Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage episode "Typhoid Georgie." Stream it with a Paramount+ subscription and read at your own risk!
I expected tears to fall when Lance Barber reprised his role as George Sr. on Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage. Instead, I was hit with what may be one of the most WTF moments I've seen on the 2025 TV schedule so far, but I loved it. While there was a larger message to George Sr.'s return on the CBS sitcom, I can't get over how they turned him into a zombie for a delightful scare.
Georgie's father returned amidst an episode in which the main character came down with a rather nasty virus and had to be forced to leave work by his father-in-law. Georgie said that his father didn't believe in taking time off as a man, no matter the circumstances. Despite everyone hinting to him the entire episode that there might be a lesson in that, he wasn't taking the hint. Only Mandy's brother Connor addressed the elephant in the room of George Sr.'s untimely passing, and it wasn't received well.
While he continued to struggle, Georgie did relent and go home where he dreamed he hung out with his dad in the Cooper family kitchen. While they enjoyed pancakes, he filled his dad in on everything happening in his life, as well as the fact that he had to go home sick from work. George Sr. was upset to hear that, and demanded that Georgie get back to it. The young man went to hug his father one last time before waking, only for his dad to turn into a zombie and yell at him to get back to work. Check out the picture below:
Once the shock of the scene wore off, I couldn't help but applaud Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage for such a wild stunt. In almost every interview I've read about whether George Sr. would return, it was always discussed with reverence and respect.
When this cameo was officially announced, never in a million years would I have expected there was going to be a jumpscare in the segment, but I'm so glad it happened. Whoever decided George Sr. should be a zombie for a split second deserves a raise, because that was quite a hilarious twist I greatly appreciated.
I also appreciated that Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage made it apparent that this was Georgie remembering his father in a dream, rather than some supernatural appearance. That's my assumption anyway, because I would like to think if George Sr. was appearing to his son from the afterlife, he'd probably admit he should've taken better care of himself and not pushed his health so hard. It seems like Georgie came to that conclusion on his own, and will be there for his daughter for a long time.
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage airs on CBS on Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. This couple keeps surviving all the potential reasons they might split, so I'm just ready to see when the shoe drops and we finally see these two head closer to divorce.
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