Summary Young Sheldon broadened its cast of characters and improved as a result, giving the spinoff its own identity. Both The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon gradually turned supporting characters into likeable protagonists. Slowly introducing supporting characters allows viewers to become invested in their story and avoids over-exposing the lead character.

Much like The Big Bang Theory shifted its focus in later seasons, Young Sheldon broadened its cast of characters and improved as a result. Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory have a lot of similarities, but the two shows also differ in pivotal ways.

In contrast to The Big Bang Theory which operated as a hang-out show shot in a traditional multi-camera style, Young Sheldon is a single-camera family sitcom. This approach, along with Young Sheldon's nostalgic setting, allowed the spinoff to develop an identity of its own.

However, spinoff kept one of the earlier show's best decisions when it came to storytelling. In its early seasons, The Big Bang Theory focused on Penny, Leonard, and Sheldon almost entirely. While the show had an ensemble cast, the first seasons made it obvious who the real heroes of The Big Bang Theory were. Similarly, the first few seasons of Young Sheldon were mostly concerned with Sheldon's antics and the way that they impacted his parents, Mary and George Sr.

Sheldon's twin sister Missy and his older brother got their subplots but, again, the focus of the show was never in question.

Young Sheldon Is Replicating The Big Bang Theory's Focus Shift

Both The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon began by focusing on Sheldon but eventually made his closest companions the real heroes. By season 6, Young Sheldon's Georgie and Mandy storyline took up as much of the show's screen time as Sheldon's adventures and this worked because the show had gradually turned Georgie into a likable protagonist in her own right.

Similarly, The Big Bang Theory was originally about Leonard, Penny, and Sheldon, but by its final seasons, the main characters included Bernadette, Amy, Howard, and Raj. Despite its title, Young Sheldon's later seasons have increasingly focused on the Coopers over Sheldon to the extent that the season 6 finale's plot didn't even involve his character.

This approach sounds like it should fail, but it has proven highly successful when applied to both shows. Slowly introducing supporting characters to the main cast gives viewers time to get invested in their story and want to see more of them. In The Big Bang Theory's pilot, Howard seemed like a thoughtless creep, but as the show gradually gave him a larger role, his character became more complicated and in turn, more interesting.

Similarly, Georgie was established as Sheldon's dim-witted brother back in season 1, but it took years of Young Sheldon's Georgie subplots before he became a main player.

Why TBBT And Young Sheldon's Changes Work

In both The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, the new characters were introduced slowly, and they meshed well with the heroes. Thus, those who came to see Sheldon, Penny, and Leonard were unlikely to be let down by a Bernadette-centric Big Bang Theory outing or a Meemaw-focused Young Sheldon episode since these characters were close to the show's main characters.

This also means both shows can avoid over-exposing their lead character. Since Young Sheldon has George Sr.'s rivalry with Pastor Rob and Mary's crisis of faith to focus on, the spinoff never risks making Sheldon annoying.

However, Young Sheldon's final season should follow The Big Bang Theory's lead when it comes to bringing the show's focus back to its hero. Later seasons focused less and less on Howard and Raj and by the show's final outing, The Big Bang Theory season 12 was centered mostly on Sheldon. Similarly, Young Sheldon should not forget the show's hero when the spinoff concludes and should instead bring The Big Bang Theory's main character back into focus.