Young Sheldon may be nearing the finish line — but that doesn’t have to mark the end of the Cooper family’s on-screen journey.
Prior to Hollywood’s dual strikes, TVLine reported that preliminary talks had begun about whether Season 7 would be the Big Bang Theory offshoot’s last. And it makes sense! Assuming the prequel’s narrative keeps at a steady pace, Sheldon will turn 14 next year — the age at which, per Big Bang’s previously established timeline, the future Nobel Prize winner moves from Medford, Texas, to Pasadena, Calif., to begin his graduate studies at the California Institute of Technology.
That same year, Sheldon’s older brother Georgie — who recently put a ring on Mandy’s finger — marries for the first time, and family patriarch George meets his maker, setting up Young Sheldon for a bittersweet sendoff not unlike early ’90s classic The Wonder Years.
“There are certainly things we know we want to hit next season,” exec producer Steve Holland previously told TVLine. “And there are certain things where, if it’s the end versus if it’s just [another season], those things might be different.”
But we don’t think the possibility of life beyond Season 7 should stop the powers that be from abiding to canon. Why not have the tragedy that befalls the Cooper clan drive the next chapter in the Big Bang franchise? Pretty good idea, no?
That’s why we’re pitching The Coopers, a direct continuation of Young Sheldon that removes Sheldon from the equation in a year’s time and shows us what life is like for Mary, Georgie, Missy and Meemaw in the aftermath of George’s demise. Big Bang already established that Georgie will step up as the man of the house, while his brainiac brother, nearly 1,300 miles away at Caltech, is kept in the dark about his family’s struggles. All they have to do is show it.
The most recent (and arguably best) season of Young Sheldon demonstrated that Georgie’s portrayer, Montana Jordan, is more than capable of carrying the A-story, while Sheldon’s twin sister (played wonderfully by Raegan Revord) has only gotten more interesting as she’s entered her rebellious teen phase. And it goes without saying, but seeing how a newly widowed Mary handles it all, while also recommitting herself to the church and transforming into the religious zealot embodied by Laurie Metcalf on Big Bang, would make for a feast of a showcase for Zoe Perry.
The only question is whether The Coopers would air on CBS, or come in the form of the previously announced BBT offshoot for Max — which, as far we know, is still in the earliest stages of development.
What do you think? Would The Coopers make a fine show, or is there another Young Sheldon spinoff you’d prefer? Let us know in Comments.
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