https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7KS82ytFvg
Chuck Lorre has been in the television business for so long, he is able to work with daughter of an actress he worked with over 25 years ago. Of course, I am talking about the executive producer working on Roseanne with Laurie Metcalfe and back then her daughter, Zoe Perry, was just a toddler running around on the set. Now Perry is starring on Young Sheldon as a younger version of her mother’s character from The Big Bang Theory.
In 2018, Lorre is the creator of the two most watched comedies on current television. Last week, I attended a set visit for this season’s hugest new hit Young Sheldon at the WBTV TCA Winter Press Day and he talked about that sitcom and the one that was spun-off of.
I will start out with what he told us about TBBT that airs tonight 8p before Young Sheldon at 8:30p.
When is Bernadette going to be back with the gang?
Some good news on that front, he told us that Melissa Rauch, who plays Bernadette, is freshly back from maternity leave. She gave birth to her first child, a girl named Sadie, last month.
Now that we know that she is back, will she have Sheldon and Amy’s wedding to go to this season?
He answered that question with a shrug.
Johnny Galecki recently hinted that next season might be TBBT’s last one?
All Lorre would say on that is, “I know that we’re doing one more year after this year. That’s all I know. I know CBS has committed to one more year.”
If there is season 13 and beyond, is he up for doing it?
He responded to that prospect with, “You know what, yeah. I don’t think we really get a vote in this. I honestly don’t. Every six episodes or so I think we’re out of stories. We’re done. We have to call Les Moonves and say we ran out of stories, but somehow, we keep going.”
Now let’s switch to Young Sheldon, will we see people from this show on the show it is mothership?
Lorre revealed, “We haven’t done it yet, but there are young people in young Sheldon’s life that we might someday on Big Bang meet as adults, you know. And we’re all in love with young Billy Sparks. So, you know, to see him walk into Pasadena would be a thrill. If we could get that right, that would be something to look forward to.”
What about Sheldon’s brother Georgie? Who does he think should play the older version of Montana Jordan?
He suggested, “Matthew McConaughey.” Who is going to argue with that brilliant casting choice that is alright, alright, alright with us!
Now that we know that some of the Young Sheldon characters will make it into the future, will any of the Big Bang ones make it to the past?
He let us down with, “The way to avoid the preposterous coincidence that would cause you guys to excoriate us, sure.”
Another character we might meet in the future, is Sheldon’s friend Tam. How did the come up with his character?
He describe their thinking as, “There’s a wonderful Vietnamese population on the Gulf. We did a little research and we thought Sheldon is so much outside looking in, in this high school and we thought it would be really great if we could find a character who also was struggling to be part of the mainstream, to try and assimilate into this big high school. There’s an age gap, but there’s an experience that they both can bond over which is looking in from the outside and wanting to be part of.”
Back to the show, did they want young Sheldon to be like the older one?
He explained, “It’s important to say that. It’s a magical ability to play as difficult a character as Jim plays and make him beloved. It’s a beloved character, you know, in the world of Archie Bunker and Danny DeVito, on Taxi. There has been a handful of people who had that incredible ability of an actor to make an abhorrent human being beloved.” Then he added, “It’s very difficult to do. And, Jim, obviously, just has perfected it. But for Iain [Armitage], we didn’t want to just do little Sheldon. He’s a work in progress. He’s nine years old. There’s a lot of growth and change that’s going to take place. He’s going to college in a couple of years. There’s a couple of PhDs that are going to happen before he’s, what, 20, 21 years old? There is an enormous amount of life that will change and mold this character, and we want to go slowly, and enjoy the ride.”
So far we have been enjoying this ride, and we are not alone. The darling show is finding more people to watch every week and they have been telling their friends who have been telling their friends and so on. Big Bang and Young Sheldon are making Thursdays must see TV again, so make sure to watch it tonight.
