Despite having passed away in the seventh and final season of “Young Sheldon,” George Cooper Sr. (Lance Barber) continues to strongly inform the show’s spinoff, “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” well after his death. This is particularly true during Georgie’s (Montana Jordan) visits to his old man’s grave, where he provides life updates and discusses his worries about marriage and parenting. It’s clear that Georgie still feels connected to his dad, which is further emphasized with his choice of vehicle.
In the show, Georgie drives a Ford F-150, which is the same truck his father drove on “Young Sheldon.” In a November 2024 interview with TVLine, “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” co-creator Steve Molaro revealed the reason for its inclusion, while also noting that he wanted the Easter egg to be subtle:
“We didn’t really want to make it a big deal, but when ‘Young Sheldon’ was ending and we were starting this show, the transportation department [at Warner Bros.] was asking us, ‘Do you want us to keep this truck or get rid of it?’ And we were, like, ‘No, we should definitely keep it.’ And it makes sense that Georgie would drive that truck. It’s his dad’s truck, and he has an emotional connection to it, so it just seemed like that was the right thing to do.”
Of course, this isn’t the only “Young Sheldon” Easter egg on “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” but it’s arguably the most emotional. That said, the show’s creators have found that incorporating references into the latest “Big Bang Theory” spinoff can be quite challenging.
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage had to reimagine some Young Sheldon sets
“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” takes place shortly after the events of “Young Sheldon,” and the spin-off features many of the same characters and locations. The Bluebell Diner and the First Baptist Church of Medford appear in both shows, to name a couple of the Easter eggs that fans have probably spotted already. However, viewers should know that their iterations on “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” aren’t exact recreations of the sets from “Young Sheldon,” as the show’s format has thrown some spanners in the works.
In the aforementioned interview with TVLine, Steve Molaro explained that the decision to switch from a single-cam to a multi-cam set-up on “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” meant that some of the sets from “Young Sheldon” had to be redesigned. This included the McAllisters’ living room, which had to be re-tooled because of where the front door was originally placed. This approach was a challenge at times, though, with Molaro noting, “We had to figure out these sets [from ‘Young Sheldon’] and make them feel like they’re the same sets.
Despite the creators’ noble intentions to hide the differences, some sets look different on “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” than they do on “Young Sheldon.” A notable example is Georgie Cooper Sr.’s gravestone, whose tribute message is located on the opposite side of the monument in the newest “Big Bang Theory” spinoff. Maybe George will bring up this detail the next time Lance Barber reprises the character.
“Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” airs on CBS and streams on Paramount+.