I fully expected this show to be irredeemably bad. I was shocked that it was actually pretty good. I found it to be relatively thoughtful, which was very surprising. I expected it to be Sheldon but young. Sheldon’s family is played very well. All in all, I’ll definitely watch the next couple of episodes and see if it remains as enjoyable to watch.
Given the quality of Big Bang Theory, I expect this to be about the same. I’m entertained by Big Bang Theory (I’m a nerd not offended by the nerd jokes), and expect this will be entertaining, too, if I remember to subscribe to it. Sometimes poorly made things are fun to watch.
The interviews I’ve read with the kid sound like he’s exactly like his character.
Just got done watching it. I’d already seen most of the episode, from the previews. I’ll give it two or three more weeks to see if it gets better.
The thing that creeped me out most was at the end–the obviously CGI Professor Proton.
I enjoyed the entire family, except maybe the older brother. If this goes ten years like TBBT it’d be interesting to see if his sister develops into a gorgeous teen and young adult as seen on her appearance on S01E15.
I liked the church sequence and when the school teachers gave their input. Casting Laurie Metcalf’s daughter as the younger version of the mother was a stroke of genius; it nearly felt it was Laurie to begin with.
I currently have an “high-functioning autistic” male student (my social worker daughter says Asperger’s is no longer an accepted term in the DSM) in one of my classes, and although he’s about 20, his behavior is similar to young Sheldon’s: insightful and totally right and yet totally wrong observations and comments in class. Let’s see if they pin a diagnosis on Sheldon; as an adult he said that his mother DID have him tested…
I wish they would continue the series now instead of waiting until November; I want to see more, which surprised me because I anticipated a trainwreck (something Sheldon would surely enjoy).
Well, I was wrong. It was much more entertaining than I expected it to be. The lack of a laugh track is nice. I think the casting is good except for Sheldon. I know that Sheldon is supposed to be stiff but it comes across to me more like the kid just isn’t an actor. The dad is a much more sympathetic character than the one described on TBBT. The mom is perfect. The siblings are good, if annoying, like most siblings are. I hope they cast Sheldon’s grandfather since the two were so close.
I’ll keep watching for now.
Dad hasn’t descended into full-blown alcoholism yet. And Sheldon did appear to have some good memories of his dad on a few episodes.
And potentially the alcoholism could explain Sheldon losing some of the empathy people were commenting on earlier in the thread.
Liked the show - they’re obviously not going for full comedy ala TBBT, so that may throw people as they start watching this. Hopefully it will get a chance to gain an audience.
I enjoyed it. If it were a new show, and not a Big Bang prequel, I think people would be kinder to it.
Jim Parson’s voice overs were excellent!
Young Sheldon’s family reminds me of mine. Guess who was young Sheldon? My oldest brother was Georgie, and my younger sister Missy.
The parents are extremely well played. I hope Laurie Metcalf does a guest shot as Mary’s mother.
It’s pretty sad. The show was depressing to watch, and can only get more depressing unless Young Sheldon becomes a character that does not turn into Old Sheldon. Hopefully this bad idea ends soon.
I agree with TriPolar. We know how adult Sheldon turns out, he is a deeply damaged human being. Watching the processes that turn a moderately quirky and gifted child into the train wreck that is Sheldon in the first season of The Big Bang Theory can’t be enjoyable.
Sure, by season 11 of TBBT Sheldon has undergone significant growth, but what the hell happens to turn him into season 1 Sheldon?
I’m not sure how they can have the father descend into full-blown alcoholism and have this remain a sitcom. So I doubt that will occur. Actually, they may not stick with the details of Sheldon’s childhood as we’ve been told. For example, he’s supposed to have started college at eleven, and he’s nine now. So if they do that, they would have to replace the entire supporting cast of teachers and other students.
I’m not a fan of TBBT but watch it because my kids do (and I like watching TV with them even if I hate what’s on TV). I expected to loathe this show and instead really enjoyed it (which pretty much guarantees it will be cancelled by Halloween, sorry). If it survives hopefully it’s an alternate universe where Sheldon turns out better than TBBT Sheldon. It’s fiction, that’s allowed.
I experienced attending classes at a University when I was 12. The scenes of him walking in to the school with other students looming over him definitely gave me flashbacks. They got that part right.
When it returns I’ll give it another episode or 2 to see what happens. I wasn’t very good but it also didn’t suck.
I suspect you’re right. I bet the Venn diagram of people who like this and TBBT has a relatively small intersection. A lot of people who dislike TBBT won’t be willing to give this a try and a lot of people who like TBBT will be angry that this isn’t more of the same.
Zoe Perry did an outstanding job of mimicking Laurie Metcalf’s voice and mannerisms. I barely even recognized her from her psycho-killer role on Scandal.
She’s Laurie Metcalf’s daughter. I bet she had a lot of practice mimicking that voice when she was a teenager.
I happened to actually have the TV on last night and caught the last half of the first episode. It was surprisingly good, funny with no audience/laugh track but also touching too. I thought the family had potential too, his sister was funny and seemed to kind of get Sheldon. The one brother with the short hair was weird/dumb, the other that had to attend high school classes with Sheldon was annoyed over it. Good setup, as long as the “Sheldon has no social clue” trope doesn’t get too worn out I could see this being good for a season or two.
There was only one brother. The neighbor kid with the chicken was maybe who you were thinking of? I assume that was a reference to adult Sheldon’s fear of birds.
Right. Georgie (George Cooper Jr) is Sheldon’s only brother.
Sheldon’s reaction to his missing bow tie was spot on.
When Sheldon and Missy were watching TV, how come there was no reference to “sitting on my spot”?
Annie-Xmas:
From what I recall of her appearance in the first season of TBBT, Missy had, as a child, proven herself completely capable of overpowering Sheldon. I imagine that young Sheldon is not able to push young Missy around the way adult Sheldon can push Leonard around.