Even though it serves as a prequel to The Big Bang Theory, CBS' Young Sheldon is a different kind of show for executive producer Chuck Lorre. The new comedy focuses on a 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) who's not quite yet the hardened, cynical adult established in the original series. This Sheldon isn't even into comic books yet. He has idiosyncrasies at that age, but Lorre said at the Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour the show presents a more innocent and hopeful version of Sheldon.
This marks the first time Lorre has done a comedy without a studio audience, and the first time he's done a show with a narration -- Jim Parsons is narrating his character's past. Lorre said, "I've never worked with narration before and narration changes the way we write. We looked for inspiration in shows that used it beautifully and no one does it better than Wonder Years."
Another difference with the format is the use of a single camera, as opposed to the multi-cam approach Big Bang Theory uses. That storytelling choice changed the tone for Young Sheldon. “It's more intimate. The pacing is obviously very different. The actors aren't having to hold for laughs. They're not playing out [to a live audience]; they're working with one another. It changes the tone and pitch and pacing,” Lorre said.
By nature of being a prequel, Young Sheldon is connected to The Big Bang Theory, but Lorre and executive producer Steven Molaro touched on a couple of specific connections. Part of exploring the past means getting to know Sheldon's father. In Big Bang, the character has referenced how his father died and mentioned he wasn't exactly the most lovable of dads. Lorre said they'll be showing other sides of George.
“This is 5 years before that date that we discussed in Big Bang. People change and grow and develop and things happen over the course of many years and we don't necessarily have to follow an exact timeline," Lorre explained, “A season of Young Sheldon doesn't have to be a year, it can take place over a couple of months. We have a lot of freedom with the backstory. There's a great deal more to George than we discussed that we've done in the little bits and pieces in Big Bang over the years.”
They've discussed the ripple effect the show will have going forward in time, and it goes both ways. Sheldon's memories have come up in The Big Bang Theory and Molaro called out a couple that could be seen in Young Sheldon, including the moments when he tried to get uranium to build his own nuclear reactor to give the town free electricity or when he dressed as Stephen Hawking for Halloween and people mistook him for R2-D2.
Young Sheldon will premiere on CBS on Monday, September 25 at 8:30p.m. ET/PT
Amy Ratcliffe is a writer for IGN. Follow her on on Twitter at @amy_geek.
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