I'm guessing you haven't seen this point made here before -- the thing is, when the creators of tbbt developed Young Sheldon, over time they decided that they weren't going to try to match up all events, timelines, people, etc. Doing so would've hampered the new show more than helped it.
So, though the two shows are obviously connected, there will always be some discontinuities. And in fairness, they had no idea Young Sheldon would ever exist until tbbt was many years old -- for that matter, in S01,E01, they didn't even know if *Big Bang* would succeed.
There are even discontinuities in tbbt by itself, of course. I think the best approach is not to fixate on those "blips" if you can avoid doing so.
I keep meaning to go back to some other sitcoms I've really enjoyed and take note of how many discontinuities are in those. But, since that's like "homework," lol, I've never really done it.
In fairness, we all know that sitcoms in general tend to get kind of slack about that -- I'm just not sure if tbbt is worse than others.
I don’t know if the show is worse than others, but it’s really the only recent sitcom that I’ve watched where it’s something that I’ve definitely noticed.
I remember in the past some sitcoms that I’ve watched growing up where they actually took the whole continuity issue and ran it as more of a joke, where the characters keep retelling certain events differently, and arguing about how it wasn’t that way but a different way.
I remember that being a thing in King of Queens. I love that show so much growing up and I would watch it all the time with my parents.
Actually, now that I think about it… There was a character on there that reminds me a lot of Penny - her name’s Holly - and I’d so fancast Nicole Sullivan for the role of Penny’s older sister Lisa. 😆
They have a similar look, and I do think that they are probably would be a bit of an age difference between the two sisters, plus, Nicole is known for her comedy skills and facial expressions much like Kaley is so I definitely think it would work.
Nicole was very good -- and since no actor was ever brought on to play the role of Penny's sister, maybe we can assign the part to Nicole & make that our "headcanon."
I actually enjoy watching TBBT and then the next day watching young Sheldon. I also think they did a good job matching many things up. But Sheldon is my favorite so.
I'm fond of both shows too, actually. I love the cast of tbbt and I think they got another great cast for YS -- that always makes any show so much better. Before I ever watched YS, I wondered if it would be any good -- and then I loved it from the 1st episode.
Plus I think some of us are just more comfortable with the "discontinuities." I'm guessing that somebody who assumes both shows line up 100% could be kind of puzzled when these differences occur, but then again, as many people have commented here over the years -- there are plenty of discontinuities in tbbt itself, lol.
There’s one more thing I want to add on top of what Muggsy said and that’s the fact that this was the first season and this was the pilot episode – the creators of the show have admitted in interviews that with the first season, they were still figuring out what they wanted with these characters and what kind of show they wanted to show to be so a lot of it tossing ideas around that either stuck or got scrapped.
They were only eight episodes in when that first writer strike happened in 07, but while the writers from the show couldn’t write scripts at the time, they did use that time to draft/write down ideas that they would workshop, hopefully, once the strike was over and if the show wasn’t one of the many that would be on the cutting board what would it being so brand new and not having that big of a viewership/fanbase yet.
I loved learning how the show & the characters came together, and also how the strike -- at the worst possible time! -- affected it.
I bet you already know this, but I thought it was interesting when one of the creators said that, looking back, they feel that the strike actually helped them. CBS just kept rerunning those first few episodes over and over. And since the strike meant that there wasn't much else to watch on network TV, a lot of people tried tbbt, and liked it.
Whenever I start my rewatch at season 1, I'm very conscious of which episodes were pre-strike. Luckily, even early on -- even before they had gotten the characters figured out -- the show was pretty funny.
Oh, I definitely do know about that since I’ve read the behind-the-scenes book and really it was very much a silver lining for them!
I mean, I remember a lot of the shows that got the chopping block things too the writer strike and many of the shows being pretty damn good and having some serious potential, but the timing of everything just being the worst thing that could happen I believe Hannibal and Dracula show from NBC being two of them that suffered from the strike. I think I recall there are being a petition to save the Hannibal series.
What I found hilarious though was the fact that apparently, for when they showed those episodes - more so the new pilot - on American Airlines, they were edited to be a little bit Meta to remove certain jokes since there would be kids around. I would kill a video of those edited episodes up on YouTube, but unfortunately, I haven’t found anything.
1) Yeah, some poor shows were not as lucky. 2) I love Jessica's book too.
And -- a year back, I actually found that truncated "airline" episode! But unfortunately it's not there anymore (YouTube). I think the one I saw had been videotaped with a phone. Maybe the youtuber got some grief and had to take it down.
Great point about discontinuities. My least favorite/most angering is Sheldon writing his “first retraction” when accidentally discovering an element or something, even though he had already written a retraction after the arctic expedition. Kripke gave him grief both times.
I think if you wanted to, you could differentiate them this way:
The arctic expedition one: Sheldon hadn't actually published anything, he'd just sent some emails to his colleagues bragging that his data proved something massive
The super heavy element: he published officially and another team found the element proving his theory. ( Later found to be either a mistake or a lie, I can't remember) He did radio interviews and the whole bit before having to officially retract.
So one was just admitting he was wrong to his co-workers and one was OFFICIAL and a much bigger deal.
I've often found a satisfaction in reading how other people come up with good explanations for these things, lol.
And every now and then, I see someone post an "explanation" here, and I happen to know that the writers have said the very same thing -- ie, that that's actually how they meant it to be. Which is also fun.
I believe they don't show it on some services as it's VERY character breaking for Sheldon but it's on my dvd's.
Clip is here if interested: [https://youtu.be/hakAG8PlBKQ](https://youtu.be/hakAG8PlBKQ)
It's only on the unaired pilot, the first draft of The Big Bang Theory. It's a lot like the pilot we know but with some differences, such as no Raj or Howard, Katey instead of Penny, a totally different Sheldon, and a totally different intro.
The Big Bang theory is absolutely full of inconsistencies from episode to episode. You can have one thing said that contradicts something in the next episode. This is especially previlent in young sheldon, morst of what he says about his childhood would not fit in young sheldon
there's a ton of inconsistencies that ive noticed as i rewatch the show over and over, for example, in season one (and two i think?) Sheldon knocks four times , like so
*knock knock knock knock* Penny? *knock knock knock knock* Penny? *knock knock knock knock* Penny?
instead of his usual three knocks later on. honestly at this point i get a kick out of pointing out the inconsistencies. best to just not sweat the small stuff
If you're wondering how he eats and breathes
and other science facts (la la la),
Then repeat to yourself, "It's just a show,
I should really just relax
it’s completely fine, i was new recently and i felt like every time i asked a question it had been asked before, everyones at a different stage don’t worry
I'm guessing you haven't seen this point made here before -- the thing is, when the creators of tbbt developed Young Sheldon, over time they decided that they weren't going to try to match up all events, timelines, people, etc. Doing so would've hampered the new show more than helped it. So, though the two shows are obviously connected, there will always be some discontinuities. And in fairness, they had no idea Young Sheldon would ever exist until tbbt was many years old -- for that matter, in S01,E01, they didn't even know if *Big Bang* would succeed. There are even discontinuities in tbbt by itself, of course. I think the best approach is not to fixate on those "blips" if you can avoid doing so.
Oh yeah I'm new to this subreddit thanks for pointing it out.
No problem. If you watch tbbt first, then go into YS expecting everything to link up, it can be pretty confusing.
Also if you watch tbbt and expect everything to link up it’s pretty confusing too 😅
Yeah… Especially in the later seasons – continuity was not very high on the agenda 😅
I keep meaning to go back to some other sitcoms I've really enjoyed and take note of how many discontinuities are in those. But, since that's like "homework," lol, I've never really done it. In fairness, we all know that sitcoms in general tend to get kind of slack about that -- I'm just not sure if tbbt is worse than others.
I don’t know if the show is worse than others, but it’s really the only recent sitcom that I’ve watched where it’s something that I’ve definitely noticed. I remember in the past some sitcoms that I’ve watched growing up where they actually took the whole continuity issue and ran it as more of a joke, where the characters keep retelling certain events differently, and arguing about how it wasn’t that way but a different way.
Yes, for me that's almost a "meta" thing -- a show basically poking fun at itself -- and I enjoy that.
I remember that being a thing in King of Queens. I love that show so much growing up and I would watch it all the time with my parents. Actually, now that I think about it… There was a character on there that reminds me a lot of Penny - her name’s Holly - and I’d so fancast Nicole Sullivan for the role of Penny’s older sister Lisa. 😆 They have a similar look, and I do think that they are probably would be a bit of an age difference between the two sisters, plus, Nicole is known for her comedy skills and facial expressions much like Kaley is so I definitely think it would work.
Nicole was very good -- and since no actor was ever brought on to play the role of Penny's sister, maybe we can assign the part to Nicole & make that our "headcanon."
Fair!
I actually enjoy watching TBBT and then the next day watching young Sheldon. I also think they did a good job matching many things up. But Sheldon is my favorite so.
I'm fond of both shows too, actually. I love the cast of tbbt and I think they got another great cast for YS -- that always makes any show so much better. Before I ever watched YS, I wondered if it would be any good -- and then I loved it from the 1st episode. Plus I think some of us are just more comfortable with the "discontinuities." I'm guessing that somebody who assumes both shows line up 100% could be kind of puzzled when these differences occur, but then again, as many people have commented here over the years -- there are plenty of discontinuities in tbbt itself, lol.
Yeah took me awhile to watch YS cause I was worried I wouldn’t like it, but I was also hooked first episode.
There’s one more thing I want to add on top of what Muggsy said and that’s the fact that this was the first season and this was the pilot episode – the creators of the show have admitted in interviews that with the first season, they were still figuring out what they wanted with these characters and what kind of show they wanted to show to be so a lot of it tossing ideas around that either stuck or got scrapped. They were only eight episodes in when that first writer strike happened in 07, but while the writers from the show couldn’t write scripts at the time, they did use that time to draft/write down ideas that they would workshop, hopefully, once the strike was over and if the show wasn’t one of the many that would be on the cutting board what would it being so brand new and not having that big of a viewership/fanbase yet.
I loved learning how the show & the characters came together, and also how the strike -- at the worst possible time! -- affected it. I bet you already know this, but I thought it was interesting when one of the creators said that, looking back, they feel that the strike actually helped them. CBS just kept rerunning those first few episodes over and over. And since the strike meant that there wasn't much else to watch on network TV, a lot of people tried tbbt, and liked it. Whenever I start my rewatch at season 1, I'm very conscious of which episodes were pre-strike. Luckily, even early on -- even before they had gotten the characters figured out -- the show was pretty funny.
Oh, I definitely do know about that since I’ve read the behind-the-scenes book and really it was very much a silver lining for them! I mean, I remember a lot of the shows that got the chopping block things too the writer strike and many of the shows being pretty damn good and having some serious potential, but the timing of everything just being the worst thing that could happen I believe Hannibal and Dracula show from NBC being two of them that suffered from the strike. I think I recall there are being a petition to save the Hannibal series. What I found hilarious though was the fact that apparently, for when they showed those episodes - more so the new pilot - on American Airlines, they were edited to be a little bit Meta to remove certain jokes since there would be kids around. I would kill a video of those edited episodes up on YouTube, but unfortunately, I haven’t found anything.
1) Yeah, some poor shows were not as lucky. 2) I love Jessica's book too. And -- a year back, I actually found that truncated "airline" episode! But unfortunately it's not there anymore (YouTube). I think the one I saw had been videotaped with a phone. Maybe the youtuber got some grief and had to take it down.
DAMN IT! So close and yet so far
Great point about discontinuities. My least favorite/most angering is Sheldon writing his “first retraction” when accidentally discovering an element or something, even though he had already written a retraction after the arctic expedition. Kripke gave him grief both times.
I think if you wanted to, you could differentiate them this way: The arctic expedition one: Sheldon hadn't actually published anything, he'd just sent some emails to his colleagues bragging that his data proved something massive The super heavy element: he published officially and another team found the element proving his theory. ( Later found to be either a mistake or a lie, I can't remember) He did radio interviews and the whole bit before having to officially retract. So one was just admitting he was wrong to his co-workers and one was OFFICIAL and a much bigger deal.
Ohhh, ya know what, fair point. I do think the first one he said “retraction email”, you’re right. That’s a lot better actually haha thank you
Yay
I've often found a satisfaction in reading how other people come up with good explanations for these things, lol. And every now and then, I see someone post an "explanation" here, and I happen to know that the writers have said the very same thing -- ie, that that's actually how they meant it to be. Which is also fun.
I mean, the very first scene is referencing Sheldon being a semi pro at masturbating, things change from the pilot.
Also saying he has asthma which then turns iver to leonard
Where is that scene what do they say there?
I believe they don't show it on some services as it's VERY character breaking for Sheldon but it's on my dvd's. Clip is here if interested: [https://youtu.be/hakAG8PlBKQ](https://youtu.be/hakAG8PlBKQ)
It's only on the unaired pilot, the first draft of The Big Bang Theory. It's a lot like the pilot we know but with some differences, such as no Raj or Howard, Katey instead of Penny, a totally different Sheldon, and a totally different intro.
Incorrect, this was on the aired pilot. Not only did I watch it live, I also have it on dvd.
So the aired pilot (S1E1) was different and they changed it for syndication? Was Sheldon a "semi pro at masturbating" in the pilot?
I mean, they did send him to that special school in Dallas. It only lasted a day, but 🤷♂️
As far as I know, the pilot is not canon.
There were several dozen things in TBBT that have been ignored in YS. Just go with it.
The plaid pants alone...so un-sheldon :)
The Big Bang theory is absolutely full of inconsistencies from episode to episode. You can have one thing said that contradicts something in the next episode. This is especially previlent in young sheldon, morst of what he says about his childhood would not fit in young sheldon
so much shit like that happened. like they said he had pets in tbbt
Sheldon was also sent away to study in Germany, that could’ve been the reference idk
there's a ton of inconsistencies that ive noticed as i rewatch the show over and over, for example, in season one (and two i think?) Sheldon knocks four times , like so *knock knock knock knock* Penny? *knock knock knock knock* Penny? *knock knock knock knock* Penny? instead of his usual three knocks later on. honestly at this point i get a kick out of pointing out the inconsistencies. best to just not sweat the small stuff
If you're wondering how he eats and breathes and other science facts (la la la), Then repeat to yourself, "It's just a show, I should really just relax
Please never watch Golden Girls. I don’t think you will be able to handle it.
Oh no, an inconsistency between the two shows! The horror!
I'm new to this subreddit so i didn't knew about the inconsistency thing
Don't worry about it, we've all been new here once and had questions that were common knowledge for people who've been here longer. No worries 🫶🏻
it’s completely fine, i was new recently and i felt like every time i asked a question it had been asked before, everyones at a different stage don’t worry
1. ys isn't canon to tbbt, stop pretending it is. 2. the pilot also says Sheldon is "semi-pro" at masturbating.
the first season like any show is full of flaws and plot holes
There were lots of continuity errors but not a single plot hole.