“Young Sheldon” may be ending its run, but that’s not the end of the line for “The Big Bang Theory” universe. According to insiders, CBS is nearing a deal with Warner Bros. TV for a direct-to-series order on a “Young Sheldon” spinoff that focuses on the characters of Georgie and Mandy. (Both CBS and Warner Bros. TV declined comment.)
“Young Sheldon” executive producers Steve Holland, Steven Molaro and Chuck Lorre would be behind the spinoff series as well, and are expected to write the first episode together. And here’s the twist: The Georgie and Mandy spinoff is being planned as a multi-camera comedy — unlike the single-camera “Young Sheldon.”
That could rep the first time that a multi-camera sitcom (“The Big Bang Theory”) was spun off to a single-camera comedy (“Young Sheldon”), which then in turn is spun-off back to another multi-camera show. Stars Montana Jordan and Emily Osment, who play Georgie and Mandy on “Young Sheldon,” are currently in talks to reprise their roles on the proposed spinoff.
On “Young Sheldon,” Jordan’s character Georgie (full name George Marshall “Georgie” Cooper Jr.) is the older brother of Sheldon (and Sheldon’s twin sister Missy). In Season 5, Georgie is 17 when he meets 29-year-old Amanda “Mandy” McAllister (played on “Young Sheldon” by Osment). They begin a relationship while lying to each other about their ages — which becomes an even bigger problem when Mandy winds up pregnant.
Mandy gives birth in Season 6 to their child, Constance Cooper (named after Meemaw), and by the end of last season, Georgie and Mandy are engaged.
However, “The Big Bang Theory” fans know that Georgie and Mandy aren’t meant to last: In the present day, it’s revealed that Georgie (played by Jerry O’Connell) has two ex-wives — one of whom is presumably Mandy. Also in the “Big Bang Theory” timeline, Georgie has become the successful owner of the Dr. Tire chain.
The spinoff comes as “Young Sheldon” prepares to launch its seventh and final season on Feb. 15, leading up to a one-hour series finale on May 16.“Young Sheldon” originally premiered in 2017, while “The Big Bang Theory” wrapped up its run in 2020 after launching in 2007.
“Being able to tell the origin of Sheldon Cooper, and expanding the story to include the entire Cooper family has been a wonderful experience,” Holland, Molaro and Lorre said in a joint statement last November. “We are grateful to our fans for embracing this chapter of the Coopers these past six seasons.”
Now, it looks like there is reason for viewers to expect more Cooper family tales, as a spinoff bridges a bit more of the gap between “Young Sheldon” and “The Big Bang Theory” timelines.
Should the Georgie and Mandy show proceed, it also keeps a Chuck Lorre presence on CBS. With both “Young Sheldon” and “Bob Hearts Abishola” leaving the air this spring as they wrap their final seasons, there was a chance that CBS might be without a Lorre show for the first time in decades. But the Georgie and Mandy spin-off would keep the Lorre/CBS/Warner Bros. TV streak alive.
The “Young Sheldon” spinoff is separate from the “Big Bang Theory” spinoff that Lorre also has in the works at Max, via his overall deal at Warner Bros. Television. That one is believed to be an hour-long series featuring a mostly new cast with potential for known “Big Bang” stars to appear in guest spots.
