When a younger version of The Big Bang Theory’s Howard showed up in Young Sheldon season 2, the sitcom spinoff managed to make his appearance even sweeter with a clever cameo casting arrangement. Throughout The Big Bang Theory, comedic actor Carol Ann Susi proved a fan favorite thanks to her role as Howard’s overbearing, raspy-voiced mother. Although Ms. Deborah “Debbie” Wolowitz never appeared onscreen, her gravelly yelling was heard often throughout the sitcom’s long run. The Big Bang Theory mined a lot of comedic gold from Debbie’s well-timed interruptions but, unfortunately, the series had to retire the character when Susi passed away in 2014.

Ms. Wolowitz was one of many minor The Big Bang Theory characters that fans grew attached to throughout the show’s 12 seasons. Howard’s mother appeared in many of The Big Bang Theory’s most-watched episodes and provided a lot of classic punchlines for the series, meaning the show needed to offer a tribute to her legacy. To this end, Howard and Bernadette’s first child was kept offscreen for most of her time on the series with Pamela Adlon providing her vocals. Hilariously, the couple’s young daughter sounded exactly like Howard’s mother. This joke was made even better when a younger version of Howard had a cameo in Young Sheldon season 2.

Young Sheldon Gave Roles To Howard’s Mother and Daughter

Since Ms. Wolowitz’s original actor passed away before the spinoff began, the spinoff used a combination of her archived recordings and Pamela Adlon’s new ones for her offscreen cameo in Young Sheldon season 2, episode 22, “A Swedish Science Thing And The Equation For Toast,” which offered a glimpse at Sheldon’s future friend group. As Adlon previously provided the offscreen voice of Howard’s daughter in later seasons of The Big Bang Theory, this meant that Ms. Wolowitz was voiced by a combination of Howard’s original screen mother and his future daughter’s actor. This cute combination allowed Young Sheldon to bring together three generations of the Wolowitz family onscreen and reminded the spinoff’s viewers of the chemistry shared by the earlier hit sitcom’s stellar cast.

Young Howard’s appearance in Young Sheldon season 2’s closing montage was cute, but the casting for his family was ingeniously adorable. This outing soon became Young Sheldon’s most-watched episode in season 2, and it is easy to see why. The nostalgic final sequence is one of the sweetest scenes in the show’s history, and a behind-the-scenes detail made Howard’s role even sweeter.

Young Sheldon Made Howard’s Cameo Perfect

As well as giving viewers a glimpse into his early life, Young Sheldon used Howard’s cameo to combine three generations of his family. Young Sheldon’s Mary Cooper casting had done something similar earlier in the spinoff when the show chose Laurie Metcalf’s real-life daughter to play the younger version of Metcalf’s The Big Bang Theory character. By keeping Mary’s role in the same family, Young Sheldon ensured some continuity between the two takes on the character. Similarly, by combining the voices of Howard’s mother and his future daughter, Young Sheldon’s season 2 finale paid tribute to The Big Bang Theory character perfectly.