Young Sheldon's Lance Barber Thinks The Multidimensional Universe Fan Theory Is Hilarious

"Young Sheldon" may be a prequel and a spin-off to "The Big Bang Theory," but that doesn't mean that the two series don't contradict each other sometimes. For example, the character of George Cooper Sr. was changed to be more sympathetic than he was depicted in Sheldon's recollections of him in "The Big Bang Theory." However, it's possible that adult Sheldon is simply an unreliable source of information about his own father. CBR also points out an incongruity in Sheldon's character, noting that young Sheldon has done a lot of growing as a person, and adult Sheldon shows none of that growth at the beginning of "The Big Bang Theory."

Fans have noticed the inconsistency in Sheldon's character from the prequel to the original series. In a Reddit thread in the r/bigbangtheory subreddit, u/TheoryWriter points out, "Young Sheldon acts like an adult and is more independent. Adult Sheldon is seen and sometimes treated as a child by his friends." However, some fans saw ways that this might not be an inconsistency, as a lot is likely to happen to Sheldon between the events of "Young Sheldon" and the beginning of "The Big Bang Theory." "I think it's just young Sheldon is mature for his age, just like adult Sheldon would be mature for young Sheldon's age but at a point, Sheldon stopped maturing and people his age moved past him," wrote u/soundwithdesign. Whether or not "Young Sheldon" will explain this discrepancy remains to be seen, but inconsistencies like this are pretty typical in sitcoms.

Still, some fans have a different theory that "Young Sheldon" and "The Big Bang Theory" take place in different universes, a theory that Lance Barber (George Sr.) finds laughable.