The Big Bang Theory has finally given us a good look at Jerry O'Connell's appearance as Sheldon's older brother George, and it's just as mullet-tastic as you might have expected. As you can see from the above image, George hasn't managed to let go of his childhood hairstyle, and we can probably also expect that he hasn't changed much from the boy we see on Young Sheldon.
Jerry O'Connell will make his first appearance as George on The Big Bang Theory when Sheldon and Leonard head to Texas after Mary tells Sheldon that she won't attend his wedding unless he invites his brother. This prompts him to head down south to try ending the family feud that's probably kept them apart for quite some time.
As you might imagine, this will somehow lead to George showing up to watch his little brother Sheldon get hitched to his longtime love Amy in the season finale. While George has been mentioned several times over the years, though, he's never come to visit (unlike their Meemaw, Mary and their sister Missy). And, even though Meemaw and Missy have only shown up in California once each to visit Shelly, at least we could tell there was not only no animosity between the family members, but real love and affection. Something tells me that that might not quite be the case with George and Sheldon, though.
While neither of Sheldon's siblings were very nice to him during their childhood, George seemed to have a much harder time dealing with and understanding Sheldon. George is widely regarded as not being very bright, but he surely understood that Sheldon was way smarter than him and special in a way that George would never come close to. Sibling rivalry is no joke, and when a younger sibling outpaces an older sibling in any way it can be especially difficult for that older child to deal with it; this might be why George was known to do things like throw golf balls at Sheldon's head and actually make the shot, leaving a permanent dent in his little brother's incredibly intelligent dome.
The first episode of Young Sheldon actually made a point of letting us know that the two have never gotten along, mostly because George was tired of constantly being compared to his younger brother. This sibling jealousy probably also explains why we've never seen Sheldon and George communicate with one another during the course of eleven seasons of The Big Bang Theory. In fact, earlier this season when Sheldon mentioned to Amy that George was a possibility to be best man at their wedding, it's the first time we've heard him make any mention of contacting George.
Much like the events surrounding Penny and Leonard's second wedding, when we got to know a host of their previously unseen family members, watching George and Sheldon interact as adults for the first time is sure to be wild. I fully expect there to be a lot of pointed barbs about George's lack of intelligence and Sheldon's weirdo tendencies, but there will probably also be the revelation of some hurt feelings on both sides, knowing as we do that family gatherings tend to bring out the worst and best in people. I'm guessing they will both have grown just enough to make amends before the big day.
You can see how the reunion between Jerry O'Connell's George and Sheldon goes when his first episode of The Big Bang Theory airs this Thursday at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
