Summary
With one secret cameo at George Sr.’s funeral,Young Sheldonpoked fun at the show’s biggest unsolved plot hole fromThe Big Bang Theory. ByYoung Sheldon’s series finale, the show still had not managed to explain every inconsistency between itself and its predecessor,The Big Bang Theory. The change in Meemaw’s personality between shows remained a mystery, as did the cause of Georgie and Mandy’s eventual divorce. This might be explained in the upcoming spinoffGeorgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, but other lingering questions remained open by the show’s final outing.
One of these unanswered mysteries was the question of why Sheldon talked so poorly of his father despite what a good man George Sr. was throughout the series. Another was whether Sheldon ever discovered that his father didn’t really have an affair, or if he was unaware of the mistake he made when he walked in on his parents engaging in some role-play. TheseunresolvedYoung Sheldonplot holeswere annoying, but the series did manage to fix the biggest inconsistency between the two shows. Not only that, but the penultimate episode also had time to joke about this issue.
Leonard’s Young Sheldon Death Would Make The Big Bang Theory’s Most Divisive Story Even Worse
While Young Sheldon’s finale hinted at Leonard’s death, confirming this would make The Big Bang Theory’s most controversial twist secretly tragic.
Secret Young Sheldon Funeral Cameo Mocks The Spinoff’s Many Casting Plot Holes
Young Sheldon’s George Sr Actor Appeared In The Big Bang Theory Years Earlier
For years, viewers wondered how Lance Barber could play both Leonard’s high school bully inThe Big Bang Theoryand Sheldon’s father inYoung Sheldon. Barber appeared as Jimmy Speckerman inThe Big Bang Theoryseason 5, episode 11, “The Speckerman Recurrence,” years before winning the role of George Sr. inYoung Sheldon. The question of why Sheldon didn’t recognize Jimmy as his father was explained whenYoung Sheldoncontinued to recast actors fromThe Big Bang Theorythroughout the spinoff’s seven seasons, proving that a lot of people simply had doppelgängers in the show’s fictional universe.
This wasn’t the first time a George Sr doppelgänger showed up in the show’s universe and the gag allowed Young Sheldon to admit that the spinoff tends to recycle actors.
The series acknowledged this with a meta gag whenLance Barber played a female mourner at George Sr.’s own funeral in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo. This wasn’t the first time a George Sr doppelgänger showed up in the show’s universe and the gag allowedYoung Sheldonto admit that the spinoff tends to recycle actors. It is not yet clear ifYoung Sheldon’s spinoffGeorgie & Mandy’s First Marriagewill also utilize the same actors seen inThe Big Bang Theoryin new roles again, but Barber’s cameo proves that the shows don’t take their shared universe too seriously.
Which Actors Appeared In The Big Bang Theory & Young Sheldon
Young Sheldon Repeatedly Made Its Biggest Big Bang Theory Plot Hole Worse
It is understandable that season 7, episode 13, “Funeral,” made light ofYoung Sheldon’s Barber casting since the spinoff had already spent years recasting actors fromThe Big Bang Theoryby this point.Bob Hearts Abishola’s Vernee Watson appeared as a nurse in bothThe Big Bang TheoryandYoung Sheldon, while Melissa Tang played Mandy Chao inThe Big Bang Theoryand Ms. Fenley inYoung Sheldon.Young SheldonandThe Big Bang Theory’s various shared actors appeared throughout both shows, although no one ever commented on their resemblance to other characters thanks to the significant time difference between shows.
InThe Big Bang Theoryseason 2, episode 5, “The Euclid Alternative,” Octavia Spencer played a DMV clerk who quickly grows weary of Sheldon’s antics. InYoung Sheldonseason 7, Spencer played Meemaw’s similarly no-nonsense parole officer, Rhonda.Young Sheldon’s changes toThe Big Bang Theorywere occasionally confusing and contradictory, but this casting was an ingenious way for Meemaw and Sheldon to finally have one thing in common. Although separated by decades, both Coopers faced bureaucrats played by the same actor and emerged victorious.
Realizing that Sheldon’s teacher is the woman Leonard cheated on Penny with, or that the same nurse appeared in both shows decades apart, is a clever way to link them without creating more timeline snags.
Young Sheldon Casting The Big Bang Theory Guest Actors Is Part Of The Fun
Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory’s Different Settings Made Shared Actors Believable
SinceYoung SheldonandThe Big Bang Theoryare set multiple decades and states apart, a handful of similar-looking people isn’t a big deal in their shared universe. If anything, there is an argument to be made that the show’s overlapping cast lists are a fun way to wink at the fourth wall. Realizing that Sheldon’s teacher is the woman Leonard cheated on Penny with, or that the same nurse appeared in both shows decades apart, is a clever way to link them without creating more timeline snags or confusing contradictions between their stories.
Young Sheldonoften inadvertently complicatedThe Big Bang Theory’s story by introducing characters like Paige and Dr. Sturgis who should theoretically have been mentioned in the earlier show. As a result,not all ofYoung Sheldon’s storylines workedas they clashed with the original show’s existing canon. In contrast, the same actors playing various characters in both shows wasn’t an issue. Instead, this affordedYoung Sheldona chance to offer viewers ofThe Big Bang Theorysubtle Easter eggs like Barber’s hidden cameo at his own character’s funeral.
