Georgie & Mandy EP Talks Reuniting Young Sheldon Cast, Grieving George Sr. in Emotional Thanksgiving Episode
Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage just gave Young Sheldon fans a reason to be grateful.
Thursday’s episode reunited most of the Cooper clan — including Georgie (Montana Jordan), Mary (Zoe Perry), Missy (Raegan Revord) and Meemaw (Annie Potts), as well as Meemaw’s boyfriend Dale (Craig T. Nelson) — for their first Thanksgiving since the death of George Sr. And it was going about as well as it could have — that is, until Jim and Audrey got into a fight about Jim’s drinking, and Mary was reminded of similar fights she used to have with her late husband. After being consoled by Georgie, Mary, Georgie and Missy ended their night by having a slice of pumpkin pie at George Sr.’s grave.
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Below, series co-creator Steve Holland breaks down the emotional installment, and reveals why the Powers That Be chose not to extend an invite to Iain Armitage (aka Sheldon) for the spinoff’s first full-blown reunion.
TVLINE | Talk to me about the decision to have it only be Georgie and Missy with Mary at the grave. Why not have Meemaw there, for instance?
We were talking about who should definitely be at the grave, and it felt like the core family should be there. This [storyline] was really about Mary and Georgie, more specifically, and Missy, and about losing George. Meemaw is certainly a part of that, but it really felt like just having the core family there was the most important visual. And then it also helped pay off the joke when you go back to the McAllister house. It seemed funny that this random assortment of people were just left there — like, Dale and MeeMaw were just sort of, you know, stuck having Thanksgiving dinner without their family.
TVLINE | We know from The Big Bang Theory that Sheldon rarely came home once he moved to Pasadena. More recently, you and I have spoken about waiting to bring Sheldon back until you find the right episode for Iain Armitage — a storyline he can service versus creating a storyline for Sheldon. Did you, at any point, consider bringing Iain back for this episode?
Initially, when we were talking about the episode, it was certainly part of the discussion — like, “Should Sheldon be a part of this?” There are certain occasions where you could bring him back, but as we were breaking the [episode], it just felt like it was actually going to hurt this story. Often, when a matriarch or a patriarch passes away, the family can splinter, and that’s what is happening here. And as fun as it would have been to see him, it felt like there is no world where that family doesn’t get together, and Mary doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, if Sheldon is coming back from California. So, it seemed to make “Sheldon sense” that he didn’t come back, and it made sense for the story we were trying to tell.
TVLINE | The scene at the grave is relatively short. Does an extended cut of that scene exist? Was one written? Or did having Mary, Georgie and Missy there, for whatever brief period we see them on screen, always feel like enough?
The scene was always short, and for us, it was always more about the visual. There’s a little bit of dialogue, and it ends on a joke about Missy’s tattoo, but it was really just about the visual of the family having Thanksgiving with George Sr. at the grave. And it was that picture that we wanted to end on.
TVLINE | When Montana visited the TVLine offices last month, he pitched the idea of Lance Barber reprising his role as George Sr. — perhaps in a flashback, or as a ghost. Is that a possibility somewhere down the line? Or do you fear it would diminish the emotional toll his loss has had on both the Cooper family and the audience watching at home?
I mean, I think it depends. We would never want to undo anything. We’re incredibly proud of the Young Sheldon finale. But if we found the right way to do it…? I mean, Chuck [Lorre] has talked about how he lost his father many, many years ago, but he still dreams about him 30 years later. So, if we found the right sort of emotional reason for Georgie, and it didn’t just feel like a stunt — like, here’s George Sr. crawling his way out of the grade — and we treated it respectfully, it would be great to have Lance back on.
TVLINE | At one point, Jim and Audrey argue about his Jim’s drinking. Beyond the unresolved emotions that triggers in Mary, what did you want that scene to get across in terms of Jim and Audrey’s relationship?
I think it’s a very common [argument], especially on holidays. Really, for us, it felt like to talk about Mary, and the things that she was missing — realizing that she was never going to get to fight with [George], or never going to get to be worried that he’s drinking too much again, and that hits her in a weird way — that seemed like a really interesting, specific point of grief to land on.
TVLINE | Up until now, Jim has been this big ol’ teddy bear. And I think the audience has warmed to him in a way that they haven’t yet warmed to Audrey because Jim is always on Georgie’s side. However, in Episode 5, Jim is seen as drunk and stubborn, while Audrey is seen with tears in her eyes. I imagine you’re trying to get across that Jim has flaws, and that Audrey, perhaps, has reason to be on edge sometimes.
Absolutely. We’re still early in Season 1 of this show, but one of the fun things as we’ve been writing these episodes is that, you know, you’re starting these characters from one place — especially with Jim and Audrey, who didn’t have a lot of screen time on Young Sheldon. Audrey, specifically on Young Sheldon, was sort of written as the villain. So, start her in that place, and then start to find these nuances that soften her a little bit. She’s not suddenly going to become a big fan of Georgie, but you will start to understand why she is the way that she is, and why she feels this way, and that has been fun to see.
Both Will [Sasso] and Rachel [Bay Jones] are such good actors. Watching them navigate, even watching them find little pockets of— like, they’re in bed talking to each other in some episodes, and you can see that there’s actually a sweetness and a love there, and it’s not just that he’s this hen-pecked husband, and she’s this domineering wife. There’s more nuance to the relationship. I mean, look, if everybody likes each other, and everybody gets along, it’s hard to come up with stories, so it’s good to have some conflict. It’s good to have characters who don’t get along sometimes. But it’s also been fun to flesh out the edges of these characters. They’re not just one dimensional.
TVLINE | You’ve tackled Thanksgiving. Will there also be a Christmas episode in Season 1?
You know, we figured one big holiday was enough. The trick of it, when you do these big holiday episodes, is that it’s exciting because you can bring in everybody, but it just felt like [to bring in everybody] two weeks after Thanksgiving was going to be too soon.
What did you think of Georgie & Mandy’s first Thanksgiving? Grade it via the following poll, then leave your full review in Comments.
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