As The Big Bang Theory franchise continues to expand, the best sequel option is officially dead right now. For more than a decade, the flagship run with immense success, becoming the defining comedy of the 2010s. When The Big Bang Theory ended in 2019, Chuck Lorre, in partnership with CBS and showrunners Steve Molaro and Steven Holland, was able to keep the ball rolling with Young Sheldon. Now Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is keeping the legacy alive on network TV, but the universe is about to expand with Stuart Fails to Save the Universe on HBO Max.
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Clearly, Lorre and his creative partners have not run out of ideas to grow The Big Bang Theory franchise, and considering the success of their last two endeavors, it all makes sense. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is a departure from anything that they have done since the flagship started in 2007, as it goes full sci-fi, with Kevin Sussman’s Stuart Bloom travelling across the multiverse to save reality. Only time will tell if this risk will pay off, but looking at all the narrative opportunities that exist in the franchise, there’s one character whose story still needs to be explored — Paige.
Admittedly, this sounds like too niche of a character to be building a whole show around. Introduced in Young Sheldon season 2, McKenna Grace’s role was debuted as a fellow child genius like Sheldon in Texas. She only appeared in a handful of episodes, but the prequel spinoff was able to craft a clear character arc for her, which was drastically different from what her male counterpart had. Despite that, her story remains unfinished.
Why Paige’s Story Is The Best The Big Bang Theory Sequel Series
For context, Paige was introduced in Young Sheldon as a parallel to Sheldon. Like the beloved boy genius, she, too, was a prodigy. However, the similarities ended there. Unlike Mary and George’s son, Paige was better in almost every other regard. She was well-adjusted, social, and even emotionally intelligent. Unfortunately, her path was derailed when her parents split up. Their divorce led her down a path of rebellion, to the point that she even started resenting being in school. The last time she was in Young Sheldon, she and Missy were on an extremely dangerous road trip to Florida, but they were caught by the police.
Because of Grace’s busy schedule and Young Sheldon season 7’s truncated run, Lorre, Molaro, and Holland didn’t have a chance to bring Paige back to tie her narrative properly. Unlike Missy’s fate, which included a mini-redemption that was clipped short by George’s unexpected death, it’s still unclear what happened to Paige when she got home. It’s possible that she eventually came to her senses and went back on the right path, but there’s also a chance that she only got worse. The persisting question is a great launching pad for a new The Big Bang Theory series that can be formatted similarly to Young Sheldon.
Why Paige’s The Big Bang Theory Story Can’t Happen Anytime Soon
There are a few ways to go about the proposed Paige The Big Bang Theory spinoff. Firstly, it could pick up after the events of Young Sheldon, where it will tackle the character’s story that will follow her into adulthood. Otherwise, it could simply be a more modern series that will see Paige in her adulthood, which will be more reminiscent of Sheldon’s story in The Big Bang Theory. Unfortunately, regardless of the narrative, it can’t happen anytime soon because Grace is currently working on Netflix’s Scooby-Doo as Daphne; this means that even if she’s interested in the project, her schedule will make doing it difficult, if not impossible.
Granted that, Grace has always been working on a multitude of projects, which is a testament to her acting prowess, but being a main character in a TV show means she’s contracted for a longer period of time to the project. Depending on how the live-action Scoob-Doo series will fare, the series can run for several years, which would then take up most of the actor’s time. Starring in another show, even if it’s going to also be on streaming, will be very difficult. The good thing is that this is an idea that does not have an expiration date. If Lorre and his team decide to explore Paige’s post-Young Sheldon story, they can just tell her contemporary arc with sprinkles of flashbacks for additional context.
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