Why Did ‘Young Sheldon’s Creators Make a Georgie & Mandy Spin-Off?

The big picture

• Georgie and Mandy's first marriage
  spin-off focuses on new characters with new stories.
• Steve Holland highlights the appeal of exploring uncharted territory with Georgie and Mandy.
• The spin-off's first teaser reveals a return to the live studio audience format for the universe.

The Big Bang Theory gave us Old Sheldon, while Young Sheldon gave us what the title promises. There are 30 years between the two characters, and we've seen some of it. It seemed like Teen Sheldon would be the natural spin-off, but the creators decided to focus on Sheldon's older brother and his older wife. Georgie and Mandy's first marriage will be on screens this fall, and executive producer Steve Holland spoke to Deadline about why they decided to follow Georgie and Mandy's story despite having several avenues they could explore. He opened the envelope Montana Jordan i Emily Osment have great chemistry, which sold them on the spin-off potential.

“For us, I think it was really seeing Emily and Montana on screen together. And they had such great chemistry, and it was so much fun to watch. And it felt like seeing them shine together felt exciting and felt like a way fun to keep telling the story in this world, but no, you know.
You know it's going to be hard to do a show with young Sheldon when Sheldon isn't around, and so seeing Emily and Montana start together and being really fun to watch seemed like a natural progression.
.”

There are more stories to tell with Georgie and Mandy

Based on Georgie and Mandy, Holland highlighted the obvious problem with Sheldon's story: his life was set in The Big Bang Theory, and there wasn't much wiggle room on what they could change. Georgie and Mandy are unknown to the audience, so taking their life story in any direction would be positive for the story. He spoke about this, saying:

“And also, for us, you know his story is open.
In Young Sheldon, you know, we always knew the end of his story
The Big Bang Theory
.
We always knew, you know, that he would grow up and get married and win the Nobel Prize. And now, with Georgie and Mandy, the slates are a little clean. We don't really know too much about what's going on with them and their relationship in their lives.”

CBS released a teaser for the upcoming series and revealed that it would premiere this fall. The series will return to the format as it will be taped in front of a live studio audience. Filming will begin this summer.

Catch the latest episodes of Young Sheldon final season on Thursdays on CBS. Play on Paramount+.

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