Why do you like this show? [Young Sheldon]
The titular character of "Young Sheldon" is abrasive, annoying, and condescending. Yet, this popular sitcom immediately won over my entire family of five. Let's break it down!
“Why do you like this show?” my oldest daughter asked us at the beginning of Fall after she emerged from her room cave to find the rest of us watching season 1 of YOUNG SHELDON.
“This character is so annoying,” she pointed out…while sitting down with her snack instead of heading straight back to her room as teens are wont to do (even with a strict no-eating-in-your-room policy in place).
“It was the only thing we could all agree on after hours of searching,” I replied wearily.
But, of course, that wasn’t the full answer. Yes, in the absence of all our favorite shows not coming back from summer break due to multiple strikes, shows that we could happily watch with our ten-year-old twins (who are still willing to hang out with us) were thin on the ground. And much squabbling ensued before we finally settled on the prequel spin-off series to The Big Bang Theory.
However, my answer only explains why we gave the show a chance. Not why we happily kept watching it. Or why my oldest daughter didn’t return to her room, despite her accurately describing the titular character as annoying. And why we’re all so excited about dusting off our Paramount+ subscription to spend our Friday Pizza night with Young Sheldon.
In my Universal Fantasy Course, we talk a bunch about the audience’s relationship with your main characters. Most of our favorite and timeless characters have a strong ACRS* score in the ROOTING FOR or FEEL SORRY FOR category—or both. Think of popular movies like Cinderella, Rudy, and The Martian.
But every once in a while, a character comes along who has a strong ACRS score in an effective—but hardest-to-pull-off—category: ENTERTAINED BY.
You can easily recognize these characters because they often show up the first time as supporting cast for the MC we’re rooting for and then either take over the show or get spun off into their own tale.
Think of the Fonz jumping the shark on the Happy Days show that had come to revolve around him, despite his original roots as a secondary character.
Or, Puss in Boots making it hard to remember anything but him from Shrek 2.
Let’s face it: The Addams Family franchise has pretty much been the Wednesday show since the late ’90s.
And, of course, there’s Sheldon Cooper, who not only became the most popular character on The Big Bang Theory but also flagshipped the mega-popular period piece revolving around that character’s younger life.
I believe…
We are Entertained By watching Sheldon get put into situations in which he or others will comedically suffer.
We are Amused By Sheldon annoying his family, his teachers, and so many others he comes in contact with. Basically, Sheldon is that one family member who’s going to cause a scene at Thanksgiving dinner but keeps on getting invited to Thanksgiving dinner. Ostensibly because they’re family, but secretly because Thanksgiving would be boring without them. Think about how the non-entertaining, truly problematic relatives don’t get invited back for second seasons—I mean, Thanksgiving—at your house.
We feel Vicariously Righteous when Young Sheldon gets put in his place by his family or learns an important moral lesson. At least twice a season, there’s an episode revolving around Sheldon being convinced he was wrong and taking the lesson.
But you tell me (in my Universal Fantasy Discussion Group): Why do we love Young Sheldon?