Top 10 Things About Young Sheldon That Make No Sense to a The Big Bang Theory Fan

It might sound a bit odd to say that it makes no sense that the Cooper family’s house on “Young Sheldon” isn’t on blocks - but according to older Sheldon, it should be. You see, in a season one “Big Bang” episode, Sheldon mentions to Penny that he was sick while in Germany one time and his mother had to leave him there to get back home because [“the house had slipped off the cinderblocks again”.] Well, maybe they’ll move into a house on cinder blocks in a future season, but as of season 6, the house young Sheldon lives in is big and is definitely sitting on a proper foundation.

As “Big Bang” fans know, Sheldon Cooper has a lot of rules. Don’t sit in his spot, don’t touch his food, don’t whistle, and don’t sing “Soft Kitty” to someone unless they’re sick. And for the most part, the prequel series lives up to the latter with Sheldon’s mother singing “Soft Kitty” to her sick son. But then in season four, not only is the “Soft Kitty” rule broken, but it’s also broken by Sheldon himself. A young Sheldon, in the midst of learning to ride a bike, calms his nerves at night by singing “Soft Kitty” to himself. Not to nitpick here, but determined and brave is not “sick”!

So, we know that Shelly is 9-years-old in 1989 in the first season of “Young Sheldon”. We also know that he starts college at age 11. However, in the fourth “Big Bang” episode when he’s fired from the university, Sheldon mentions to Leonard that he’s spent the last three and a half years working. Before that he spent four years on his thesis and prior to that he was in college. It doesn’t take a genius to know that all this comes to eleven and a half years, assuming that he was in college for 4 years, of course. Which means if he started college at 11 he should be 22 or 23 at that point. But in the first season of “The Big Bang Theory,” he’s 27. So, where did those extra years in between go?

It’s a great moment in the spin-off series when a nine-year-old Sheldon, who previously had no interest in comic books, discovers the X-Men and changes his tune. However, while “Young Sheldon” fans surely enjoyed it, “Big Bang” fans were probably thinking about how it made no sense. You see, as we all learned on “The Big Bang Theory”, Sheldon Cooper was into comic books at a way younger age than nine. And we know this because he had an honorary Justice League of America card at five years old. And then there was the time that his sister’s friends lied and told him that Batman was coming to his 6th birthday party. Seems the X-Men weren’t Sheldon’s first foray into comic books and superheroes.

Schedules, contracts, road trip seating charts… Sheldon loves them all. Any excuse to create a schedule or draw up a contract and he’s happier than a pig in… well, you know what. But apparently that love for schedules came to Sheldon later in life. In “Young Sheldon” season five, Sheldon agrees to loan out his unused dorm room to other students for studying (at least that’s what he thinks it’s for). However, as more and more students want time in the room, Sheldon gets a little annoyed with all the scheduling involved. So much so that he decides to just put up a signup sheet. Doesn’t sound like the Sheldon “Big Bang” fans know.

One of the few people that Sheldon ever considered an intellectual equal was Stephen Hawking. So, when Howard started working with him, Sheldon was, of course, desperate to get an introduction. He begged his friend, even telling him about the time, as a six year old, he dressed up as Hawking for Halloween. Or about the time he went with his dad to CalTech to hear Hawking speak. No wait, he didn’t mention that one did he? That’s right: he never mentioned the fact that he had been in a room with Hawking years earlier. We’d say he probably just forgot - but we know Sheldon doesn’t forget. Looks like the “Young Sheldon” writers did though.

As we learned in the original series, some of the biggest influences in Sheldon’s life were probably Stephen Hawking, Professor Proton and his grandfather, Pop-Pop. But throughout the show’s 12 year run not once did Sheldon even mention Dr. Sturgis. Who is Dr. John Sturgis you ask? Well, according to “Young Sheldon,” he was a guest professor of physics at East Texas Tech who became close to, and a role model for, a young Sheldon. Sturgis also dated Sheldon’s MeeMaw. And yet older Sheldon seems to have completely forgotten about him and his influence on his younger years.

When Sheldon’s twin sister Missy comes to visit on “The Big Bang Theory,” she tells Leonard and Howard a story about the time he converted her EasyBake Oven into a furnace. Why, you ask? Well, as she and Sheldon confirmed, it was an attempt to keep her out of his room. And if you only started watching “Young Sheldon” in season five, then maybe that makes sense. But the issue comes with the fact that for the first four seasons of the show, Sheldon and Missy shared a room. So, maybe the Easy-Bake incident happened after Missy moved into her own space? Nope, in her story she quotes their ages at the time as being 8-years-old - and they’re already 9 when the series begins.

One of the most frustrating differences between “The Big Bang Theory” and its prequel series is the portrayal of Sheldon’s father George Sr. For most of the “Big Bang” run, Sheldon’s dad - who had passed away by then - was presented to us as having been an overweight, not too bright absentee father with alcohol use disorder. However, that isn’t at all who he is on “Young Sheldon”. Sure, he enjoys his beer, but he definitely isn’t the angry drunk described to us on the OG series. And as for being an absentee father... Sheldon’s mom is definitely more involved in his life, but George Sr. does take an interest in him and there are some sweet father/son moments between them as well.

Not only is it intimated many times throughout “The Big Bang Theory”, but Sheldon even comes right out and says it on at least one occasion: he didn’t have any friends growing up. Now, the original series walks that bold statement back a little bit in the final season when we meet Tam and learn that he and Shelly were besties as kids. However, according to “Young Sheldon,” the young Cooper had multiple friends growing up besides Tam - from Dr. Sturgis to Paige to his college dorm neighbors and video game playmates. Sure, he wasn’t the most popular kid in town, but young Sheldon wasn’t as friendless as older Sheldon claimed.