‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’ Co-Creator Explains Why Sheldon Is Missing From Thanksgiving
The whole point of the Thanksgiving holiday is to gather and be grateful for the good things one has in life. For most people, family is a big part of things to be grateful for, hence why the holiday is celebrated surrounded by family. In Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage‘s Thanksgiving episode, family was at its center as well. The CBS sitcom brought together the McAllisters and the Coopers for Thanksgiving dinner in what ended up being an emotional and memorable affair. One Cooper was missing from the table though, the highly intelligent Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage).
Shelly, as his mother, Mary (Zoe Perry) fondly calls him, hasn’t been seen since Young Sheldon wrapped a few months ago, although he has been referenced. While a holiday episode is the perfect excuse to have the teenage genius visit home, especially during a trying period as they grieve their collective loss. Co-creator and executive producer Steve Holland has explained why the character was absent from the episode, which featured other Young Sheldon stars like Missy (Raegan Revord), Perry, Meemaw (Annie Potts), and Craig T. Nelson.
Speaking with TV Line, Holland outlined the reasoning behind the high profile omission, explaining that the inclusion of Sheldon would have hurt the story that was being told. It involved the splintering of the Cooper family in the after of George Snr.’s (Lance Barber) passing. It’s a split which would likely not have happened had the teenage genius made it home that year. Holand’s comments read:
“Initially, when we were talking about the episode, it was certainly part of the discussion — like, “Should Sheldon be a part of this?” There are certain occasions where you could bring him back, but as we were breaking the [episode], it just felt like it was actually going to hurt this story . Often, when a matriarch or a patriarch passes away, the family can splinter, and that’s what is happening here. And as fun as it would have been to see him, it felt like there is no world where that family doesn’t get together, and Mary doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, if Sheldon is coming back from California. So, it seemed to make “Sheldon sense” that he didn’t come back, and it made sense for the story we were trying to tell.”One Big Holiday is Enough
We are grateful to see the Cooper story continue in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage and so are CBS, as the show has earned a full season order for Season 1. With the Thanksgiving episode out of the way, some might be looking forward to a Christmas episode, as was an occasional feature in the mothership series, The Big Bang Theory. This will, however, not be the case for this first season of the spinoff. “You know, we figured one big holiday was enough,” Holland explains. “The trick of it, when you do these big holiday episodes, is that it’s exciting because you can bring in everybody, but it just felt like [to bring in everybody] two weeks after Thanksgiving was going to be too soon.” The show is set to take a mid-season break with a 2025 return date of January 30 at 8 p.m announced.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage airs on Thursdays on CBS and is available to stream on Paramount+.
