Young Sheldon Finale: First Clip of Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik's Return Released

Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik reprise their roles from The Big Bang Theory in the series finale of Young Sheldon next week.

By Russ Burlingame

Following a shocking character death in the final moments of Young Sheldon last night, CBS has released a first clip from next week's episode -- this one featuring the modern-day Jim Parsons in his role as "old" Sheldon Cooper again, squabbling with Amy (Mayim Bialik). This is the first time Parsons and Bialik have appeared onscreen as Sheldon since the end of The Big Bang Theory. Ironically, this clip skips over a whole episode, since the final two weeks of Young Sheldon both feature back to back episodes -- and the Parsons/Bialik episode is the series finale, which will serve as next week's second episode.

Parsons has served as the series' narrator for its entire run. The characters of Sheldon and Amy have had a number of off-camera "reunions" during the course of Young Sheldon's run. In season four, they made a voice cameo, which confirmed that they had a son named Leonard. In season five, they had a short argument about the history of jealousy -- something that was thematically tied to the story of the episode, and which reminded fans that both Cooper spouses had won a Nobel Prize by the time their son graduated high school.

"We were excited to have them," executive producer Steve Holland told ComicBook of the guest appearance. "Obviously they're great, and it was fun, and we always wanted to have them in as more than just a cameo -- to give them a little story. But it was also really important for us that this be the finale of Young Sheldon, and that this be the finale for this family and [the younger] Coopers."

You can see the first clip below.

While the finale shows Sheldon working on his memoir -- the in-universe explanation for his narration -- the penultimate episode, which airs at 8 p.m. next week -- will deal with the death of Sheldon's father, George, Sr. George died off-screen in last night's episode, sending a shockwave through the Cooper family and the Young Sheldon fandom in the final moments of the episode.

Fans of The Big Bang Theory have known for years that Sheldon's dad died before he turned 15, and so there has actually been a lot of conversation around the character and his fate since the start of the season. Tonight's episode does feel like a little bit of a misdirect, because after the show waited so long, and then revealed an episode that centered on George, it kind of felt like maybe his death would be held off as something only briefly noted in the finale. 

"We're aware that there's at least a portion of the audience that is expecting George's death," executive producer Steve Holland told ComicBook. "I don't know how many. I assume a good portion knows it's going to happen, and is expecting it. We're always looking for ways to still be able to surprise people, even if they kind of know what's coming, so we thought, 'Maybe we can do the death even earlier, in a way that people might not see coming.'"

While the Sheldon of The Big Bang Theory often derided his father, the spinoff show has put George in a much more sympathetic light.

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"I think that was what was important to us, as the show was moving along, that this thought that [the narrator] is an older Sheldon with kids who's reflecting now on his younger years and especially his parents in a different light, obviously," Holland told us.

Young Sheldon streams on Paramount+. The final two episodes of the series will air next Thursday, May 16, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

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