TAM
Those who aren’t familiar with Young Sheldon might not know that Dr. Cooper’s childhood friend, whose adult counterpart made an appearance during Big Bang‘s 12th and final season, was first seen on the prequel, not the other way around. On Big Bang, Tam and Sheldon lost contact after attending different colleges. His formal introduction came in Young Sheldon Season 1, Episode 2.
VERNEE WATSON
Following five appearances on The Big Bang Theory as nurse Althea Davis, Vernee Watson guest-starred on two episodes of Young Sheldon as Nurse Robinson. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air vet also played a nurse on Two and a Half Men, and co-stars as Gloria, yet another nurse, on Bob Hearts Abishola.
Suffice it to say, Watson is the glue that holds the Chuck Lorre Cinematic Universe together.
ALWAYS A PASSENGER, NEVER A DRIVER
In Season 1, Episode 3, Young Sheldon declared that seeing 14-year-old Georgie behind the wheel of Meemaw’s car was enough to convince him that he never wanted to operate a motor vehicle — hence his reluctance when Leonard & Co. tried to give him virtual driving lessons in Big Bang Season 2.
SHELDON’S LOVE OF COMIC BOOKS
Tam is singlehandedly responsible for inspiring Dr. Cooper’s weekly visits to Stuart’s comic book store. Sheldon’s childhood friend first introduced him to comics in Season 1, Episode 4.
SHELDON’S SPOT
Long before Adult Sheldon explained to Penny why he had a designated couch cushion, Young Sheldon asked Tam to forfeit his seat in the Medford High cafeteria. “It’s complicated, just move,” he asked demanded in Season 1, Episode 4.
WHY SHELDON BECAME A THEORETICAL PHYSICIST
In Season 1, Episode 6, Dr. Cooper informed us that the reason he chose a career in theoretical physics had nothing to do with his desire to unravel the inner workings of the universe. He just wanted to prove he was right to a condescending NASA employee who talked down to him during his freshman year of high school.
ELON MUSK
After sharing a piece of pumpkin pie with Howard in Season 9 of Big Bang, Musk cameoed in Season 1, Episode 6 of Young Sheldon. The scene in question revealed that Musk found the answer for successfully landing a Space X rocket in Dr. Cooper’s childhood notebook. (Perhaps he can also find something in there about not running Twitter into the ground?)
SCHRODINGER’S CAT
Long before Sheldon had Penny apply Schrödinger’s Cat to her dilemma about whether or not to go out with Leonard, Young Sheldon detailed the thought experiment to Dad and Georgie on a road trip in Season 1, Episode 8.
SHELDON’S BATHROOM SCHEDULE
Leonard isn’t the only one who’s had to put up with Sheldon’s timetable for bowel movements. It was referenced by Mary in Season 1, Episode 8, and was also a point of contention in Season 3, Episode 16 (see above).
Two years later, in Season 5, Episode 16, Sheldon’s bathroom schedule was shown in full for the first time.
SHELDON’S STAR TREK FANDOM
Our first glimpse at Sheldon’s fandom came three decades before he’d appear in a documentary honoring the late Leonard Nimoy. In Season 1, Episode 9, Shelly explained to Meemaw that “Spock is half-human and half-Vulcan [and] ashamed of his human side… That’s why I identify with him.” Little did he know that he’d one day be gifted a Cheesecake Factory napkin containing Nimoy’s DNA.
SOFT KITTY
Long before Penny reluctantly sang Sheldon’s favorite childhood lullaby while applying vapor rub counterclockwise, Mary sang that soothing song to her germaphobic son in Season 1, Episode 13.
THE FIRST RELATIONSHIP AGREEMENT
Long before Amy crossed any T’s or dotted any I’s, 10-year-old Sheldon drafted his very first social contract: the Cooper-Sturgis-Tucker Behavior Agreement, which clarified his own involvement in Meemaw’s relationship with his mentor, Dr. John Sturgis. But wait, there’s more…
FUTURE REVEAL NO. 1
As Meemaw and Dr. Sturgis signed and dated the aforementioned document in Season 1, Episode 22, our narrator revealed some rather gigantic #Shamy news: “I would go on to draw up such contracts throughout my life, with roommates, with my wife… even with my own children,” he said, confirming that he and Amy would go on to have kids (plural!) after the events of The Big Bang Theory.
Four years later, in the Season 5, Episode 16, Sheldon mentioned that Amy eventually stripped him of his comic book allowance so they could start a college fund for their children.
DR. TIRE: AN ORIGIN STORY
Jerry O’Connell was introduced as Georgie’s adult counterpart during Season 11 of Big Bang, at which point it was revealed that Sheldon’s older brother owned a successful chain of tire stores. A few months later, in Season 2, Episode 8 of Young Sheldon, Georgie took a part-time job at Herschel Sparks’ auto body shop and discovered an affinity for tires. The rest is history.
BAZINGA BEGINS
“If it’s funny, it’s a Bazinga!” That was the slogan for a novelty company introduced in Season 2, Episode 10, which at long last revealed how Sheldon came up with his signature catchphrase.
BLOSSOM? NEVER HEARD OF HER!
Mayim Bialik’s star-making role was referenced in Season 2, Episode 11, when Sheldon’s twin sister Missy pitched a number of potential boyfriends for her Cabbage Patch doll.
MISSY: “How do you think Celeste would look next to Joey Lawrence?”
SHELDON: “I don’t know who that is.”
MISSY: “He’s Blossom’s brother.”
SHELDON: “I don’t know who that is.”
MISSY: “It’s a show. She wears hats.”
Little did Young Sheldon know that his sister was referencing his future wife. (Funnily enough, Big Bang also name-dropped Bialik three years before she was cast as Amy.)
A PRECURSOR TO ‘THE GORILLA EXPERIMENT’
Years before Sheldon forced Penny to ponder the question “What is physics?” and documented his findings, the pint-sized brainiac posed an experiment not unlike Project Gorilla and used Missy as a test subject — also in Season 2, Episode 11.
HE’S NOT CRAZY! HIS MOTHER HAD HIM TESTED!
“Bazinga!” might be the catchphrase most commonly associated with Parsons’ alter ago, but “I’m not crazy! My mother had me tested!” is a close second. Sheldon first alluded to said assessment in Season 2, Episode 14, when Georgie asked Sheldon if he was crazy after confronting a bully.
THE NOBEL PRIZE
Season 2, Episode 22 tied directly into the mothership’s series finale. Immediately after Big Bang‘s Sheldon accepted the Nobel Prize in physics, Young Sheldon circled back 28 years to find Sheldon invite the entire school to a party for the 1991 Nobel Prize announcements. Unfortunately, no one showed.
“In that moment, I felt like a neutrino, destined to be alone forever,” Adult Sheldon narrated. “Thankfully, I was wrong,” he said, as younger versions of his future friends were shown, one by one, with Easter eggs aplenty….
YOUNG LEONARD
The asthmatic Leonard was seen in his signature red robe with an inhaler on his desk.
YOUNG PENNY
Wyatt’s “little slugger” had a baseball bat near her bedside. On her wall was a cowboy hat to represent Nebraska, as well as a poster of Los Angeles, suggesting that she already had dreams of becoming an actress.
YOUNG HOWARD
Howard was in his bedroom, donning his signature silk jammies. To his right was a table of magic tricks and props. Mrs. Wolowitz also made a voice-only cameo, telling her son to “put away the fakakta game” and get to bed.
YOUNG BERNADETTE
Howard’s future wife had a microscope on her nightstand to represent her interest in microbiology. A trophy and sash represented her days as a child beauty-pageant contestant.
YOUNG RAJ
Raj was still in India. A stuffed tiger on his bed represented the Royal Bengal Tigers. The telescope to his right foreshadowed his future career as an astrophysicist.
