Why George Cooper's new episode of Sheldon's funeral had to be re-edited

Sometimes a TV show begins to change throughout its run, evolving into something new as the writers and producers figure out what works best for the characters and the story. The most obvious and common changes are often in the tone of the show, as the original ideas are softened or sharpened and things become more complex. Just look the brilliant political satire “Veep”, which starts out as a vulgar dark comedy but eventually becomes depressingly real in its satire, and the final season is pretty black. Hittar's CBS sitcom Young Sheldon was a little lighter, but no less dramatic. Already very different from its predecessor “The Big Bang Theory” by simple means using a single-camera format without a studio audienceThroughout its seven-season run, “Young Sheldon” evolved even more to become a heartfelt family drama.

In the show's later seasons, series hosts Steven Molaro and Steve Holland combined just the right amount of drama and comedy to create a show that had as many genuinely heartfelt moments as it did fun, though there was one episode where they really had to change. things are settling down a bit. In the penultimate episode of the series, “Funeral”, the patriarch of the Cooper family, George Sr. (Lance Barber), is mentioned, and the jokes have not gone anywhere. This is intentional, but it's the result of some re-edits that the creators felt were necessary to really make the series sound.

In an interview with ParadeHolland revealed that while the original plan for the episode included a standard amount of jokes, when they watched it in the edit, they realized the humor was really out of place.

“We wanted to be very respectful of George as a character and what his passing meant to this family. I think we realized that we could give ourselves permission to be a little more serious and have a little more weight in this moment, which was very palpable. We were able to carry that as realistic as we wanted because it was a comedy show.

The result was a a truly heartbreaking episode, the best of the series, according to IMDband the lack of jokes allowed the characters to truly show their emotional depth during one of the most difficult times in their lives. The loss of George Sr. would have major ramifications that would reverberate beyond “The Big Bang Theory” but “Young Sheldon” offshoot, “Georgie & Mendy's First Marriage”, and it's great that the creators of the show took this moment seriously.

When “Young Sheldon” began, Sheldon and his siblings were quite young, with Sheldon and his twin sister Missy (Reagan Revord) starting the series at age 9, while their older brother Georgie (Montana Jordan) is 14. The actors they played were of a similar age, which is young enough to tackle some of the heavier themes in the later seasons, but as they aged, the show was able to mature with them.

Holland said that they “knew at this point that the kids were going to knock it out of the park” and that they brought some of their genuine sadness about the show's end into their performances. They are all fantastic (Revord is devastating) and they lose silly real george sr. feel much more real. It's great stuff, even if it's not funny at all for this usually comedy series, although there is at least one joke: George actor Lance Barber has a secret cameo as one of the funeral attendees. Even in life's darkest moments, there can be some lightness.