SPOILER ALERT: The following interview discusses events from the “Young Sheldon” episode “A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture,” streaming May 10 on Paramount+.
We knew it would happen — since it was predicted on “The Big Bang Theory” — but that didn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to one of the original cast members of “Young Sheldon.” In the final moments of the second of two episodes that aired back-to-back on May 9, the Cooper family received word that miserly patriarch George Cooper (Lance Barber) had died of a heart attack.
The fate of George dying at this point in Sheldon Cooper’s journey harkens back to “The Big Bang Theory,” where we learned that the adult Sheldon (played by Jim Parsons, who narrates “Young Sheldon” and appears in the next episode will appear). week finale episode alongside Mayim Bialik) lost his father at the age of 14. That’s the current age of child prodigy Sheldon (Iain Armitage) in the prequel series, and while producers had said this big death would be addressed in the show’s final season, he hadn’t said when exactly it would happen.
Lance Barber on ‘Young Sheldon’.
Courtesy of Bill Inoshita/Warner Bros.
Now that this heartbreaking loss has happened, “Young Sheldon” will next say goodbye himself in back-to-back episodes airing May 16, and will also take it upon himself to say goodbye to the rest of the cast (though the spin- off of it “Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage” airs this fall on CBS) – and sends Sheldon into his future at Caltech. “The way we brought this show to a close here is emotional,” says executive producer Steve Holland. “I was emotional when I did it. It’s emotional for the characters. It’s emotional to see it again.”
Here, Holland also shares how the writers figured out how (and when) to depict George’s death, how Barber took the news of his character’s death, and what other information from “The Big Bang Theory” should be respected.
You’ve done this before, when you finished ‘The Big Bang Theory’. But how challenging was it to get all the points you wanted before the end of the series?
It’s always a challenge, and I think the endings are always very difficult. There are a lot of expectations about endings, and at some point you have to put aside what you think the audience wants to see and focus on the ending that you think is good, and then hope they like it too. . Going into this season was a little extra challenging because we had a strike-shortened season, so instead of 22 we had to get everything we wanted to accomplish and get it in 14 episodes. But I don’t think there’s anything we wanted to achieve that we didn’t end up achieving.
Since you’ve been asked about planning George’s death over the last seven years, did you know this was the way you wanted to play it? Or was it something you kept going back and forth about?
We always knew we would tackle this this season. We always knew we were going to the funeral this season. And we always knew that George’s death would happen off-screen, that we didn’t want to witness it. It was just a question of when. There was a version of this, as we talked about it before, where it would have been: the finale would have been the death and the funeral. I think it was Chuck [Lorre, executive producer] who said: “Above all, this is a positive, uplifting show. Let’s not leave the audience deep in their grief. Let’s watch as the family begins to put itself back together, and let’s end with a little hope.” So then that changed again when we started doing it.
And because we know that some people expect it, I also know that there is a lot of talk about whether it will happen or not, but people who know the Big Bang do expect it. We wanted to do it in a way that was hopefully a little bit surprising. So that’s why it happens at the end of [Episode 12] – we thought maybe we could catch people off guard. Even though they know it’s coming, they may not see it coming.
To touch ‘Big Bang’, we know George died when Sheldon was 14, but were there any other details from the show that you had to deal with?
It was pretty much just his age. And to be honest, even the ‘Big Bang’ canon isn’t entirely consistent. It became more consistent. We know it was 14 and we know that Sheldon goes to Caltech right afterward, leaving Georgie and the rest of the family grieving. Those were the two pieces we knew.
Was it a difficult conversation with Lance Barber because he knew this could happen?
He has known since the beginning of the show that George Sr. had an expiration date. We’ve slowed down time a bit. For example, we extended it because the kids, our actual cast members Raegan and Iain, are 16 in real life. We stretched a year into a few seasons to keep Lance alive as long as possible. But he always knew this was coming.
And I think the fact that the last season made it a little easier for him that there wouldn’t be any seasons in the future that he wouldn’t be a part of, but he was great because he really wanted to. be there.
In episode 12, George is offered a college coaching job that would bring him and the family to Houston. What did that story say for the character and the family?
I think it was a bit to give George a win. There might have been an episode in season 2 where he had a similar offer, and he turned it down because the family wasn’t ready yet. So it was to point it out, like, “Thanks.” All the sacrifices he had made for the family, and maybe now things were starting to go his way. It felt like a good kind of bait and switch, knowing how the episode was going to end, that there was an episode that was about something else and maybe most of all it just makes it hurt a little bit more – like, things will finally work out for them . But we really wanted to see him win and acknowledge what he had sacrificed for his family and they had his back, except for Sheldon, who of course tends to be a little self-centered.
Talk to me about the last time we and the family saw George alive. He just goes to work like a normal morning, without any big moment. Why?
We really talked about that a lot. It was interesting how much work we put into a scene where nothing exciting was happening, and we kept making sure that was the case. We thought a lot about the reality of the situation, which is that you don’t realize that these are big moments leading up to it. You only realize afterwards that these are great moments. And when Dad leaves for work, that happens every day. There was no reason for anyone to stop and think, this moment is special. We also thought that as they went along, it made them a little more sorry that they didn’t appreciate those moments, but it really felt like that was very real.
We even moved away where no one said goodbye to him. We kept pulling things away [from the scene] so no one had any time. For Missy, he offers her a ride to school and she says she will take the bus. Sheldon doesn’t even look up. Mary urges him to make sure he isn’t late later. No one even says goodbye to him.
We see a few people return in episode 712, like Sheldon’s childhood friend Tam (Ryan Phuong) and we see a few teachers at the school. Was there a lot of talk about who you were going to bring back?
Of course. There were definitely some characters we wanted to recognize because they’ve been such an important part of the show. It would have been great to bring back Jason Alexander [who played Sheldon’s teacher Gene Lundy in five episodes], who we love. Some things just didn’t work logistically, and it didn’t make sense to the story. But Tam had played such a big role in the story, and with Sheldon’s boyfriend – and also in trying to keep the “Big Bang” canon alive when Sheldon leaves for Caltech, and Tam is left behind with his girlfriend. So try to make a nod to Sheldon, they are still best friends. And then Mr. Givens, and we love Brian Stepanek who plays him.
Naturally, in the final scene of the episode, when the family receives the news that George has died, Missy, Mary, and Connie immediately break down. But was there much discussion about how Sheldon would respond? Or was that an easy choice given the character and the way he deals with emotions?
We knew that Sheldon would process things internally, that Sheldon is not an outwardly emotional person. So it was really just about the details, such as: is he standing and sitting or is he already sitting? It was really a matter of fine-tuning those little details to get just the right moment for him. But no, the idea that he wouldn’t express his grief outwardly was always ingrained in the character.
Was it a challenge for Iain Armitage to not just release his emotions because of a big moment that they all knew was coming?
It was interesting because everyone processed the moment differently. And at the end of the show we also reached the point where we started shooting the series. Everyone had had their last scene with Lance, and there was a lot of real life sadness and emotion on the show that came out in different ways. Like when we went to shoot that scene [when they find out George has died], even just before the rehearsal, Raegan burst into tears. And I think Ian was trying to keep his mood light, which interestingly is a bit Sheldon. He didn’t let himself get caught up in the sadness like some other characters did. It was interesting to see how they all processed that moment. It was almost harder for them not to cry in the early parts of the scene than it was for them to cry during the hard part.
What should we expect in the final two episodes airing next Thursday?
You know, the Coopers are dealing with their grief over George Sr.’s death. And Sheldon must prepare for his life’s journey to Caltech, California.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
