Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon: The Complete Series

 

Young Sheldon is the prequel series to the popular comedy series The Big Bang Theory (BBT), set around the character of Sheldon Cooper (played by Jim Parsons in the parent series) as a child. It aired for seven seasons from 2017 to 2024. Most of the series is set in the late 1980s to early 1990s, starting with Sheldon starting high school at the age of nine and ending when he goes to college at Caltech at the age of fifteen. The show stars Ian Armitage as the titular young Sheldon, Raegan Revord as Sheldon's twin sister, Missy, Montana Jordan as Sheldon's older brother George Jr./Georgie, Annie Potts as Sheldon's grandmother, Connie (who everyone calls Meemaw), Lance Barber as Sheldon's father, George Sr., and Zoe Perry as Sheldon's mother, Mary. Jim Parsons narrates the series (and appears live in the final episode) in the guise of writing his memoir.

The casting choices of Barber and Perry are interesting. In BBT, Barber played a minor character as Leonard's high-school bully. Perry is the real-life daughter of Laurie Metcalf, who played the older version of Mary in BBT. Thus, Perry looked and sounded very much like a younger version of the character her mother played. Unfortunately, the writers missed a golden opportunity to joke about Sheldon's dad looking exactly like his roommate's high school bully. Emily Osment joined the cast as a recurring character in season five and was promoted to a series regular for the final two seasons.  The show also has a strong supporting, guest, and recurring cast, including Matt Hobby, Wyatt McClure, Wallace Shawn, McKenna Grace, Melissa Peterman, Wendie Malick, Sarah Baker, Reba McEntire, Brian Stepanek, Rex Linn, Ryan Phuong, Craig T. Nelson, Jason Alexander, Richard Kind, Ed. Begley Jr., Doc Farrow, David Hasselhoff, and Robert Picardo. Some members of the BBT cast also appear in voice roles. Kaley Cuoco voices a swimming pool in Sheldon's nightmare, Simon Helberg voices his character Howard from the BBT, and Mayim Bialik voices her character Amy in a couple of Sheldon's narrations. Bialik also appears live in the series finale along with Parsons.

The Blu-Ray set is a 14-disc set with two discs per season. It comes in a large keep case and an outer slipcover. The discs are held in tabs that can be difficult to remove the discs from at times, and at other times the discs fall off them. Some seasons include bonus features such as behind-the-scenes material featuring interviews with cast and crew members. A couple of the seasons do not have any bonus content. The A/V quality of the Blu-ray discs is excellent. Although the series does not rely much on special effects, it looks and sounds great in HD. The content of the discs is the same as the single-season releases, so you do not get anything different if you already have those.

The series is very different from BBT. Where BBT is a straight sitcom filmed in front of an audience and uses a laugh track, Young Sheldon is filmed more like a movie and includes much more drama in the storylines than the parent series did. I would say the series looks and feels more like The Wonder Years than it does BBT.  While the character of Sheldon is the focus of the series, especially early on, because of the time frame it is set in, it can focus on the other characters. While all the actors do a great job with their characters, Potts and Revord are great early in the series, stealing nearly every scene they are in. Throughout the series, the character of Georgie probably changes the most, and Montana Jordan does a fantastic job as the series goes along. 

Several easter eggs in the series refer to or connect with things from BBT, such as the origin of Bazinga, why Sheldon uses the word coitus, and how he came up with the three-knocks routine. And, for those who were kids in the 80s and 90s, there are some great blasts from the past. The writers also retcon and/or add context to some elements of Sheldon's past referred to in BBT, the largest being Sheldon's reference to seeing his father kissing another woman. The series is well-written and very well-acted. Armitage and Perry did an excellent job making their characters (the two characters seen most in BBT) their own without copying everything Jim Parsons and Laurie Metcalf did. Lance Barber was wonderful as a charming, caring, and tough father who struggles to understand Sheldon, struggles to connect with Missy, and wants more for Georgie. While you do not need to have seen BBT to follow what is going on in Young Sheldon, it does help to have watched BBT first. It is worth noting that Parson's narrations reveal things that happened to Sheldon after BBT ended, which may spoil that series for people watching Young Sheldon first. Ultimately, if you liked or loved BBT, this is a must-watch. If you just like period shows or wholesome family shows, regardless of whether you liked or even watched BBT, this is also worth watching.        

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon: Season 7

 

The 14-episode seventh and final season of Young Sheldon aired during the spring of 2024. The series was given a shorter season to wrap up the various storylines, which primarily involved getting Sheldon to Caltech and dealing with the significant death that Those who watched The Big Bang Theory always knew was coming. Within those major arcs, we also see the aftermath of the tornado that destroyed Connie's house at the end of Season 6. We also see Sheldon's summer in Germany, where he was not the smartest person in his class for once, and we see Connie get busted (finally) for running the illegal gambling room at the back of the laundromat and video store. The writers also focus on Georgie and Mandy's relationship and acclimation to being parents, which sets the stage for their spin-off show. We also learn that adult Sheldon's narration during the series is due to him writing his memoir as he has been going through the events of his childhood. 

All the main cast members returned for this season, and the show brought back several of the supporting and recurring cast members, including some who had not been seen in a while, such as Ryan Phoung, Mary Grill, and Reba McEntire. Jason Alexander and McKenna Grace were the only two major recurring cast members who did not appear this season. This season, the two notable guest stars were Robert Picardo, who played Sheldon's German professor, and Octavia Spencer, who played Connie's parole officer. Mayim Bialik and Jim Parsons also appear in the series finale (live, not just with voiceover roles). 

The blu-ray set is a two-disc set. The episodes can be played with English captions, and the second disc has one bonus feature. The only extra is a featurette on the easter eggs in the series that tied Young Sheldon to the Big Bang Theory. It ends up being a series retrospective and includes interviews with cast members and showrunners. The season is very good. The writers do an excellent job wrapping up the series and retconning the storyline we thought we would get (and they teased) about George cheating on Mary. We get the full context for what happened when Sheldon walked in on his father kissing another woman (which he mentioned in The Big Bang Theory) and see the origin of his "three knocks" routine. The end of the series was very emotional, especially the first part of the series finale, and the cast did a wonderful job in their roles, as usual. The final scene, with Sheldon arriving at Caltech, was perfect (and included a cameo appearance by David Saltzberg, the science consultant for both The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon). Ultimately, if you liked the show's first six seasons, this is absolutely worth your time to watch to see how it (and the vast majority of Sheldon's arc) is concluded.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon: Season 6

 

The 22-episode sixth season of Young Sheldon aired during the 2022/2023 TV season. The show continues to blend procedural and serial story arcs, although this season the focus was more on the serial arcs. Most of the season's serial storyline involves Mandy's (played by Emily Osment, who was promoted to a series regular) pregnancy and her relationship with Georgie and the family. We also meet Mandy's parents, played by Will Sasso and Rachel Bay Jones. George and Mary's relationship troubles come to a head when George's feelings for Brenda and Mary's feelings for Pastor Rob come to a head. Missy and Sheldon also have substantial story arcs this season, with Missy's involving teenage angst and Sheldon working on an invention while trying to position himself for grad school. Connie's storylines intertwine with Georgie and Mandy. She gives Mandy a job and a place to stay while running her illegal gambling operation. All of the series regulars return for the sixth season, as do many of the significant supporting and recurring cast, including McKenna Grace, Wallace Shawn, Ed Begley Jr., Rex Linn, Matt Hobby, Craig T. Nelson, Doc Farrow, Wendie Malick, Melissa Peterman, and Wyatt McClure. And, of course, Jim Parsons continues to narrate the series.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. There are no bonus features with the physical media release this season, but the episodes can be played with English captions. The lack of bonus content on the Blu-Ray release is disappointing, but since not all shows get a physical media release (especially a Blu-Ray release), it is better than nothing for those who prefer physical media.

The show continues to have an excellent blend of drama and humor. The writers do a great job continuing to develop all the characters, especially Georgie. Montana Jordan is wonderful in all his scenes this year and has really run with his expanded role beyond just being the "other kid" as he was in the first few seasons. Unlike the first few seasons, Sheldon is not the focus of every episode, which is ultimately good because it gives the other actors more to work with. Ian Armitage still does an excellent job with his version of Sheldon, which is still quite different from The Big Bang Theory version of the character. However, now that Armitage is getting older and his voice has changed, it is a bit weird because he sounds nothing like Jim Parsons which is only emphasized when you hear Parson's voice. Ultimately, if you liked seasons 1-5, this season is worth watching. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon: Season 5

 

The 22-episode fifth season of Young Sheldon aired during the 2021/2022 TV season. The entire main cast returned, as did the major supporting and recurring cast members, including McKenna Grace, Reba McEntire, Ed Begley Jr., Wallace Shawn, Craig T. Nelson, Rex Linn, Matt Hobby, Wyatt McClure, Melissa Peterman, Wendie Malick, Doc Farrow, etc. Dan Bryd and Emily Osment join the cast in significant recurring roles.  Both are included as a part of major storylines toward the end of the season. This season's guest stars include Ming Na Wen, Penn and Teller, and Lance Reddick. The writers continue to use a combination of procedural and serial storytelling. The major serial arcs this season include the fallout from George and Brenda flirting with each other at the bar. We learn that George just had chest pains, not an actual heart attack. Throughout the season, his relationship with Mary becomes strained because of his guilt toward flirting with Brenda and Mary's relationship with a new youth pastor (played by Bryd). Other storylines include Sheldon going to college full-time and becoming a research assistant to Dr. Linkletter, Connie buying a laundromat with slot machines in the back room, Missy becoming a moody teenager, and a major storyline involving Georgie that will extend into season six. We also discover the reason for Sheldon's hatred of engineering, which includes a great voice cameo by Simon Helberg.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The only extra is a behind-the-scenes featurette on the series' 100th episode that occurs this season. There are no deleted scenes, no gag reel, or commentary tracks, however. The show continues to be strong, with an excellent blend of humor and drama. The writers do a good job of developing the characters and continue to drop easter eggs that tie into the parent series, The Big Bang Theory. Jim Parsons continues to narrate the show, and his narrations (along with another voice appearance by Mayim Bialik) continue to provide details of Sheldon's life after The Big Bang Theory ended. The cast members all do a wonderful job in their roles, and the writers give all the actors great material to work with. While the show is centered around Sheldon, he is a secondary character in some episodes, allowing the storylines to focus on the other characters. So, if you liked the first four seasons, this is absolutely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon Season 3

 

The 21-episode third season of Young Sheldon aired during the 2019/2020 TV season. It is, of course, the spinoff series of The Big Bang Theory, telling essentially weekly stories of Sheldon as a 10-year-old growing up in Medford, Texas, in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It differs from the parent series in that it is not filmed in front of an audience and is supplemented by a laugh track. It has more drama blended into it than BBT, and more long-running themes are tied into the various weekly hijinks. So, it uses more of a blend of serial and procedural storylines, whereas BBT's storylines were mostly procedural for the bulk of its run. Plus, the show has a great 1980s soundtrack and is narrated by Jim Parsons as adult Sheldon, allowing the show to drop hints about what happened to the character post-BBT.

The show continues to be well written and acted, with all the various actors, Iain Armitage, Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, Raegan Revord, and Annie Potts, getting ample storylines devoted to their characters and knocking their performances out of the park. The show does a great job not just focusing on the character of Sheldon but also developing all of the characters and giving great material to all members of the very large ensemble cast. The big storyline for Sheldon in season three is whether (and where) he should attend college, as he does not find high school challenging. This causes a lot of friction between Sheldon and his parents. Another standout storyline is Missy trying to get on a little league baseball team. That storyline introduces Craig T. Nelson as a recurring character in the show, as Missy's coach, Georgie's boss, and a potential love interest for MeeMaw. I will not go too much into the various storylines to keep from spoiling anything, but the themes this season are very good, and the show is definitely not getting stale. Most of the recurring and supporting cast return this season, including Wallace Shawn, McKenna Grace, Rex Linn, and Ed Begley Jr. 

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. While it is a MOD disc, it includes English captions, and the episodes can be played in a play-all mode that allows you to pick up where you stop, even in the middle of an episode. The extras are very bare-bones. It just includes a short behind-the-scenes feature of the show's setting in the 1980s. So, if you only get the physical discs when there are a lot of bonus features, then you may just want to stick to streaming this. Ultimately, the show continues to be strong and is absolutely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon Season 2

 

The 22-episode second season of Young Sheldon (which also aired concurrently with BBT's final season) aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. It provided more character development for all the main characters, fleshed out storylines for all the characters (even if just for an episode or two), and brought the show solidly into the "dramedy" category with many touching and even sad moments. All the main cast members returned for season 2, and the show expanded the roles of some supporting characters such as Pastor Jeff (played by Matt Hobby) and Veronica Duncan (played by Isabel May). Wallace Shawn's role was greatly expanded (to almost a series regular) and the show added Ed Begley Jr. as a rival to Dr. Sturgis and Mckenna Grace as a recurring rival child genius to Sheldon. I will not go too into storylines, but we did see moments referenced on the BBT (like Sheldon trying to build a nuclear reactor to power the neighborhood), and in the season finale a very touching scene with the BBT characters as children.

The blu-ray set is a two-disc MOD set. It has no extras, just the episodes with English captions (which can be hit-and-miss on MOD sets). So, if you only get the physical discs when there are a lot of extras, then you will probably just want to stream this. Overall, the show continues to be very good, and definitely not a carbon copy of BBT. Ian Armitage continues to make the character of Sheldon his own while doing a great job at giving glimpses of Jim Parson's version of Sheldon, Annie Potts is hilarious, and Regan Revord steals every scene she is in. It is absolutely worth watching, especially if you liked the first season.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Young Sheldon Season 1

 

Young Sheldon is a prequel to the long-running series The Big Bang Theory and serves as an origin story for the character of Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons on The Big Bang Theory. The 22-episode first season aired during the 2017/2018 TV season. It stars Ian Armitage, Lance Barber, Zoey Perry, Annie Potts, Montana Jordan, and Raegan Revord. Jim Parsons narrates the show and sometimes drops hints about what happened in Sheldon's life after BBT ended. It is set in Texas in 1989 when Sheldon (played by Iain Armitage) and his twin sister Missy (played by Raegan Revord) are 9 years old. Sheldon is starting ninth grade (in the same class as his older brother Georgie (played by Montana Jordan)), which neither of them likes very much. Zoe Perry plays the younger version of Sheldon's mother, Mary (and who also happens to be the real-life daughter of Laurie Metcalf, who plays Sheldon's mother on BBT). Lance Barber plays Sheldon's father, George, a football coach at the high school, and Annie Potts as Connie/Meemaw, Sheldon's grandmother.

The show, while being a half-hour sitcom, is very different from BBT, which works well for the show. Firstly, and most notably, it is not filmed in front of an audience and has no laugh track. So, it has much more of a Wonder-Years-like feel, with Jim Parsons acting as the narrator. Secondly, it does not try to be a carbon copy of BBT, especially where the character of Sheldon is concerned. It is not like watching grown-up Sheldon in a nine-year-old's body. The producers and writers went out of their way to make the younger version of Sheldon different than his older self, with glimpses of who he would grow into. For example, he dressed and acted like an adult as a kid. In his 30s, he dresses and acts more like a kid. He is also not as cynical as he is as an adult, but you can see how he was starting to become cynical at that age. The show definitely would not work as well if the showrunners had not taken that approach. That said, there are plenty of references to things we eventually see in BBT, so the two shows are tied together well.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. The episodes have English captions, and the second disc includes a couple of behind-the-scenes extras. The A/V quality is good but not super important, given that there are not a ton of special effects (other than de-aging Bob Newhart, who appears as Professor Proton). Overall, the show is well-written and very well-acted. While it is definitely a sitcom with a story-of-the-week flavor, it can also be considered a dramedy because it has very warm and heartfelt moments. Raegan Revord and Annie Potts steal every scene they are in. Revord really nails the character of Missy and makes you wish the character would have been around more in the parent series. Montana Jordan is also great as George Jr. and looks enough like Jerry O'Connell that you can buy that is who he will become. The show has pretty good continuity with BBT, other than the casting of Barber, who played a different role on BBT, but given that it was a small, one-off role, it is not really a big deal. If you are a fan of BBT, especially if you are a fan of the character of Sheldon, this is definitely a must-watch.

Blu-Ray review: Young Sheldon Season 4

 

The 18-episode fourth season of Young Sheldon aired during the 2020/2021 TV season. It is the first season of the show after the COVID-19 lockdown. As a result, it was a shorter season, and it started later in the year (November) than the usual September or October premiere dates that network shows usually get. The first episode is really the third season finale, which was not completed by the time production shut down in season three. Then, the rest of the season is really focused on Sheldon's first semester in college. Because the show is set in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they could not directly reference the pandemic (aside from in the cards at the very end of the credits), but the writers did find a clever way of doing remote learning 1990s style and made a joke about how it would become the wave of the future. The show continues to mix procedural and serial storylines this season. The primary storyline involves Sheldon adjusting to life in college, Georgie trying to make money, and Missy's first relationship. We also see the beginnings of the storyline that would lead to Mary and George's marriage falling apart before he dies, which was referenced in The Big Bang Theory.

While Sheldon is, naturally, the focus of the series, the show does a good job of giving all of the characters (even some supporting characters like Billy and Brenda) substantial story arcs this year. The entire cast does a great job, and Iain Armitage, Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, Raegan Revord, and Annie Potts all had standout moments during the season. The show also featured many of the same recurring and guest stars, including Rex Linn, Jason Alexander, Wallace Shawn, Reba McEntire, Craig T. Nelson, Ed Begley Jr., Ryan Phuong, Matt Hobby, and McKenna Grace. Wendie Malick is a new recurring character this season. Mayim Bialik has a voice appearance during one of Shldon's narrations, and David Hasselhoff has a hilarious cameo appearance.

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The episodes are divided between the two discs, and on the second disc, there is a short feature of the cast having Zoom calls with each other during the lockdown. So, not a ton of extras by any means. Overall, the show is very good, with a great cast and good writing. For those new to this show and Big Bang Theory, you definitely want to watch BBT first because Jim Parsons (adult Sheldon) narrates this show and updates Sheldon's life after BBT, which will spoil some of what happens in BBT. But if you have liked the prior seasons of the show, then this one is definitely worth watching.