, a genius, germophobe, an elitist, and a conformist. Sheldon has a unique personality that is not commonly seen on T.V. shows but his personality is a reason why the show has not seen much success. Sheldon’s personality makes the audience feel annoyed because of the way Sheldon chooses to act to keep true to his beliefs. His actions may not be acceptable or may be seen as a nuisance compared to what the majority of people would of done in his situation, which makes the audience annoyed of him. An example of this would be when Sheldon calls people out for not following the proper dress code. Sheldon lists the exact school code number and rule when calling other students including the teacher out for not following them. While this is suppose to showcase how smart and rule-loving Sheldon is, the situation makes the audience feel annoyed.
George Cooper Sr., Sheldon’s father, is also the football coach of the high school that Sheldon and his brother is attending. George is a father who dares not to get involved in his children’s affairs but once in awhile attempts to connect with them. This makes George a bland character with no depth. It feels like the George Cooper Sr. is a filler character, only used when he’s needed, and there is almost no sense of connection with him. An example of George not being a good character is at the end of the episode when his older son feels anger at being overshadowed by his younger brother. Instead of providing fatherly comfort and advice, he avoids that issue by making his son go back to playing football as his coach, as his not father.
Georgie Cooper is Sheldon’s older brother. Georgie feels intimidated by Sheldon’s intelligence but also fears it. Georgie does not get the attention that Sheldon gets and is constantly overshadowed by his brother at home and school. Georgie does not seem to hate Sheldon but rather wants Sheldon to conform and be normal so he can enjoy his high school life. Georgie has some potential to become a very good character with the amount of background and motives he has been given. I hope to see the show focus on Georgie’s life and how he deals with his genius brother.
Missy, Sheldon’s sister, is the typical bratty sister that provides the audience comedic relief when the situation becomes too serious for the tone of the show. Missy is a generic character like the father and provides nothing other than comedic value to the show.
Mary Cooper, Sheldon’s mother, is the one with the most character depth and value on the show. It is interesting to see how Mary deals with her genius son and like any mother is willing to fight for him. Mary’s attempts to deal with the school and her own family is the most interesting conflict of the show so far. Mary is portrayed as a character with the best morals and can be easily liked by the audience because of her “holiness.”
Overall, Young Sheldon, is an average comedy show that tries to add its own unique elements to intrigue the audience. However, these unique elements contrast with the comedy element of the show resulting in awkward or annoying situations for the audience. The characters are mostly generic and bland, other than the mother, and the main character is not very likable. The show’s concept is interesting but the execution for it was done poorly. This show is an overall 2/5.
