Summary

• Young Sheldon's series finale drew in a huge 8.95 million viewers, ending with a hopeful setup for Sheldon's future at CalTech.
• The two-part finale focused on George's funeral and Sheldon's realization that his narrations were excerpts from his memoir.
• A spin-off series called Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage is in the works, focusing on the challenges of parenthood and marriage.

Young Sheldon concluded its seven-season run on Thursday with a two-episode series finale that delivered the highest viewing figures for the show in four years. While the fanbase of the series has not exactly been dwindling, the finale drew in the kind of numbers that a series finale should – in this case, an impressive 8.95 million viewers.

The series finale comprised two episodes: "Funeral" and "Memoir." The first episode addressed the aftermath of George Cooper Sr.'s sudden death from a heart attack, an event that had been foreshadowed throughout the season. The episode delivered a sombre and emotional episode that was still filled with the show’s signature humor, but also had more gravitas than regular episodes. The second episode finally revealed what many have suspected for some time; that the adult Sheldon Cooper’s narrations throughout the series were excerpts from his memoir. The finale ended with Sheldon arriving at CalTech, setting up his future as seen in The Big Bang Theory.

Speaking prior to the series finale airing, executive producer Steve Holland explained how series creator Chuck Lorre knew that the series couldn’t end on a maudlin moment, but could still cover George’s funeral and then move on to a more uplifting ending. Holland told ComicBook.com:

"We knew, going into this last season especially, that we knew there were certain big events that happened when Sheldon was 14. We knew his dad was going to pass away. We knew that he was going to go to Caltech. So it was then really about figuring out when and how. And I think in our early discussions, we'd sort of thought that the death and the funeral would be the finale, with maybe a little tag of Sheldon going off to Cal Tech. I think that was always our last image. As we were breaking the episodes and talking about it, I think Chuck Lorre said, 'The show has been such a sort of positive show, and it's a family show. Maybe we don't want to leave the audience wallowing in grief. So maybe there's a way to sort of do the funeral, and also move past it, and have a little bit more hope going into the finale.' And I think that was a really smart call on his part."

The Big Bang Theory Universe Continues with Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage

Although Young Sheldon has now come to its conclusion, fans of the Cooper family don’t have to worry about missing them too much, as the new spin-off series, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, is already on the way. The new series will focus on George Cooper Jr. and Mandy McAllister as they take on the challenges of parenthood and, of course, their marriage. Starring Montana Jordan and Emily Osment, along with Will Sasso and Rachel Bay Jones reprising their roles as Mandy's parents, the series will not be simply copying the success of Young Sheldon, but will be looking to develop “its own identity.”

Addressing the possibility of Young Sheldon cameos in the new series, Holland tempered fans’ expectations of a lot of crossovers between the two shows. He said:

"It’s important for us that it create its own identity and it isn’t just Young Sheldon Season 8, but at the same time, these people are family, and they live in the same town, and it is always our hope that this is a world where they’re going to pop up, and that these stories will get to continue in some fashion."

The huge viewership of Young Sheldon’s finale suggests that the new series will have no problems when it comes to drawing an audience. With the franchise still having many other potential avenues to explore, including word of a Big Bang Theory sequel series being in development, it seems that there are many years of potential stories to be told for fans of the franchise.

Previous seasons of Young Sheldon are available on Max and Netflix.