The chances of a Young Sheldon sequel series tackling Sheldon’s time in Caltech are addressed by executive producer Steve Molaro. Despite diversifying its storytelling in the last several years, giving the rest of the ensemble their respective plots, the Young Sheldon finale went back to its original premise when it shifted the focus back to its titular character. After tackling the aftermath of George’s death, the final half hour of the family dramedy tied up Sheldon’s time in Texas, with the show wrapping up with the boy genius arriving in Caltech, where he will spend the rest of his adulthood.

While Sheldon’s life in his hometown is done, the parting shot of Young Sheldon seems like the perfect start for a brand new offshoot. Since it would still be several years before the events of The Big Bang Theory, there have been some calls for the boy genius’ first years at Caltech to be the central narrative of a new spinoff. Despite the plot opening, Molaro makes it clear in an interview with Glamour that he isn’t interested in telling that story. Read his full quote below:

And a show called Young Sheldon, where he’s in California now and everyone picking up the pieces of the loss of George… It wasn’t something we felt like we could just jump in or overflowing with ideas we were excited about. I would not have been comfortable digging in on Sheldon at Caltech. Now it’s really trying to be a weird pre-Big Bang. That doesn’t get me excited. Like, there’s the cafeteria set, but he hasn’t met Leonard yet. I don’t know. Weird.

Where Was Leonard When Sheldon Entered Caltech In The Young Sheldon Finale

Sheldon Still Has Many Years To Go Before Meeting His Best Friend.

The Young Sheldon finale flashforward featured adult Sheldon and Amy, allowing for Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik to reprise their The Big Bang Theory roles. Despite hopes of a possible reunion, that was the extent of cameos from the Pasadena gang. Besides the future, however, Sheldon’s Caltech arrival may have posed some questions about the whereabouts of Sheldon’s friends, particularly Leonard, Howard, and Raj. It’s worth noting that before the nerd-centric sitcom started, the foursome were already good friends. That being said, by the time Sheldon transferred to California, his pals still weren’t finished with college.

Based on the timeline, when Penny moved to Apartment 4B at the start of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon and Leonard were already roommates for four years. Before that, Sheldon was living with someone else. Since the boy genius started his post-graduate studies at Caltech in 1994, it means that he would still have another year to go wander in the academic institution on his own before Leonard answers his advertisement about looking for a roommate. This is a substantial amount of unexplored time in Sheldon’s life, but as Molaro said, he doesn’t have any interest in tackling it.

Admittedly, the lack of The Big Bang Theory cameos in the Young Sheldon finale is disappointing. While the prequel was rightfully focused on the Coopers, it shouldn’t have been that difficult to recruit more members of the Pasadena gang for a brief cameo. At the very least, there should at least be an explicit reference to all of them. To make matters worse, not only did the flashforward scene ignore Sheldon’s best friend, but it also suggested that Leonard may be dead years after the events of the nerd-centric sitcom.

Source: Glamour