Being a spin-off usually means having a good launch platform, especially when you come out as a spin-off from a series as successful as The Big Bang Theory, but the bar is also usually very high and there are few series that survive expectations and the audiences, after a while. But, when it comes to Young Sheldon, the physicist can be proud: the American channel CBS has announced that the seventh season, pending production and broadcast, will be the last.
“As a prequel to one of the greatest comedies, Young Sheldon proved that lightning can strike twice in the same place. It differentiated itself with an outstanding cast that felt like a family from the first moment we saw them on screen,” explained Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, in a statement reproduced by The Hollywood Reporter. “Being able to tell the origin of Sheldon Cooper, and expand his story to include the entire Cooper family has been a wonderful experience,” concluded Steve Holland, executive producer of the spin-off.
Premiering in September 2017, Young Sheldon attempted to repeat the success of The Big Bang Theory while the original series was still airing. It narrated the childhood (and later the entry into adolescence) of Sheldon Cooper, the brilliant physicist but with socialization problems, in a deep America that did not exactly value science and, instead, bought the dogmas of religion. Iain Armitage, who had become known in Big Little Lies, played the character with Jim Parsons serving as narrator and executive producer.
During the first two seasons, Young Sheldon coincided in programming with the final seasons of The Big Bang Theory, which in turn marked the end of an era: that of the massive sitcom, becoming the heir (in numerical terms) of Friends. The prequel, however, tried to find its essence even by deviating in the format: instead of being a sitcom with a live audience, it was a comedy without laughs that prioritized the search for tenderness instead of laughter.
The play went well for them. It didn't get the audiences of the adult physicist gang but it managed to be the channel's most watched series last season. The end of Young Sheldon, which is scheduled for next spring or early summer when the seventh season has aired, indicates that The Big Bang Theory universe will disappear from television. It won't be forever.
Warner Bros Television already has Chuck Lorre preparing another series derived from The Big Bang Theory for Max, its content platform. Which characters will be recovered and which actors could return, however, it is still unknown pending more details.
