The end is nigh for CBS' Young Sheldon, which has been a top performer for the network over the past seven seasons... but Iain Armitage's Sheldon just isn't so young anymore. So, it's fitting that the series finale in May will also feature none other than Adult Sheldon, with The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons reprising his iconic role alongside TV wife Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler. Parsons recently opened up about teaming up with Bialik again to close the book on Young Sheldon in the 2024 TV schedule.
While Jim Parsons is an executive producer and the narrator of Young Sheldon, he hasn't played the character in the flesh since The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019. The same is true for Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler. According to Parsons when speaking with ET, filming together for the spinoff was a "beautiful" experience that didn't quite feel like just more Big Bang. He said:
It was beautiful. It was even more beautiful than I expected it to be. One of the reasons I was excited to do it is because what they wrote is so sweet and I think they worked Mayim and I into that show so beautifully. I hope everyone agrees. But also for us the way that they tape -- because they're a single-camera show and we're multi-camera -- the whole look of the show was a really special experience. To get to go with Mayim, in a world we're really guests and revisit these characters a little older, just a completely different circumstance.
One of the most obvious differences between The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon as sitcoms is that the spinoff is a single-cam show without a live studio audience. Just as filming in this format was a change for Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik, it will surely feel different to watch.
It's not clear just yet how the Young Sheldon finale will incorporate Parsons and Bialik as Sheldon and Amy, although my best bet is a flash-forward. Assuming that's the case, I'm interested to see if there will be any nods to reveals that we've gotten via Sheldon's narration, like an appearance from their son Leonard Cooper.
Parsons shared what it was like to reconnect with Bialik on the set of the sitcom:
We finished our first read-through, we didn't tape it. We just went in and felt around the set, and Mayim nailed it when she walked back and said, 'Uh, I thought I'd feel a lot more confident than this.' I said, 'Me, too.' I really thought it'd be like putting on a pair of old shoes and then eventually it was, but not for about an hour or so. And I was like, 'Do I still know how to talk like this?' It was weird.
Jim Parsons went on to credit the writers for how they've "continuously created such characters that people connect to, that people enjoy watching," which he described as "always the key" to The Big Bang Theory. The world of Big Bang also isn't ending with the upcoming finale of Young Sheldon. CBS confirmed that a spinoff based on Georgie and Mandy is on the way for the 2024-2025 TV season, with Montana Jordan and Emily Osment reprising their Young Sheldon roles. Another Big Bang spinoff is reportedly in the works at Max, with Chuck Lorre providing an update in late 2023.
For now, you can find new episodes of Young Sheldon on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC ahead of Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik's arrivals in the series finale. The seventh season of Young Sheldon so far is currently available streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, with the first six seasons as well as full run of The Big Bang Theory streaming via Max subscription.
