The Big Bang Theory is a crowd-divider, a controversial crowd-pleaser, and IMHO a damn funny TV show (IDST).
So, when Warner Bros TV confirmed they’re developing a prequel to the CBS smash hit, starring our favourite uber-nerd, Sheldon Cooper, needless to say I lost my shit – along with the rest of the internet apparently.
Messages of glee flooded onto the Twittersphere, showing the haters that the show deserves its title as most popular American television show – and equally that it’s stars deserve to be the highest paid TV actors.
Some Tweeters are significantly less excited.
Begrudgingly, I can understand their trepidation.
As we all know you can’t make successful, well-rounded film or a television show out of comic relief.
It’s a sad fact that Sheldon himself would attest to and I learnt myself as I sat mind-numbingly bored watching The Minions Movie, after falling in love whole-heartedly with Despicable Me.
So where does that leave us with a Sheldon Spin-Off?
The show would focus on Sheldon Cooper, played by 43-year-old Jim Parsons who would also be cast in the role of Executive Producer. It would tell the story of his troubled childhood in a deeply-religious Texan family.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, ‘insiders describe the project as Malcolm in the Middle but with a young and potentially teenage version of Sheldon’ – so we’ll finally be able to see the results of those tests.
I vote legendary Bryan Cranston for Sheldon’s drunk dead-beat dad.
The Big Bang Theory is currently in its tenth series and an eleventh is worryingly unconfirmed.
Even Kaley Cuoco, who plays lovable Penny, seemed unsure about the show’s future in a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel.
Personally, I’m conflicted by the idea of a Sheldon origin story.
One the one hand, I’d like to see more of his hilarious, bible-bashing mother played by Laurie Metcalf.
On the other hand, perhaps CBS should leave Sheldon’s childhood stories to be filled in by the audience’s imagination, rather than monopolising on the character’s popularity to make more money.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.