Young Sheldon Fans Can't Seem To Agree On This Big Aspect Of The Show
In the waning days of "The Big Bang Theory" and its dominion over the small screen, CBS elected to keep the franchise alive. To do so, the powers that be chose to focus in on one of its breakout characters, Sheldon Cooper, but not the version actor Jim Parsons brought to life for years. Instead, "Big Bang Theory" fans would go back decades to see what he was like as a kid growing up in Medford, Texas. With Iain Armitage cast as the child version of the character, "Young Sheldon" was born.
Arriving on CBS in 2017 — two years before "The Big Bang Theory" would take its final bow –, "Young Sheldon" performed well with general TV viewers and critics alike (via Rotten Tomatoes), affording it the opportunity to continue on. By October of 2021, it kicked off Season 5 strong, with Season 6 and Season 7 in the pipeline (via The Hollywood Reporter), making it abundantly clear just how big of a hit "Young Sheldon" had become. Still, that doesn't mean that the fanbase adores everything about the series.
Among "Young Sheldon" fans, this important element of the show has sown some division. Here's why the community can't come to a consensus on it and what both sides of the argument have to say.
Is Young Sheldon losing its comedic edge?
In May of 2022, Reddit user Mystique_7 opened a thread with a question: has "Young Sheldon" deviated too far away from its comedic side? In posing this question, they also ran a poll on the subject that yielded some interesting results. Of the 275 votes, 80 people agreed, 95 disagreed, and 100 sat somewhere in the middle. The replies to the initial post were just as varied, with some explaining that "Young Sheldon" should embrace the drama and not force comedy at the wrong time, while others posited that the show is better off keeping a lighter, funnier tone.
At the end of the day, "Young Sheldon" is all about exploring the title character's turbulent upbringing. Therefore, sometimes the series has to go into darker territory, especially bearing in mind some of the more somber elements of Sheldon's backstory that "Big Bang Theory" set up years ago. According to co-creator Steve Molaro, that's why "Young Sheldon" isn't 100% comedy. "We try to honor those stories but also like to find unexpected ways for them to play out," he told TV Line (via Express), adding that life is complicated, and that's something worth exploring.
Some "Big Bang Theory" fans expected "Young Sheldon" to carry the same colorful, comedic tone as its predecessor, but that's clearly not the case. It doesn't shy away from touching on heavy topics ranging from adultery to even death. Nevertheless, the debate over whether that's one of the prequel's strengths or weaknesses will rage on for years to come.