How Young Sheldon's George Cooper Sr. Will Return On Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage

Because formulaic sitcoms are typically meant to be consumed as quickly digested standalone episodes, they do not often deal with the heaviness of death. When they do acknowledge the ultimate bummer, it's usually because their hand has been forced by powers beyond the writers' control, like a combative John Amos getting fired by the producers of "Good Times" or Nicholas Colasanto dying after Season 3 of "Cheers."

This makes the conundrum facing writers who work within the "Big Bang Theory" universe particularly interesting. During the sitcom's initial 12-season run, its creatives had ample time to fill in bits and pieces of every character's backstory. This gave the likes of Leonard (Johnny Galecki), Penny (Kaley Cuoco), and Howard (Simon Helberg) a little more depth while also opening up narrative avenues for the writers to explore as the immensely popular series kept getting renewed.

As "The Big Bang Theory" continued its run, it became quite clear that its writers were especially intrigued by the socially awkward genius Sheldon Cooper (portrayed by Jim Parsons). In fleshing out his childhood, they had Sheldon repeatedly vent about how his father, George Cooper Sr., was an uncaring drunk who cheated on his mother, and, perhaps mercifully, died when Sheldon was a kid. Over time, viewers had a very clear picture of George, which is why the George of "Young Sheldon" threw them. As played by Lance Barber, the George fans got to know and genuinely love via the spinoff was a pretty good guy.

The "Big Bang Theory" braintrust is split on the wisdom of killing off George in "Young Sheldon" (Chuck Lorre regrets it, while his fellow co-creators Steven Molaro and Steve Holland stand by the decision), but they all seem to agree that Barber's presence was too indelible to banish him from their universe for good. So, it should come as no surprise that Barber's George Cooper Sr. is set to return during the inaugural season of the "Young Sheldon" spinoff "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage." And, fortunately, it'll be in a manner that doesn't bend reality.

In a recent CBS press panel on the set of the series (one covered by outlets like TVLine), Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro, and Steve Holland confirmed that George Cooper Sr. is set to appear on an upcoming episode of "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage." They didn't announce an air date, but made it clear that it will be sometime during this ongoing first season.

The big question, of course, is how. A ghost George would be tonally inconsistent (unless the show were to attempt a tie-in with CBS' "Ghosts"), while a flashback would be too easy. What viewers crave is a married Georgie (Montana Jordan) somehow communing with his pop (especially since "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage" picks up two months after his death), and it sounds like the show's writers have found an artful way to pull this off. As Holland explained during the panel:

"His dad visits him in a dream. George is thinking about his dad, and he's worried that his dad might be disappointed in him [...] [The idea] came out of a conversation we'd had with Chuck, even early on, talking about the show. Chuck had said about his own father that he still dreams about him, he still visits him, so that was a thing we had thought about. And then when we were breaking this episode, it just seemed like a great opportunity to bring George back."

Lots of us dream about people we've lost in our lives as if they're still alive, so this could potentially be a resonant scene for a franchise that has grown increasingly sentimental (much to the delight of its loyal audience). If this scene connects as intended, it could also keep the door open to future appearances from George Sr. And if this concept really takes off, maybe CBS will reboot "Highway to Heaven" with Barber in the Michael Landon role of an angel who helps people overcome obstacles in their lives.

"Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage" airs on CBS and is available for streaming on Paramount+.