CBS’s next attempt at a new hit comedy is “Young Sheldon,” which is a spin-off on the hit show, “The Big Bang Theory.”
“Young Sheldon” was released on Nov. 2, but seems like anything but promising.
The main character is Sheldon Cooper, who is first introduced as the title character of “The Big Bang Theory.” Cooper is depicted as a talented physicist with a lack of basic human emotion and empathy, as well as someone obsessed with geek culture such as comic books and sci-fi theories.
In “Young Sheldon,” we see the main character, played by Iain Armitage of “Big Little Lies,” as a 9-year-old boy about to enter high school as a freshman due to his gifted intellectual abilities. Armitage perfectly portrays Sheldon’s cockiness and rather inappropriate responses that he makes due to his high intellect.
Within the first episode, we see Sheldon call out his classmates and teachers for not following the school’s code, therefore already giving him a bad reputation in the school after the first day. We also are introduced to his overall ordinary family in 1989 Texas, consisting of his father, mother, older brother, and twin sister, who all seem to be affected by Sheldon’s superior academic abilities.
However, after the first episode, the show already seems to lack an interesting storyline and enough comedy to have viewers to come back for more. For example, having a 9-year-old child say “brasserie” and notice that a girl in high school is pregnant is not comedy.
“The Big Bang Theory” became a hit in 2014, but its popularity has been declining ever since due to the main characters becoming almost ordinary and not funny anymore. “Young Sheldon” seems to be CBS’s attempt to revive the original show’s popularity and to make viewers interested once again in the characters.
The show fails to do so as people are overall disinterested in the characters of “The Big Bang Theory” and have moved on.
Releasing “Young Sheldon” on ABC about two years ago, when “Big Bang Theory” was still considered relevant, might have brought more interest to the show, but now it seems like a failed attempt to bring in more money from the franchise.
In order to make the show a hit, producers need to build a plot and enough character development to make viewers interested in the characters as they did with “The Big Bang Theory.” However, after the first episode, there seems to be no motivation to tune in to watch the show.
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