Young Sheldon creators reveal why they don’t regret killing George Cooper despite fan outrage
The creators of young sheldon have revealed why they don’t regret killing off patriarch George Cooper.
The popular character, played by Lance Barber, died of a in the series finale, which aired on May 9, 2024. The heartbreaking news was delivered to the family by George’s friends and colleagues at Medford High School.
The fate of George dying at this point goes back to the big bang theory, when fans learned that sheldon cooper (Iain Armitage) had lost his father at the age of 14. Even though George’s death happened off camera, fans were left heartbroken to hear about it
But creators Steven Molaro and Steve Holland said they had no regrets about their decision of killing off George at that stage, as it was an “important” step for Sheldon to develop as a character. Steve said, “I think it gave the show a real strong emotional closure, and death is so important to Sheldon as a character. Looking back on that death as an adult has really framed what this show’s been about, I think.”
Steven agreed, telling Glamour , “I agree. I don’t regret that it’s happening. It’s a strong ending and a part of life.” But Steven admitted that saying goodbye to George was difficult because of how important he was on the show.
He revealed, “We all got more attached to George Sr. than we ever expected we would and then, for us here at the show, to Lance, who plays George. So there was a pressure to say goodbye to George in a way that honored the character and honored the job that Lance did.”
Steve added, “As Chuck [Lorre] has always said, you have to give these shows room to grow and become their own thing. You can’t force them into a box. As the show went on, Lance brought [so much] to the character. He was such a lovely person and a lovable dad, and that was what the show was becoming. You can’t go back and force it into [something else]. It would’ve felt wrong for the character and the show.”
Last week, we reported that creators had a change of heart as they underwent a… before airing one…During season seven episode 13 of young sheldon fans sobbed as they witnessed George’s funeral. And while the episode tugged at the heart strings of viewers everywhere, series showrunner Steve revealed that the scene played out much differently in their original script.
In an interview with, he explained, “We wanted to be very respectful of George as a character and what his passing meant to this family. I think we realized that we could give ourselves permission to be a little more serious and have a little more weight in this moment, which felt very real to us. We could treat it as realistically as we wanted to. We didn’t feel the need to just throw jokes in because it was a comedy show.”
Long-time fans of Young Sheldon supported this decision to include a more serious tone as the passing of Sheldon’s father was monumental in his character development and the storylines to come. The passing of George was a delicate matter that would later influence the stories of both the shows The Big Bang Theory and the spin-off series Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
After the episode initially aired in May last year, fans took to a Reddit thread expressing their heartache over the loss of the major character and the all-too-real portrayal of grief in the episode. One viewer wrote, “I cried as if it was my own father’s funeral bro.” Another added, “I cried more than I did at my father’s funeral. The latter was way more Jesus-y, and had an altar call.”
Someone else chimed in,”When Georgie told his father not to worry, to rest. I cried. I told my father something similar when he left us. Imagine at 19.” A third fan shared, “Mary’s speech is what sent me over the edge and broke down in tears.” Another viewer noted, “That whole episode was way too real. The anger, the grief, Sheldon’s withdrawn and almost confusion at how he saw everyone behave and almost felt anxious about not being able to do so.”