Sheldon Cooper, meet thy younger self.
Iain Armitage — one of the breakout child stars of HBO’s Big Little Lies — is nearing a deal to play Jim Parsons’ pubescent doppelganger in CBS’ in-the-works prequel spinoff of The Big Bang Theory, TVLine has learned. In Big Little Lies, Armitage plays the troubled son Shailene Woodley’s character.
Meanwhile, as TVLine just reported, Zoe Perry — aka the real-life daughter of Laurie Metcalf, who currently recurs as Adult Sheldon’s mom — is poised to play the mother of Young Sheldon.
It’s worth noting that CBS has yet to formally place a pilot order for the untitled spinoff, which would center on a young Sheldon growing up in Texas. Parsons will executive-produce the spinoff, along with Big Bang co-creator Chuck Lorre and current showrunner Steve Molaro.
The news come as CBS and Warner Bros. are hammering out a new two-year renewal deal for The Big Bang Theory, a process reportedly being stymied by a contract stalemate involving supporting players Mayim Bialik and Melissa Rauch.
Warner Bros. and CBS declined to comment or confirm Armitage’s casting.
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Not so sure about a whole new spin-off series but it would be interesting to have him appear in a few episodes to test it out and give us a glimpse into Young Sheldon.
If there is a spin-off, hopefully it will show Sheldon being chased up a tree by a chicken. :-)
Hahaha I would want to see that.
I see that Iain Loves Theatre? Fantastic!
i didn’t realize that was him! thank you!
I was hoping for him to be a little older. Not a fan of shows with little kids. They always make them so annoying.
Older stories about this said the plan was for a 12 year old Sheldon. I think going with an 8 year old is too young.
How will there be any growth for the character throughout this show ? Seems like an awful idea for a spinoff.
Sounds like fun for a few flashbacks on BBT, though. Especially with Laurie Metcalf’s daughter, love the fictional ‘continuity’ (not sure that’s the right word to use).
I agree. I think I might enjoy flashbacks, pretty sure I wouldn’t enjoy a weekly show.
My theory exactly! The whole point of the character in the current series is how much he’s grown and adapted. He was so closed off and sheltered in the beginning of the series, so what can they show as a younger version without erasing how incapable of change he was when the audience first met him?
Exactly nothing could happen in this show unless they change his whole backstory from Big Bang
We’d finally see Sheldon’s brother and likely his father.
As for them choosing someone so young, I think they sort of have to because having him any older would miss out on showing his Texas roots since according to Sheldon’s history, he entered college at age 11 and graduated at age 14. Maybe if the show lasts a few seasons, we’ll also finally find out where Sheldon got his undergraduate degree since it’s never actually been stated on TBBT.
Cal tech it can be read when Howard pulls his diploma off the wall.
But that was his doctorate that he was showing, not his undergraduate. It’s never been stated by the others or Sheldon as to which school he attended for his undergrad work. Considering his age at the time he got his undergraduate degree, I don’t think he would have gone very far away from his mother and family.
Oh my bad I thought it was his undergrad, that’s probably a safe assumption that it’s somewhere in Texas
My guess would be Rice–it’s a step up academically than UT and a Texas Two Step from A&M.
You kind of know there will be cameos throughout the spinoff of little Sheldon meeting child versions of everyone on Big Bang.
And who will play Sheldon’s twin sister. drunken philandering father and older brother? IMO this is a mistake. A boy genius with Asperger’s was dealt with on Parenthood and it was neither funny nor pretty. i’m not optimistic.
Have to wait, but I think this particular spin off idea will bomb miserably. One or (maybe) 2 episodes might get fairly good ratings from a novelty point of view, but the concept will tank quickly
This sounds like a bad spin-off. I usually like ‘The Big Bang Theory’ in spite of Sheldon, but his character growth over the series are his best moments. I don’t have any interest in seeing a pre-season one Sheldon, especially just as a kid, unless he’s some small recurring character focusing on other characters instead.
When did these kinds of spin-offs really work anyways? People cite ‘Frasier’ as the example of spin-off that worked but part of that was that ‘Cheers’ was already off the air and they had a character like Niles to make Frasier’s eccentricities seem mild and more like the straight man by comparison.
Over the years, there have been a number of successful spin-offs. “All in the Family” spun off “Maude”, (which spun off “Good Times”), as well as “The Jeffersons”, “Gloria”, “Archie Bunker’s Place”, and “704 Hauser” . “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” spun off “Rhoda”, “Phyllis”, and “Lou Grant”. Don’t forget that “Star Trek” had “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, “Star Trek: Voyager”, and “Star Trek: Enterprise”. More recent examples include “Stargate SG1” with “Stargate Infinity”, “Stargate Atlantis”, and “Stargate Universe”, and the “The Originals” came from “The Vampire Diaries”.
But I agree that this may not be the best idea for a spin-off.
Private Practice was also somewhat successful. One of the most successful spin offs that comes to mind is NCIS which was spun off from JAG. And Happy Days was a spin off of Love, American Style, and then Mork and Mindy and Laverne and Shirley were both spun off from Happy Days.
I had forgotten that “Happy Days” had come from “Love, American Style”. :-)
That kid is too young. The character should be older.
Can’t be much older. Sheldon went off to college at age 11.
Yeah, I’m not seeing the potential here, either. The whole point of BBT is that all the characters are better off now than when they started out at the beginning (except maybe Bernadette), so any backstory can only lead to a low point.
I’d be more interested in seeing what’s happening with the parents
I just can’t imagine choosing to watch Zoe Perry every week. What a scenery chewer she is on Scandal. Just awful.