How inconsistent is Young Sheldon with Big Bang Theory?

Jasmine Valentine
Iain Armitage and Jim Parsons as Sheldon

With Young Sheldon Season 6 now on Netflix, you might be wondering how consistent the spinoff series is to The Big Bang Theory – so, here’s what you need to know.

To many fans, lore is something that should be respected and never questioned – but in the case of Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory, some fans fear the creators have got it all wrong.

While the main TBBT series aired between 2007-2019, Young Sheldon is about to have its seventh and final season, premiering on February 15, 2024.

While the prequel provides a great deal of clarity for the Cooper family backstory, has it always remained consistent with The Big Bang Theory’s precedent?

How inconsistent is Young Sheldon with Big Bang Theory?

According to fans over on Reddit, Young Sheldon repeatedly has inconsistencies compared to the events of The Big Bang Theory, creating various concerns and loopholes in the plot.

“I just realized in the Big Bang theory Sheldon states that he owned a family cat and dog. I think there is more but I can’t remember lmao,” one user kicked off the thread by stating. “Also another fact I find funny is the actor who plays Sheldon’s father acts as Jimmy in The Big Bang during Episode 11 of Season 5.”

“There’s a lot of inconsistencies once you watch both,” another agreed. “The neighbor kid is never really mean to Young Sheldon, his sister was but not the son. Memaw is way different (and better in my opinion) in young Sheldon. She’s not the typical sweet memaw he talks about in TBBT. It does come up later in the show when he’s getting married but his brother is always pretty nice to him as well as far as older brothers are concerned in Young Sheldon.

Even though Sheldon Cooper is the character that we predominantly meet in The Big Bang Theory, that doesn’t mean other Cooper family members don’t pop up later down the line, with multiple appearances from both Mary and Georgie.

The one main member who never appears is George Cooper Sr., with fans anticipating his death as a major plot point in the prequel’s seventh season.

“I watched parts of YS before watching TBBT like consistently, and I found it hilarious that the same actor played both. I remember when he came on screen I was like lmao that’s literally George,” remarked a third user.

Other fans pointed out that the team behind Young Sheldon had previously stated that there wasn’t a need to be wedded to the main series. Speaking to TV Line in 2022, series co-creator Steve Molaro explained “We don’t have a precise roadmap in front of us – and to some extent, we don’t feel handcuffed to things that were said on Big Bang. I mean, there are some things that we will honor, but we also have to do what’s best for this series.”

About The Author

Jasmine Valentine is a TV and Movies Writer at Dexerto. She's the go-to source for all things Young Sheldon, as well as many Netflix originals. Jasmine has also written for the likes of Total Film, The Daily Beast, and Radio Times. You can email her here: jasmine.waters@dexerto.com.