"Young Sheldon" raises some quesitons about it's forerunner. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the events, plot points, and character developments on “Young Sheldon” that made us question “The Big Bang Theory’s” Sheldon’s eidetic memory.
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00:00 I just don't know if we can tell what's real or not, and if nothing's real,
00:03 I don't know what to think or if I'm even thinking at all.
00:05 Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today
00:08 we're counting down our picks for the events, plot points, and character developments on young Sheldon that made us question the Big Bang Theory's
00:15 Sheldon's eidetic memory. Plot points of both series will be discussed, so consider this your spoiler warning.
00:21 So he was your best friend growing up? Yes. Were there no other kids in Texas?
00:27 [laughter]
00:28 Number 10.
00:30 Shouldn't adult Sheldon know the theory of friendship? In season 2 of the Big Bang Theory,
00:35 Sheldon goes out of his way to learn how to make friends so he can ask Barry Kripke for a favor.
00:41 When his current friends prove unhelpful, he goes to a bookshop where he's directed to the kids section.
00:47 But hang on, hasn't he already researched this before? You do bring up an interesting point. I don't have to break new ground here.
00:54 I'm sure much of the research already exists. In the second episode of Young Sheldon,
00:58 fueled by his mother's concern about his lack of friends, Sheldon checks out how to win friends and influence people. This might do it.
01:05 Principle one.
01:09 Don't criticize, condemn, or complain.
01:11 The three sharpest arrows in my quiver.
01:15 Amazingly, it works.
01:16 So you'd think Sheldon would remember the book and its lessons in adulthood rather than starting from scratch with Stu the cockatoo.
01:23 Stu the cockatoo? Yes, he's new at the zoo.
01:27 It's a terrific book. I've distilled its essence into a simple flowchart that will guide me through the process.
01:33 Number nine. Didn't Sheldon say he was sent to boarding school at age 12? In the Big Bang Theory,
01:39 pilot Sheldon shares an anecdote from his youth that landed him in boarding school.
01:43 It's true. I did a series of experiments when I was 12. My father broke his clavicle.
01:47 Is that why they sent you to boarding school?
01:51 No, that was the result of my work with lasers. Now, if Sheldon says he was about 12 at the time,
01:56 that very much falls within the young Sheldon time frame. Yet the closest
02:00 we see Sheldon sent away for school is when he moves to Dallas to attend a facility for gifted children.
02:06 But that doesn't last long, and it happens in season one. So before he's 12. But eventually I did drift off,
02:12 haunted by the memory, the three of us
02:16 gathered around the piano,
02:19 singing hippie folk music. It's unusual for Sheldon to misremember things.
02:24 So maybe the distress of being out of his comfort zone made him convince himself he was sent away as punishment.
02:30 I'm going to Dallas to get shoveled.
02:32 Really? Yeah, really. What about this being a great opportunity for him?
02:36 Y'all want me to go or not? Yeah, hurry up!
02:38 However, this still doesn't clarify the age discrepancy.
02:42 Number eight. When did Mary and Sheldon's relationship change?
02:47 Sheldon and Mary share a tight bond in both series. However, in young Sheldon,
02:52 she's perhaps too overprotective of him and tends to overindulge him. In fact,
02:57 she showers him with so much love and attention,
03:00 it makes us wonder why he'd ever envy Leonard's childhood or wish for a mom like Beverly Hofstadter. Don't get us wrong,
03:07 Sheldon adores his mom, but he could be a pretty defiant little rascal at times. Yet somewhere down the line,
03:15 things shifted. Adult Sheldon is still somewhat inclined to sass his mom,
03:20 but he's also far more obedient now. Men are gonna be interested in her.
03:24 And you need to drive the car and mind your business.
03:27 I will not have you be disrespectful to me. But you're not my mother. Don't you be disrespectful to her! Yes, ma'am.
03:34 So we guess what we want to know is when and why their relationship changed. We're not eight years old anymore.
03:39 We have to have a different relationship.
03:41 No, we don't. The one we have works great. Sweetheart, you are a grown man. Number seven.
03:47 Isn't Billy Sparks meant to be mean? Adult Sheldon often shares stories about how he was picked on as a kid. Sheldon,
03:54 I am so sorry I dragged you through this. It's okay.
03:57 It wasn't my first pantsing and it won't be my last. One of the most frequently named perpetrators is his neighbor, Billy Sparks.
04:04 Indeed, when we first meet Billy in the pilot, we'd be inclined to believe Sheldon's stories.
04:10 Torment.
04:12 Means to maliciously harass. Her ass?
04:14 That's funny. Well, this was nice.
04:18 Hey, doofus!
04:20 However, for the most part, Billy seems like a good kid. Albeit, kind of. Well, let's just say he's one-of-a-kind.
04:30 So does Sheldon only remember his elementary school experiences? Or perhaps given how both kids are,
04:38 unique in their own ways, does Sheldon assume that Billy's deliberately trying to irritate him?
04:43 I have a nightlight that looks like Spider-Man, but I don't turn it on.
04:46 Go ahead.
04:51 Why don't you turn it on?
04:52 I'm afraid of spiders.
04:54 Yeah, seems like a good place to stop. If you ask us, it's Sheldon who could stand to be a little kinder.
04:59 Number six. Did Georgie continue to shield adult Sheldon from harsh realities?
05:05 Okay, so we've established that adult Sheldon might not be the most reliable storyteller. For instance, his relationship with his siblings,
05:12 especially Georgie, doesn't seem quite as hostile as he makes it out to be.
05:17 Give me the bucket. I'll watch for legs while you go eat.
05:19 Really?
05:20 Yeah.
05:22 Okay.
05:23 Even Missy, who typically loves messing with her twin brother, also has a soft spot for him.
05:28 Anyway, in the Big Bang Theory, Georgie gives Sheldon a reality check about their youth,
05:34 especially after their dad passed away.
05:36 You went away to college after dad died. Who do you think took care of everything?
05:40 Mom did. Mom always took care of everything.
05:43 Mom was a miss.
05:45 Missy was a dumb teenager. I had to look after both of them.
05:48 However, he seems to skip one key detail. Becoming a first-time parent at 17,
05:54 perhaps Sheldon would have cut him some slack if he'd share how tough it had been juggling a baby and a grieving family.
06:01 I suppose I didn't think about how it was for everyone else.
06:04 No, that's all right.
06:07 I know you didn't.
06:08 Number five. Is the Coopers home built on cinder blocks and when did it fall off?
06:13 In the Pancake Batter anomaly, Sheldon mentions how his mom had to fly home from Germany
06:19 because their house was having some structural issues.
06:22 My mom had to fly back to Texas to help my dad because the house had slipped off the cinder blocks again.
06:27 Again?
06:30 It was tornado season.
06:32 That it was an aluminum house.
06:33 It's certainly possible that the house's foundations are built on some sort of cinder blocks and given the dramatic season 6 finale,
06:40 perhaps they had shifted. He also says their house was made of aluminum, which doesn't seem to be the case.
06:46 Even if this describes some future home, the timeline still doesn't work.
06:51 Don't worry, I'm not sticking my granddaughter in the garage. You can have Sheldon's room. Just don't tell Sheldon.
06:57 Or touch anything.
06:59 And Connie, obviously you're welcome too.
07:02 Sheldon has repeatedly said that his father died when he was 14, although he mentions that this incident happened when he was 15.
07:09 Confusing, right? Well, just chalk this one up to his flu.
07:13 Oh dear God.
07:15 Number four. Why does Sheldon tell everyone he didn't have any friends growing up?
07:19 One thing Sheldon often shares about his childhood is that he had no friends.
07:24 I lost my own father.
07:26 I didn't have any friends to help me through it.
07:29 You do.
07:31 However, as we saw earlier, that isn't strictly true.
07:36 For one thing, just two episodes into Young Sheldon,
07:39 he befriends Tam and the two often hang out while Sheldon's in high school.
07:43 Of course, we know they eventually lose touch/fall out depending on who you ask.
07:48 It's been a long time. Not long enough to erase the sting of betrayal. How did I betray you? You know what you did.
07:56 Let me catch you up. He does not. So perhaps that's why Sheldon refuses to count him among his childhood friends.
08:02 However, he's not the only one. Paige is at the very least an acquaintance. Then there's Dr. Linkletter and Sturgis.
08:10 What about his gaming friends from college? Did they all end up on his mortal enemies list or something?
08:15 So just to clarify... They're right, you're wrong. Dang it. How do you have more friends than me?
08:21 I don't know. I don't even want them.
08:23 Number three. Why is BBT's Meemaw so different than the one on Young Sheldon?
08:28 Sheldon often talks about his Meemaw throughout the Big Bang Theory.
08:32 She calls me Moonpie because I'm nummy nummy and she could just eat me up.
08:37 However, we only meet her about midway through season 9 for the first time.
08:41 She's a sweet but conservative woman who's incredibly overprotective of her Moonpie.
08:46 I have a relationship and a full-time career too. That doesn't bode well.
08:51 [Laughter]
08:53 Why not? You just said it's okay for her to work.
08:57 Well, Leonard doesn't need as much tending to as Sheldon does.
09:01 Still, we thought nothing of it until Young Sheldon premiered the following year.
09:05 And well, this Meemaw is almost nothing like the one who visited Sheldon in Pasadena.
09:10 This Connie is fun-loving, feisty, and has enough sass to fill out all of Texas.
09:15 We know that Mary used to be more free-spirited until she had the twins.
09:19 So perhaps Connie's transformation was also sparked by some life-altering event.
09:24 If so, we want to know what happened.
09:27 There was a point where the doctors didn't know if you were gonna make it.
09:31 And your mom got so scared and she made a promise to God that if you were okay,
09:37 that she would start reading the Bible, going to church,
09:42 that kind of stuff.
09:44 Number 2. Why does Sheldon never mention Paige?
09:47 We briefly touched on this earlier,
09:49 but it strikes us a little odd that over 12 seasons of The Big Bang Theory,
09:54 Sheldon never mentioned some key figures from his youth.
09:57 Take Dr. Sturges, for example.
09:59 Sheldon admires him, but never mentions him in adulthood.
10:02 Not even during the couple of years both series crossed over.
10:06 So Sheldon, what did you think of your first theoretical physics class?
10:10 I think I'm gonna do this for the rest of my life.
10:13 Good choice.
10:14 He's also never talked about Paige, his intellectual rival.
10:18 Although you'd think perhaps someone like Dennis Kim may have sparked some flashbacks.
10:22 Checkmate. You lose.
10:25 Red alert.
10:26 Phasers, stand by to fire on my order.
10:29 Guess that makes me the smartest.
10:31 To be fair, we didn't hear about Tam until the final season since Sheldon was mad at him.
10:36 We know Paige knows exactly how to push Sheldon's buttons.
10:39 So perhaps that's simply the case here too.
10:41 Aren't you even going to try?
10:43 No.
10:45 Why won't you compete with me?
10:47 Because. It's fun watching you get upset.
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11:06 Number 1. Why does Sheldon have such bad memories of his father?
11:10 In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon and his mother paint George as apathetic, dumb, and more interested in beer and football than his own family.
11:18 My father loved football. He always made me watch it before I was allowed to do my homework.
11:22 Yet young Sheldon suggests otherwise.
11:25 Yes, George enjoys those things, but he's also a devoted family man who's made some substantial personal sacrifices.
11:32 He's no saint, but he's also a far cry from the person often described in the original series.
11:38 I didn't realize until years later that my father was only asking questions about lightning and thunder to cheer me up.
11:46 In fact, he would often pretend to be dumb just to make me feel better.
11:50 While narrating the prequel, adult Sheldon admits he often misunderstood his dad.
11:55 Still, the question remains, why does BBT Sheldon mostly cling to his negative memories?
12:01 We're just glad that at some point he gained a clearer perspective and learned to forgive his father's mistakes.
12:07 There's a lot of things I wish I had said to my dad while he was around.
12:11 That I appreciated him. That I loved him.
12:17 Which is why I'm grateful for the times I did tell him how I felt.
12:21 Which young Sheldon moment had you questioning the Big Bang Theory? Let us know in the comments.
12:26 That list is strong.
12:28 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
12:32 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
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