Young Sheldon teases new Star Trek connection in Season 7

Sheldon Cooper is famously a huge Star Trek fan, with prequel Young Sheldon now unveiling a new connection between the two.

It isn’t surprising for The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper to be full of unique habits – many of which were acquired during his time on Young Sheldon.

Though the main series wrapped up back in 2019, its legacy still lives on in the prequel, with plenty of TBBT references already made – and apparently, there’s still more to come.

With Sheldon such a huge fan of Star Trek, seeing it appear in the show is expected – but now Young Sheldon Season 7 has a surprising new connection to it.

Young Sheldon teases new Star Trek connection in Season 7

Robert Picardo, best known for his role as the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager, is set to appear as Sheldon’s new professor in Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 2.

Seen in an exclusive preview clip, Picardo is seen talking to Sheldon at the front of the class, with the two sharing some confusion over a suggestion of tutoring when Sheldon finds out that he isn’t the smartest person in his new class.

Sheldon has moved to Germany with Mary to continue his studies, though the separation from the rest of the Cooper family is already starting to show some strain in Season 7 Episode 1.

As for Sheldon and Star Trek, this largely doesn’t come in until The Big Bang Theory, with Spock as his all-time favorite character. However, it has also been said that Voyager is the version of the franchise he hates the most, making his intellectual sparring with the professor all the more humorous.

Fans noticed this link early on during the season premiere, with one posting on X/Twitter: “Robert Picardo will appear in next week’s episode of Young Sheldon. I haven’t watched a lot of The Big Bang Theory, but I think he is the first actor from Star Trek Voyager who appeared in this franchise. Big Bang Theory is too TOS and TNG centric from what I have seen.”

Other fans can’t understand why Sheldon likes sci-fi so much, taking to Reddit to explain: “Sheldon Cooper loves any and all forms of geek culture, including his deep love for shows like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, etc. However he has repeatedly been shown to have zero understanding or appreciation for human relationships for the most part, so why would he find these shows so compelling when they are primarily driven by character interactions?

“On top of that, these shows usually take a very loose, slapdash approach to science which is not at all something Dr. Cooper cares for.”

Young Sheldon Season 7 continues with Episode 2 on February 22, 2024.