Top 10 Questions About The Big Bang Theory After Watching Young Sheldon 

Which “Young Sheldon” moment had you questioning “The Big Bang Theory”? Let us know in the comments. Don't forget to play our Live Trivia (www.watchmojo.com/play) games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!

As for point one, my theory is that to cope with the death of his father, Sheldon remained in the "angry" phase of grief ( leading him to misjudge his father, ignore the positive, and over exaggerate the negative). I think Young Sheldon ending is having older Sheldon finally move on ro acceptance.

I like to believe that it took Sheldon to become a father to finally understand he didn’t have a father as bad as he painted George Cooper to be. Once you’re in their place you understand

Theory: Paige was never mentioned in The Big Bang Theory because she left her when he needed her the most. After he went to Germany, came back and lost his father, Paige must`ve failed to respond to any calls after finally getting her academic life back from partying, but had no time to focus on Sheldon or any of his family. Which can link back to when Mrs Wolowitz died, where Sheldon said "When I lost my father, I didn`t have any friends to help me through it."

i really enjoy the relationship sheldon has with his father in young sheldon it makes me sad when he talks about how he wishes he could have told his dad that he loved him and appreciated him more before he died reminds me of the relationship i have with my father...

The way Young Sheldon slipped down into that chair and looked off like he was looking into space makes me wonder if he didnt create some sort of mental block about his father so he wouldnt have to deal with his true emotions

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" did not work for Sheldon. He just happened to come across an Asian in the library who had interests similar to his interests and who also had trouble making friends. Sheldon's problems with her mom are: 1. Her trying to force religion on her family (sending him to Sunday school, confiscating his comic books because they went against her religion, etc.) and her general control freak nature. Everything has to be her way. Once, she had a college acceptance letter. Never showed it to Sheldon or George. Another time, George got a promotion but Mary guilted him into turning it down. Stuff like this is why Sheldon envies Leonard and him having Beverly as a mom. Mary's good qualities far outweigh her bad, but sometimes her bad qualities really shine through and make her the main villain of some episodes of Young Sheldon. Besides, Beverly is perfect. If you don't have her as your mom, you're going to be envious. We saw Billy being mean in the Pilot. Never again after that. That takes place when Sheldon is 9. The bullying stories that Sheldon told to his adult friends happened before he was 9. We are meant to assume that Billy was a bully until Sheldon was 8, and then things changed. Presumably, the 2nd episode, in which he tries to make friends by using that book, changed their relationship. Billy may have been happy that Sheldon tried to befriend him, and that changed him. An alternate theory is that Billy has a crush on Missy, and he felt that in order to get her, he had to be nice to his family. The first piece of evidence of that is in the 3rd episode, when he brings eggs to the family. But when you've been bullied, you don't remember the good things that person did to you. Only the bad things. So, never bully. Sheldon's accounts of his siblings' bullying him have been corroborated by both of them. Georgie admitted to farting in Sheldon's face in the bridal shower episode of Young Sheldon and he admitted it again on the honeymoon, and adult Georgie admitted that to Leonard. We just don't see it. We do see a few instances of Missy's bullying (she punched Sheldon in one episode, she broke his poster in another episode, she threatened to give him a purple nurple in an episode). She was definitely a bad kid. Her bad moments far outweighed her good ones. Georgie is not exactly reliable either. He claimed that he raised money for Sheldon's Germany trip, which was refuted on Young Sheldon (it was the church and Dr. Linkletter who did that). We also never see him looking after Sheldon at school, driving him everywhere, or apologizing to people when he was rude, which are all things he told Leonard that he did. And lets not forget all the other things Georgie said that were confirmed to be lies (cheating on a test, lying to his mom about whether Jana's parents would be home, lying about his age to Mandy,...). It was revealed in season 3 episode 10 of Young Sheldon that Georgie even coached his younger siblings on how to lie. How is HE the reliable one? Why should we believe what he says happened after their dad died? Sheldon didn't care very much about Tam, Paige, or the gaming friends. He might not really consider Dr. Sturgis and Dr. Linkletter to be his friends due to the age difference and the power difference. A few life-altering events happened with Mee Maw: 1. Her house got destroyed by a tornado. 2. Her gambling businesses got shut down and she got arrested. 3. George died. A confluence of all of those things could have changed her personality Sheldon simply didn't understand his father when he was a kid. The biggest misunderstanding was when he thought he caught him cheating. It turned out that was his mom in a wig and she was role-playing as a German woman. He also didn't like when George took him fishing. He also didn't like when George gave his Sheldon's room away to Georgie and Mandy. Negative memories like that will strongly outshine and make you forget about the good times

Also remember adult Sheldon is now a father looking back. You can see a different perspective

I find Young Sheldon to be more likeable and hilarious than adult Sheldon He’s more sympathetic and adorable due to his young age

The pilot of BBT is kind of weirdly canon and not. By storyline, it is canon, but Sheldon's character was not developed yet, so his unreliable eidetic memory is understandable. In the same episode, Leonard says Sheldon's a pro at "self-love," but later episodes establish that Sheldon doesn't react to sexual urges at that period of his life.

The writers made the characters of Young Sheldon more likeable than how older Sheldon described them at times on TBBT. However the biggest difference is MeeMaw is not at all like her younger version on Young Sheldon. Annie Potts put lots of life and unique character into the role which we all enjoy watching her life and mishaps.

I'd say the best way to explain ALL of the changes, it to say that when his dad died he just try to remember the negative things, especially since that is the last thing that happened in Medford before he left. And as the narrator of Young Sheldon, he is properly trying to remember everything, picking up on all the good parts. Maybe in the finale we'll even see him mention that he wants to get out of Medford rather than want everything to stay the same.

After watching the full video, I believe that Sheldon, during TBBT, does not 'misremember' these facts. Instead, since Young Sheldon is narrated by an older Sheldon, some time after TBBT, I believe it took him some time to understand what and why the people in his life acted that way. His intellectual condition makes it difficult for him to understand emotions, intentions, and other humane aspects of people. After accumulating enough life experiences, whether it be marriage or fatherhood, he finally obtained enough data to extrapolate and theorize as correctly as possible the behavior and interactions he had in his youth. That is why, while he still has an eidetic memory, he can now recall his childhood with new tools. This is the most deeply emotional and complete character development they could have given this character.

The thing I find the most funny is that Leonards high school bully is the same actor that plays George Cooper, Sheldon's dad. So either he got a time machine or it's just a funny coincidence.

One thing I seriously do not get is how Sheldon’s niece/Georgie’s daughter was never mentioned on BBT. She would have been like a teenager or college aged during the events of BBT. Why wasn’t she at Sheldon and Amy’s wedding? Why hasn’t someone like Mary even mentioned her?

My personal head canon is that sheldon is now remembering all his childhood from a new perspective, thus why so much he thought was bad in reality was a misunderstanding. Or either the writers didn't care enough to do proper research, or this an alternate timeline.

I thought number one would would also mentioned the fact that he misunderstood or didn't see his dad actually cheat on his mom. Nice retcon since everyone Loves his character

Found another inconsistency. In the Young Sheldon pilot, he said that one of teachers becomes principal 2 years later. But the same principal is still there all 7 years seasons of the prequel.

I spent the entire series trying to meld Young Sheldon with TBBT. I think they were boxed into many corners as far as story lines but overall I think the handled the key issues properly. And of course they nailed the casting especially Georgie, Missy and Mary. It was odd seeing "Young Sheldon" grow so big and have a deeper voice the "Old Sheldon". Great series!

When I started watching young Sheldon I figured the discrepancies were due to Sheldon not actually having an eidetic memory he just thought he did, gell we all think our memories are correct, turns out it's just Forrest Gump all over again

Sometimes its easier to think the worst of a person so you don't miss them so much. Sheldon had a lot going on when his dad died he was already feeling overwhelmed by change so to make his father's death less tragic he thought of the bad times and made up some stuff too.

I think we have to treat young Sheldon like the Gotham tv show a little while back, only loosely based on the source material and trying to be their own thing.

"You need to drive and mind your business. Your not my mother." This always gets me. Lol!

If they made George as bad as he was depicted on the Big Bang Theory then he woulda been the worst tv dad in a comedy series ever so that’s why they changed his character 😂

7:32 Sheldon may have befriended a few people at various times in the show but he was never truly close with any of them (apart from Dr Sturgis) & none of them really went above & beyond for him when his dad died & as he himself said 8:23 “I don’t even want them.”

maybe the reason he does not consider Paige to be his friend because he thought she was Missy's friend since they like to hang out with each other. does any one here think that the friend that Missy goes to the weeding of when we first see her tbbt is Paige other than me?

I never watched "Young Sheldon", and yet Sheldon saying, "I don't know. I don't want them" in response to the girl saying, "How do you have more friends then me?" was funny. But maybe's that's because its Sheldon saying that. And I found what Sheldon said about his father in the video's final seconds to be really sweet.

About Sheldon's words to Howard when Mrs. Wolowitz died, Sheldon _did_ have friends at the time his father died. Acquaintances, people he spoke to on a daily basis, etc. They just weren't there for him when his father died. Maybe the friendship wasn't so deep yet, or (like in a brilliant comment someone posted here about Paige) they didn't have time for him once they got their life back.

The cinderblock thing I always chocked up to him, hilucinating while sick

Well last episode shows he’s writing he’s memoir. Being more explicit and going on about more details about his life, than just given simple circunstancial facts as he does in TBBT

The answer to this question is simple. None of this would have been a problem had the shows been recorded in the opposite order. In other words, hindsight being 20 20, if they had filmed "Young Sheldon" first and then "The Big Bang Theory" the writers would not have made the plot hole errors. Problem solved. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Actually... I can relate. I, similarily to Sheldon, despised my father for MANY mistakes, completely ignoring good things i got from him. He is still alive, and i feel discomfort while talking with him, but through gaining some maturity I no longer can say anything wrong about how he raised me. For Sheldon that realization came with child (probably). For me it was tough break up.

My mindset is that George's death affected a lot of these relationships. Especially since he went off to college pretty soon after so he couldn't be around to heal alongside the family.

We have to remember Sheldon’s perception of stuff is different than everyone else. He often says people loved him and found him pleasant, when in actuality the opposite is true. People who were actually friends to Sheldon were in his mind often annoyances he had to put up with. So this can be how he remembers it. Yes some things are off but even in our real lives we remember things differently.

looking at the last released episode, Tam was hit with the fact that Sheldon doesn't care about his life right before Sheldon's dad died. That may be the reason he didn't have any friends helping him through the loss of his father. He didn't say he never had friends, just not after his dad died

I tend to think he clinged more to the bad memories of his family and especially his dad because he was scared to let people in which is why it took quite a few seasons on Big bang theory for him to come around and open up and I think that coming to terms with his own fatherhood helped him come to terms with his father and made him see that his father was there for him in his own way and I also think that he felt like if he didn't dwell on the good times then he wouldn't miss his father as much.

I got pretty over Big bang theory after about six seasons and I would only catch up with it when I was at my parents house and they were watching it but I have to say that I watched Young Sheldon all the way through. it was so much more heartwarming and the storytelling was so much nicer and made you feel more for Sheldon and just the first season alone than every season of Big bang theory... When he was talking about his father in that last and second to last episode I was tearing up which was something that I would not have thought I would do for a show spun off from Big bang theory.

Considering how AI is coming along, I envision that in 5 years from now, we could easily input the entire series of YS and TBBT; and this Mojo video into an AI program and ask it to either, - remake Young Sheldon respecting all references from TBBT Or - reconstruct TBBT fixing all inconsistencies from Young Sheldon. This is both intriguing and frightening for art and entertainment as we know it.

As to the memory of this father, I would like to think that when his father died, Sheldon felt so betrayed that in order to cope with the loss, he psychologically painted his father as the bad guy so he could hate his father and not be so negatively affected by the death of his father. It’s a fairly common way some people cope with the loss of their loved one and the sense of betrayal their death has on them. Also, i would have liked to see on TBBT Sheldon dreaming of him facing Darth Vader (rep of his father) like Luke did on Dagobah. In SW ep5: TESB, when Luke defeated Vader on Dahobah, he saw his own face inside Vader’s helmet. I would liked to have seen Sheldon face Vader (as representative of all his hate and negativity toward his father) in a light sabre battle, defeat him only to find that the cause of all his hatred and negativity towards his father was actually caused by himself under the mask. Would have made for a great episode and would have rounded off the no.1 on this list perfectly.

It's a shame that Paige wasn't in the final season of Young Sheldon because we never saw her get proper closure after all the terrible things that happened in her life. Hopefully we see her in Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage to wrap up her storyline, or maybe we'll see her an adult if The Big Bang Theory ever gets rebooted in the future. Isn't there also a spin off series for Max in the works? Maybe an adult Paige could be a main character in that show.

My theory is that he begins to appreciate his family when he himself a parent AND his wife gets to know his family and life from other perspectives SO ... he re tells the story from a more objective point of view

When Raj and Sheldon went down to stay in the university’s attic, they talked about the show “Hannah Montana” and were about to watch it on DVD. Sheldon was almost about to see there a girl that really looks like his sister in law 😆

I think Shelly's eidetic memory has its limits where his unresolved emotions from his childhood cloud the picture in his mind. For one thing, there are a lot of objective facts about things that happened that Sheldon clearly didn't even know about as demonstrated in that scene with adult George (Georgie) in BBT. Sheldon's perceptions are seriously skewed by how he was 1) protected, as George says, and 2) so locked up in his own world that he really doesn't process a lot of things happening around him, and things that make him uncomfortable he doesn't talk about or even think about more than he has to. Iain's portrayal of Shelly after his dad dies, from the moment he first hears, is a brilliant display of how hard it is for him to really mentally process the whole experience of the suddenness of it, and then of the raw emotions of his mother and sister especially. Georgie really does step up there. It's hard, if not impossible to have a prequel cover every detail in the original show it's based on. Star Wars has something of the same problem. When making the original show, little comments by characters about their past aren't written with a future depiction of those past events in mind. Fortunately, your presentation IS a light hearted look at this, directed at fans who will notice the little discrepancies and think about them. Not seeing young Shelly get his butt kicked more, especially by Billy Sparks, is probably the biggest thing that surprised me in YS. Perhaps not hearing Shelley use "Bazinga" throughout the series another one.

It’s easy to explain several of these with two observations. 1. Regardless of eidetic memory, the sudden death of a parent will mess with your head. So what happened before George’s death won’t always be remembered accurately afterwards. 2. Adult Sheldon is a narcissist. He has no qualms phrasing anything to either shine the spotlight in himself or make himself the sympathetic victim.

It makes sense that Sheldon was writing his own biography with all the inner monologues in tue show

i think the reason Sheldon researched how to make friends in TBBT is because when he met Tam, he didn’t really use an algorithm. Tam just was friends with him for who he was. when he encounters other people besides Tam as an adult, he realizes that it’s not as easy to make friends as he once thought it might’ve been

I only watched 5 episodes of young Sheldon but no matter what i will always love big bang the show is jus hilarious and full of entertainment with good lessons metaphors as well

Havent finished YS yet. Do we get to see George fight a bobcat for some licorice?

Paige changed her name to Elizabeth Plimpton, Sheldon’s brilliant physicist friend and nymphomaniac.

There's an episode in Young Sheldon in which Billy's sister IS mean to Sheldon. However, adult Sheldon never mentioned her, and most surprisingly, she appeared only on that episode, never again. Billy was a recurrent character, though. About Paige, she could have been Sheldon's first nemesis, the first on his list of enemies. He should have mentioned as the precursor of the list. About his father, Sheldon may have regretted his passing and remained in a state of denial, making the bad memories more present that the good ones. Possibly, in the final season of Young Sheldon we could learn more about this and the change in the relationship with his mother.

I watched the episode where George passed last night. 😢🎉

I think ys was going for more wonder years vibe and it was too late to consider one note details of tbbt

I'm really glad they didn't make Billy a bully. i knew plenty of people like that growing up.

Most of these are explainable. Sheldon doesn't mention friends likely because there was some slight in the past. Tam when he shows up in BBT is show that Sheldon holds him not following him against him. The college friends likely had a similar fallout after graduation. Sheldon is literally shown to have a list of people who wronged him and focuses on the bad things. Sheldon likely was still dealing with grief after his father's death in ways he did not understand. Sheldon has a part of his personality where he only mentions things that are relevant, he doesn't reveal everything. Not referencing something means nothing.

I didn't realize it was 12 years ago since I discover TBBT. That show helped me cope with my father's death

I really wish we got to see what happened with Paige. I always imagined her becoming a great doctor or an astronaut or maybe a rock star! She was more open than Sheldon a d seemed to adjust better.

When Sheldon was talking about not having any friends to help him with his dad's grief, he might have been referring to friends he had at that specific time, which might not have been anyone.

Even if you have an eidetic memory, memories are always biased and based on the persons point of view. That's why eye witness accounts often vary at a crime scene. We the viewers watched Young Sheldon from a 3rd person perspective while Sheldon only remembers everything from his limited 1st person perspective. For example, from his perspective he walked in and saw a glimpse of his father cheating on his mother, but from the viewers perspective we all knew it was his mother role playing with his father. He never saw that the "other woman" was actually his own mom.

One explanation, consisting of two words, could explain all these differences in story continuity - Alternate Realities. The Sheldon Cooper from the Big Band theory is from an alternate reality then Sheldon Cooper of Young Sheldon.

I'm sure that Sheldon's Dad he knows how he feels 🙏. And also I wonder if there's any left of Paige mention her on young Sheldon before ending next week like this is it?. I'm just like none of them are going to mention about Paige

As for Sheldon’s grandmother. It’s more than possible she changed from older age and possibly memory problems. I have seen it happen.

Sheldon didn't say that he didn't have any friends. He said he didn't have any friends to help him get through the loss of his father. With Sheldon leaving to go to Cal Tech and not close to anyone this seems to be the case.

It's revealed in one episode of bbt that sheldon walked in on his dad cheating on his mother, it's likely that because he has such love & admiration for his mom that this stuck with him to the point that it blackened/soured the image of his dad. However because young sheldon is supposed to take place AFTER the last episode of BBT, with the show basically being his biography for his post Nobel-prize win, that Sheldon's shift in attitude towards leonard penny & everyone else before his speech at the end caused him to stop & remember the good about his father & also would explain the other people that he seeming never mentions/refers to negatively during BBT but recalls during Young Sheldon.

Also about Sheldon's father, it is said he was working at a store where he stole money from the cash register. In YS, the father is a football coach.

Remember, in season 7 mary stops babying sheldon and in episode 12 of season 7 mary tells sheldon to go back to dinner after going to his room from a small argument

When Sheldon said he didn't have any friends after his father died, he may have said this because he left Tam, Paige, his dorm friends and everyone else he knew behind because he went to off to college shortly after George Sr. died.

I’m pretty sure CBS came out and said that Young Sheldon was an adaptation to BBT but not completely cannon to every event.

or how about that BBT was written LONG before YS so hence the inconsistencies....

This is a bit of problem with Prequel series as they add some new material not seen in the original

Received a Scottish rite southern jurisdiction medal back in afjrotc in high school didn't realize it was possibly linked to masonry 😮

I always thought, Sheldon's brother Georgie, looks like the kinda kid that would Stand By Me, grow up, and take Mystique from Uncle Jessie. (Kudos to anyone that gets this 🤓)

I still believe Sheldon was an Autistic growing up at a time when Autism was still unheard of and being an adult when Autism was just beginning to become known in the mainstream but he either was never diagnosed or was diagnosed with the results withheld from him!

I’ve wondered when’s the point when Sheldon was “tested,” you know how he said multiple times, “I’m not crazy! My mother had me tested!” I know there was one time an expert took a look at him, but Sheldon ran away to a comic store. I don’t remember if we learned if the doctor came to any conclusion, or if he recommended a follow-up in Houston. And I also wonder why we didn’t see the DixieTrek incident; maybe we could have found out what really happened to Wil Wheaton.

Also, when Sheldon talks about Georgie he said that he just sold tires downplaying him. Remember Georgie becomes the "Tire Doctor" and has franchises all over.

I think Sheldon memory of his dad being bad is a defense mechanism from the trauma of losing him so suddenly like that.

Point 3, in season 7, Mary started to get more stricter and wouldn't let him get away with things

Sheldon didn’t say he was sent to boarding school at 12, he just simply said he was sent for using lasars

Just my perspective, BBT aired years before Young Sheldon, obviously it was supposed to be sheldon centric but we connected with the whole cast. Regarding point 1, we ended up loving George Cooper a lot more. Young sheldon portrayed him to be the best dad and he never cheated & they corrected all wrongs for us ! So let's not think more about the explanations & enjoy we had it !

first few episodes of TBBT are trying to find their place and behavior changes, just like sheldon did not have the three door knocks in the beginning.

I’m glad they brought up Georgie and the family but I feel like Sheldon forgot to mention his niece and what happened to her

I think it's a bit sad that TBBT painted George Sr in such a bad light... Young Sheldon shows that he indeed was a good father. I know, they only did it in BBT for the comedic values, but still. I do like the theories about Sheldon beeing angry that he died too soon and also him beeing able to understand his father better after he became a father himself.

These videos are entertaining and all, but if I had to wager 1) Mucn of BBT was written before any idea of there being a prequel and 2) The Little Sheldon writers realized that they needed to make characters likeable, so much of Sheldon's backstory had to be altered. You can explain it by simply saying that adult Sheldon saw events through his own self-centered point of view and not as a neutral bystander.

I do wonder if at the end of the last episode of Young Sheldon, whether there's going to be a what happened to...

maybe he had bad memories that time because he didn't had kid of his own. from the last season. we know that he is writing his memoir after he had his kid and also because when he revisited his memories he realize how good of a father he was

My theory It's easier for Sheldon to remember the bad things about his father. That way, it listens to pain. I've loosened him so young. Because you remember the good thanks. It hurts worse.

It was Billy’s sister that was his bully but as I remember she was only in one or two episodes then disappeared.

Shelley's Mom had several years between the end of YS and BBT to develop whatever relationship they had later.

6:22 One more plot hole - as we saw in the final season, Mary never left Sheldon alone in Germany 🇩🇪 the whole time he was there.

i heard we are getting a show with georgie and his family? maybe thatll show how meemaw goes from free spirited to what she is in the BBT

You asks these questions and you don't think very well how is Sheldon in BBT and other obvious things. Sheldon liked to exaggerate things, how he woke Leonard up many times to do emergency tests in the middle of the night, or his phobias, etc. He would have exaggerated by his point of view his relationship with Billy, his siblings, and his father. Remember he thought that giving him a dirt bike as Christmas presents instead of something scientist for him was bad parenting. Also, the death of his father could affect his memories. Remember how he was acting when Amy broke up with him, or when he loses his job in the first season how we was distracted doing other stuff. Third, we don't know what happened between when Sheldon arrives to Caltech and TBBT starts. There are a couples of years. And finally, we know that Sheldon always envied Leonard for having a scientist mother who did research on her children. And about his friends, for many years Sheldon didn't tell that he had a twin sister, and on the first season that was a surprised for the group. Or you tell to your nowadays friends about everyone you knew as a child, teen, or youth? So, Sheldon did the same.

I wondered why the actor who played Sheldon‘s dad, played Leonard’s bully!

Meemaw had to change because after she was arrested, she needed new character character development after young sheldon (laundromat problems)

I choose to believe that Young Sheldon and TBBT take place in different universes.

They realized that the characters and events as depicted in the adult show would make for a terrible kids show. So they changed everything. The two shows really have nothing to do with each other.

He was a kid and an unreliable narrator. He admits he had both behaved and thought of his family from childhood in a different way. Especially when it comes to his dad. So it make sense why he describes it differently in big bang theory. He later tells only when he became a father did he realise how wrong he was abt everything. Like abt his father, billy, tammy and a lot.

Maybe Sheldon is really mad at paige to the point he wants to forget her

One of young Sheldon's gaming friends moves to Carlsbad, California, steals his battle ostrich, and gets kicked in the nuts by Penny.

I thought he's done playing Sheldon? Guess that all he can do huh? After he left with selfish reason guess he realize this character is the only thing he can do best💯👍

Is this a re-upload?

I think he was talking about college not school