Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Creator Explains Sheldon’s Absence in Thanksgiving Episode

Thursday’s episode of Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage saw a Coopers’ Thanksgiving reunion with many of the cast from young sheldon appearing. The episode saw the return of Mary (Zoe Perry), Missy (Raegen Revord), and Meemaw (Annie Potts).

The episode marks the first in-story Thanksgiving of Sheldon’s family since George Sr. (Lance Barber) passed away in the….While it was a touching and chaotically hilarious episode, Iain Armitage’s Sheldon did not appear, and the show’s creator has gone on explain his absence, per tv line

In the Thanksgiving episode, Georgie (Montana Jordan) invites members of the Cooper clan to the McAllister home for the Thanksgiving episode. The story unfolds with a series of hilariously entertaining events that end with the Coopers dining over George Sr.’s grave in remembrance of their late on-screen father.

Whilst it was undoubtedly touching for fans to see the cast of the show they so loved reunited, it was without one key cast member. Steve Holland, series co-creator, in speaking with TVLine, broke down the reason behind leaving out Ian Armitage from the episode.

“Initially, when we were talking about the episode, it was certainly part of the discussion — like, ‘Should Sheldon be a part of this?’ There are certain occasions where you could bring him back, but as we were breaking the [episode], it just felt like it was actually going to hurt this story,” he said. “Often, when a matriarch or a patriarch passes away, the family can splinter, and that’s what is happening here. And as fun as it would have been to see him, it felt like there is no world where that family doesn’t get together, and Mary doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, if Sheldon is coming back from California. So, it seemed to make ‘Sheldon sense’ that he didn’t come back, and it made sense for the story we were trying to tell.”

While the Thanksgiving episode might have been a great opportunity for Armitage to reprise his character, as we know from The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon very rarely returns to Texas after attending Cal Tech.

This doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve seen the last of Sheldon or heard the last ‘Bazzinga!” As the star of the TBBT spinoff has noted himself, an appearance by the youngest Cooper (minus the baby) isn’t entirely out of the cards…. as he’s noted to TVLine.

“If I got a call to go back, that’d be so much fun. I’d be honored to,” the actor said. “I’m also just excited to get to sit back on my couch with some popcorn and watch their show because they’re so good. But I could totally see myself getting in the khakis again, putting on the old penny loafers and bow tie, and going back out on the job.”