Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Young Sheldon episode “A Solo Peanut, a Social Butterfly and the Truth.” Read at your own risk!
Young Sheldon's 100th episode didn’t give any big reveals about George Sr.’s potential affair and death, and barely even featured any meaningful nods to The Big Bang Theory. For all that it didn’t do – and Iain Armitage’s enthusiasm had me hopeful it would do something – however, the CBS series dropped a pretty big twist on its audience when it revealed that Georgie got his new older girlfriend Mandy pregnant.
The shocker wasn’t just a big moment for the season, but marked the latest dramatic development in a season that has been drifting away from pure comedy. Young Sheldon co-creator Steve Molaro spoke to TVLine about the increasing number of dramatic storylines this season, and how the 100th episode signals a change in the show.
[W]e were aware of [the shift]. It wasn’t a black-and-white decision, like, ‘Hey, let’s start making this a dramedy.’ There were always elements of it, and a while back we started telling a few of those [more dramatic] stories and it started to feel right. The kids were getting to an age where we could lean into it more, and tell stories that felt like they mattered to us. It has been a natural evolution, which is how we like things to grow when they can, and we’ve stayed more on that road. I think it’s working.
Young Sheldon’s kids are growing up, and with that territory comes opportunities to tell more dramatic stories. The shift opens up the show to go in bolder directions with its storytelling and perhaps even paves the way for the sad events that will happen in Sheldon Cooper’s life, based on the backstory from The Big Bang Theory.
The 17-year-old Georgie is facing the possibility that he’ll soon be a father. Obviously, the situation isn’t great, considering that Mandy only just found out Georgie’s real age and wasn’t happy to learn she slept with a guy who is much younger than her. Pregnancy storylines couldn't exactly have worked in the earlier years, but now Steve Molaro revealed the show could broach that territory.
Moving on, we’re in a really interesting position. We started off with Georgie, Missy and Sheldon ranging from eight to 14-years-old in real life [when we did the pilot]. Now we find ourselves able to tell more interesting, more mature stories with these actors and these characters. That’s a big part of what we’re excited about and how we landed on how the hundredth ends with Georgie.
So, for anyone hoping for more serious storylines (and not more classic Chuck Lorre-inspired jokes) in Young Sheldon going forward, they’re on the way. The tonal shift shouldn’t feel too jarring, considering the show has slowly headed towards heavy storylines over the years, but we’ll see how this change plays out. After all, a “dramedy” is still part comedy, so it’s not like the humor will leave completely.
Young Sheldon airs on CBS on Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. The series rolls on with other returning shows this spring season, which is absolutely loaded with great television. You can also revisit earlier seasons with a subscription to Paramount+.
