The ‘Young Sheldon’ Cancellation Makes No Sense, and the Ratings Data Proves It
Love him or hate him, The Big Bang Theory wouldn’t be the same without Sheldon Cooper. Sheldon, the socially awkward theoretical physicist expertly portrayed by breakout star Jim Parsons, is one of the reasons that viewers got hooked on The Big Bang Theory for years. Despite all his annoying moments in the Emmy-winning CBS sitcom, viewers stuck around and watched Sheldon fall in love, win the Nobel Prize, and exclaim ‘bazinga’ over the years. And so, it made sense for showrunner Chuck Lorre to follow up The Big Bang Theory with Young Sheldon, a prequel about Sheldon’s life as a young genius living with his family in East Texas with Iain Armitage taking on the titular role. The cast includes veteran stars Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, and Emmy nominee Annie Potts, who plays Sheldon’s beloved Meemaw.
Like its mothership, Young Sheldon would become one of CBS’ most successful shows. Even as networks came under pressure from streaming, the sitcom easily reached the top of the ratings, even bringing in viewership numbers comparable to The Big Bang Theory week after week. Young Sheldon became the top network comedy after The Big Bang Theory ended, maintaining its top spot through the 2023 to 2024 season. Fans and cast members alike were blindsided when the show was canceled after being the number-one comedy for years.
Young Sheldon
Cast
Iain ArmitageSheldon Cooper
Zoe PerryMary Cooper
Jim Parsons Came up With the Idea for ‘Young Sheldon’
As The Big Bang Theory propelled Parsons to Hollywood A-lister status, it didn’t take long for the four-time Emmy winner to start thinking about doing more work behind the camera. Hence, the actor and his husband, Todd Spiewak, launched their production company, That’s Wonderful Productions. The company would eventually enter an exclusive deal with Warner Bros TV, leading to several projects in development for streaming and networks alike.
With the massive success of The Big Bang Theory, CBS executives were keen to keep working with Parsons. They even invited the star to pitch possible projects and suggested where to get good ideas. “‘Would you look into your own life? Because those pitch well,’” Parsons recalled during an interview with ET in 2017. And so, he did just that, turning to his family for inspiration, particularly his sister’s oldest child, who is “very smart” but “not like in a Sheldon way.”
Nonetheless, that got Parsons thinking about Sheldon’s origin story. So he wrote to Lorre and pitched the idea of doing a spinoff around it. Lorre and The Big Bang Theory producer Steve Molaro loved the concept and got working with Parsons. Together, the trio came up with Young Sheldon. As expected, the show didn’t take long to get a series order from CBS. Lorre and Molaro would serve as showrunners, while Parsons would be credited as one of the executive producers.
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‘Young Sheldon’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Are Among the Most Streamed TV Shows
According to Nielsen, Network TV dominated last month.
‘Young Sheldon’ Replaced ‘The Big Bang Theory’ as the Top Sitcom on CBS
Young Sheldon aired its pilot episode on September 25, 2017,.. .on a Monday night to mark its debut. The premiere ended up being CBS’ biggest yet,… in live-plus-same-day ratings as it retained 98% of the lead-in audience from its mothership. This also meant that Young Sheldon brought in the best new show on any network since the 1999 to 2000 season. Not long after that, CBS extended its initial 13-episode order of Young Sheldon to a full season pickup of 22 episodes. Fans also continued to follow the quirky adventures of Young Sheldon after the show moved to its original Thursday night slot (still after The Big Bang Theory). During its first year on the air, the CBS sitcom …Young Sheldon ranked second among all comedy shows on television in the 2017 to 2018 season, while The Big Bang Theory took the top spot.
The 2018 to 2019 season was particularly tough for networks as it dealt with viewer losses due to streaming. Despite this, Young Sheldon still managed to command significant viewership…The CBS sitcom also maintained its top two spot in the television comedy landscape, just behind The Big Bang Theory, which averaged 13 million viewers per episode during its final season.
When the sitcom returned for CBS’ 2021 to 2022 season, Young Sheldon …as it remained the most-watched network comedy. The show also retained its top spot when it returned in the 2022 to 2023 season, becoming one of the five CBS shows to… A year later, Young Sheldon also finished the 2023 to 2024 season at the top, as it drew in an…in combined linear and streaming ratings.
CBS Canceled ‘Young Sheldon’ After Seven Seasons Despite Good Ratings
During an interview with… Potts questioned CBS’ move since Young Sheldon was its highest-rated comedy for years. “It just seemed like such a stupid business move,” the actress remarked. “If a show is starting to drag or lag or have a lack of stories or whatever, then you kind of see it coming. We were totally ambushed by this. I was, anyway.” Meanwhile, Armitage, the show’s lead star, also expressed a similar sentiment. “This is a real loss for me. More than anyone,” he said. “I definitely think we could have done a lot more.”
That said, the decision to end Sheldon’s story when it did may not have been up to CBS in the first place. During a February 2024 interview with..Young Sheldon executive producer Steve Holland explained that they decided to conclude the series since Sheldon had already reached his early teen years, and he’s supposed to be attending Caltech …to send off the show. The star was…who returned to play Amy Farrah Fowler.