Young Sheldon's Raegan Revord Had To Follow An Infamous Big Bang Theory Rule

Raegon Revord played Sheldon's sister Missy for seven seasons on "Young Sheldon," and through all that time she never changed her hair. Well, that's not entirely true — sometimes she got to wear a ponytail, and for one episode she dyed her hair blonde — but for the most part Missy never changes her style, which is a little odd for such a rebellious character. Revord herself reportedly asked for a haircut multiple times throughout the series, but was denied for four years straight. It was only in season 6, after Revord suffered a traumatic car crash in real life, that she got her wish. She asked for a haircut and, after much deliberation, the showrunners decided to let her get one. 

As Revord explained to ET in 2023:

"They called me over and they were like, 'Hey, we have some news for you.' And then my hair person walks in and I'm like, 'No, no, no, no, no. This is not happening!' This is not happening!' And they were like, 'You get to cut your hair.' And now I have short hair and I'm so happy. I love it so much. I got Van Leeuwen and I got a haircut. What more can you ask for?'"

Still, Missy's new hair in season 6, episode 18's "Little Green Men and a Fella's Marriage Proposal" (shown in the picture below) wasn't really that jarring of a change. Missy's hair was shorter, but it was a far cry from the haircut Penny (Kaley Cuoco) got in season 8 of "The Big Bang Theory," a massive change in style that some fans absolutely hated. The showrunner's hesitance to give Missy a major change in hairstyle is the result of showrunner Chuck Lorre's fierce opposition to haircut changes with any major cast members; Penny was the only exception to the rule on "The Big Bang Theory," and her surprise pixie cut caused some minor tension behind the scenes as a result.

"The audience had become infatuated with the character, and not just the character's behavior and flaws and strengths, but in how the character looked," Lorre explained in an interview for Jessica Radloff's 2022 book "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series." He added:

"They became iconic, and to disregard that audience attachment was a mistake. And I witnessed it firsthand. It would have been the same thing if Johnny [Galecki] had come to the wrap party and had shaved his head. We're all in this together! But I love that Kaley recognized it for what it was. She's very self-aware, and we survived it. As bumps in the road go, that was a small one."

Chuck Lorre's approach to his characters' hair is a little unusual for sitcoms, most of which are happy to let the characters' hairstyles evolve along with their personalities. Such was the case with one of my favorite sitcoms, "Scrubs," in which the character arc of Elliot (Sarah Chalke) feels so neatly tied to her changing hair. For the first two seasons Elliot's got a fairly boring, safe hairstyle befitting a woman who is both insecure and whose life completely revolves around trying to survive her job. In season 3, Elliot starts taking charge of her life and finding her confidence, so she gets a bolder, shorter cut. As the show goes on and Elliot grows more stable and comfortable, her hair gets longer and more elegant.

In addition to being an amusing bit of visual storytelling, Elliot's hair is also fun because whenever a "Scrubs" clip shows up in one of my social media feeds, I can immediately tell which season it's from by looking at Elliot's hair. "How I Met Your Mother" is a similar story, where the early seasons are distinguished by Lily's (Alyson Hannigan) changing hair and the latter seasons are defined by Robin's (Cobie Smulders). In non-sitcom territory, shows like "Mad Men" and "Succession" would often take full advantage of their ability to telling a whole story with the characters' hair; look no further than Peggy Olson's (Elisabeth Moss) evolution or Shiv Roy's (Sarah Snook) sharp shift in season 2.

By sticking so strongly to the hair established for the characters in the first season, both "The Big Bang Theory" and "Young Sheldon" declined to take advantage of one of the most interesting avenues for visual storytelling a TV show has. There's certainly some value in keeping the characters stylized like cartoon characters, making sure they've always got the same basic shape and style. However, for a live-action teenaged rebel like Missy, letting her break the established "Big Bang Theory" rule might've been more entertaining.