12 Important Young Sheldon Moments That Are Completely Changed By The Big Bang Theory
Sheldon’s point of view gave harsher depictions of his past in both Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory, even if the prequel’s timing well after the end of the parent series made it possible for some of… However, existing in two different timings of Sheldon’s life made changes of key characters as Young Sheldon established them also unavoidable, making sure that The Big Bang Theory’s events would also forever change some Young Sheldon moments, even with the parent series coming years before its prequel.
12Mandy & Georgie’s Romance
TBBT Never Even Mentions Georgie’s First Wife By Name
Despite the rocky start of their relationship guaranteed by Georgie’s lies about his age, Georgie eventually owned up to his behavior in Young Sheldon, winning Mandy back, which properly kickstarted their romance. With their marriage being explored in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, it’s undeniable how their sweet connection in Young Sheldon built its foundation, painting a picture of a loving couple albeit one whose relationship began with the two facing difficulties, because of the pregnancy and Georgie’s lies.
Young Sheldon painted a very different portrait of George Cooper Sr., a family man with good intentions very different from his counterpart in TBBT.
However, that’s not how The Big Bang Theory depicted Georgie and Mandy. While Sheldon mentioned how Georgie’s first wife remembered him and congratulated him after he and Amy won the Nobel Prize, Sheldon still saw Georgie’s various marriages as a failure and depicted them as such the rare times he discussed his older brother in TBBT. With Mandy’s name not even appearing in The Big Bang Theory, the parent series essentially refused to acknowledge the good of Georgie and Mandy’s relationship, rewriting their Young Sheldon heartwarming story.
11Sheldon Suffering His First Real Failure
Sheldon Never Acknowledges His Grant Database Failure In TBBT
…easily established itself as Sheldon’s biggest failure in the prequel series, both for the obstacles Sheldon and Dr. Sturgis faced with creating it due to fights with East Texas Tech and its resounding failure when nobody signed up for it. The database not only failed but Sheldon was left alone by his family as he processed his first failure, as they all focused on Cece’s birth and they had never really cared about the database that much to begin with, despite Sheldon’s interest in it.
Yet, The Big Bang Theory never even mentioned Sheldon’s grant database failure. In addition, it showed major roadblocks Sheldon encountered, including his struggle to grasp how electrons moved through graphene, Sheldon’s abandonment of String Theory in The Big Bang Theory season 7 and his and Amy’s last impediment when they found a Russian paper deeming Super Asymmetry not worth pursuing. These obstacles were all considered by The Big Bang Theory as Sheldon’s first failures every time, effectively undermining what his grant database failure meant for Sheldon in Young Sheldon.
10Missy’s Personal Story
Missy’s Story Ending In TBBT Negates Her Young Sheldon’s Promises
Even before… Missy’s wishes were often taken for granted in the prequel show, resulting in Missy feeling ignored. Young Sheldon season 6’s finale eventually included George Sr. and Missy finally talking about Missy’s rebellion, leading to a heart-to-heart that prompted Missy’s promise not to entertain such behaviors again.
9Sheldon’s Friendship With Paige
Paige Is Never Mentioned In The Big Bang Theory
Paige’s introduction to Young Sheldon and her friendship with Sheldon showed how he could find people uncommonly intelligent like him even before he found the gang in The Big Bang Theory. Despite her story developing tragically in Young Sheldon’s later seasons, Paige and Sheldon’s friendship was still an important step in his life.
Paige from Young Sheldon is never mentioned in The Big Bang Theory, but why did Sheldon Cooper keep his childhood crush secret?
Paige’s arc in Young Sheldon was always supposed to act as a cautionary tale of what could have happened to Sheldon had he not found his people. However, The Big Bang Theory never mentioning her essentially deleted Paige from Sheldon’s past, not sharing the good that came from their connection, hinting even more at Paige’s tragic ending if Sheldon refused to mention her or discuss her.
8Meemaw Not Being Harsh
Meemaw In Young Sheldon Greatly Differs From Her TBBT Version
While Sheldon always spoke of Meemaw with affection in The Big Bang Theory, the character who appeared in The Big Bang Theory season 9 differed greatly from Meemaw in Young Sheldon. From her opposition to Amy to her willingness to speak frankly with Amy only once Sheldon disappeared into his room, Meemaw proved much more uncompromising in The Big Bang Theory. It’s unclear what brought forth the change but the Young Sheldon spinoff George & Mandy’s First Marriage could potentially continue to shine a light on Meemaw’s change.
7Dr. Sturgis’ Relationship With Sheldon
Sheldon Does Not Acknowledge Dr. Sturgis In His Nobel Prize Win Speech
Not only did Sheldon ever mention Dr. Sturgis in The Big Bang Theory, but who Sheldon viewed as his mentor was Arthur Jeffries aka Professor Proton. While Professor Proton appeared in Young Sheldon too, Sheldon had a much closer mentor in Dr. Sturgis in the prequel series, as the professor essentially introduced Sheldon to theoretical physics. With Sheldon not even mentioning him in his thanks during The Big Bang Theory’s series finale, Sheldon effectively erases Dr. Sturgis’s contribution to kickstarting his passion as shown in Young Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory’s story.
6George Sr.’s Bond With Sheldon
Sheldon Did Not Have Kind Words For George In TBBT
Young Sheldon never shied away from showing how much George Sr. struggled to connect with Sheldon, and this was especially true in the prequel series’ first seasons. Young Sheldon nevertheless portrayed George Cooper Sr. as a family man who might get it wrong sometimes, but always tried, thus making him a positive figure in all of the Coopers’ lives, with Sheldon not being an exception.
Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory instead painted an entirely different picture of George Sr. Indeed, Sheldon’s stories about George Sr. in The Big Bang Theory remembered him either as sharing profoundly offensive comments or as a good-for-nothing.
What Happened Between Tam & Sheldon In Young Sheldon Differs From TBBT
Throughout Young Sheldon, Tam appeared as one of Sheldon’s first friends, essentially negating Sheldon’s The Big Bang Theory stories about being an aloof kid. While Tam and Sheldon grew apart through the seasons, Sheldon still considered Tam an important part of his life, as proved by his wish to have lunch with him on his goodbye tour of his life in Medford in Young Sheldon season 7, episode 12.
However, The Big Bang Theory season 12 oddly introduced Tam as one of Sheldon’s enemies, despite Young Sheldon season 7 showing Tam more upset at Sheldon’s disregard of his stories than the other way around. The Big Bang Theory season 12, episode 4 eventually got Sheldon and Tam to reconcile, but it still never explained why Tam and Sheldon’s perspectives of their last meeting changed so much between Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory.
4Mary’s Relationship With Her Faith
Mary’s Faith Didn’t Waver In The Big Bang Theory
Mary’s faith in The Big Bang Theory was steadfast. Not only did Mary and Sheldon often bicker about their difference in beliefs, with the first only accepting religion and the second espousing science, but she was also described as unrelenting in her faith. Mary never had any doubts about her faith in The Big Bang Theory, only coming close to it when she started dating a fellow parishioner, but even then, she expressed unease because of the discrepancy between her actions and beliefs, not a lack of faith as she did sometimes in Young Sheldon.
3Sheldon’s Relative Adaptability With Beliefs He Didn’t Share
TBBT Never Revealed That Sheldon Went Through With His Baptism For Mary
While Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory season 12 greatly differed from the one in season 1, he still tended to refuse to adapt. Up to a point he managed to, but Sheldon was nevertheless steadfast in his atheism, even as he accepted to compromise on some things for the benefit of his chosen family’s members. This massive change never posed a problem in The Big Bang Theory as it was only established by Young Sheldon, but it still was a major one based on how the parent series presented Sheldon.
2George’s Cheating Storyline
TBBT Unjustly Portrays George Sr. In An Unkind Light
Young Sheldon season 7 finally proved that, despite George Sr. and Brenda’s connection, nothing ever happened between them. Indeed, what Sheldon always described as one of the most upsetting things he witnessed in The Big Bang Theory, wasn’t really… Still, not having confronted George or Mary about it left Sheldon to continue to believe George had cheated on Mary for many years.
Georgie Never Bullied His Younger Brother In Young Sheldon
Young Sheldon often showed how Sheldon connected very rarely with Georgie, proving the least strong relationship among those in his family for Sheldon. Still, despite Georgie loathing Sheldon for being in the same class as him in high school, he still took care of Sheldon in his own way, especially as he and Mandy were expecting Cece.
Sheldon’s tales of his relationship with Georgie in The Big Bang Theory entirely negate what could be seen in Young Sheldon. Indeed, Sheldon often described Georgie as his bully, to the point of not wanting to invite him to his wedding. Sheldon’s stories in The Big Bang Theory thus changed Georgie and Sheldon’s relationship as shown in Young Sheldon for the worst.