The Big Bang Theory has ended after its 12-year run and CBS has repeatedly expressed their desire to launch another spinoff in order to capitalize on its massive fan community. And at this point, their best bet in a successful offshoot is a second prequel, but this time, centering on young Howard Wolowitz.
It's no secret that The Big Bang Theory's cancellation wasn't a CBS mandate. As with very popular long-running shows, its ending came from people involved who didn't feel like continuing the series. Jennifer Aniston (Rachel Greene) reportedly wanted to take on more movie offers, hence why Friends went off the air; meanwhile, Ted Danson (Sam Malone) thought it was time to close the bar leading to Cheers famed finale. The Big Bang Theory had a similar situation with the latter as Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper) declined to return for season 13, despite a potential massive payday for him and his co-stars. And instead of pushing for an incomplete ensemble, creator Chuck Lorre decided to stop doing the sitcom altogether.
Given the abrupt decision to end The Big Bang Theory (the announcement came less than a month before season 12 premiered), CBS wasn't able to iron out their plans in tackling the massive void the show is leaving in their programming. Young Sheldon will be sliding forward to become the network's number one comedy and is already locked in for two more seasons, but since the prequel series has only tapped into a sizeable chunk of its parent show's loyal base, another spinoff could help take advantage of the bigger fan community. That new offshoot should be Young Howard.
Young Howard Should Be The Next Big Bang Theory Spinoff
Young Sheldon's season 2 finale paid homage to The Big Bang Theory's end by featuring young versions of the rest of the Pasadena gang. But aside from the cool parallel, it also served as a great litmus test with regard to any potential prequel spinoff for CBS. Out of the additional six kids we've seen in that extra scene, arguably the most interesting is Howard. While young Leonard and Raj sat on their desks, Penny and Bernadette slept, and Amy read her Little House On The Prairie, Howard played video games late at night as Mrs. Wolowitz's familiar, gravely voice echoed, asking him to go to bed. He, of course, just smirked and continued playing.
During his brief Young Sheldon appearance, the future astronaut was just nine years old; that means that his mom and dad were still together at this point. Assuming that a potential Young Howard series picks up around this time, that's around two years before his dad, Sam Holowitz, left them for reasons that are still unknown. That gives CBS a sustainable story involving the Wolowitz family for at least three seasons depending how they handle passage of time. After Sam leaves, the show can focus on Howard's relationship with his mom - an integral part of his life that we got a chance to see a bit of in The Big Bang Theory until her death in season 8.
Young Howard Could Differ From Young Sheldon
The biggest selling point of Young Howard that makes it the best candidate as the next Big Bang Theory spinoff boils down to people's familiarity and unfamiliarity to Howard's story. Much of the criticisms of Young Sheldon is rooted in the series rewriting canon for the sake of their own narrative. And because of this, The Big Bang Theory purists refuse to get themselves into the prequel. Laurie Metcalf and Zoe Perry's Mary are so different that it's difficult to buy that they're the same person; the same can be said with June Squib's and Annie Potts' Meemaw. And of course, there's George Cooper Sr., who Sheldon described as a negligent drunk in the early years of The Big Bang Theory, but Young Sheldon depicts as a father who tries his best for his family. CBS rectified this particular conflicting portrayal of Sheldon's dad with a creative crossover last year. Still, there's a string of character inconsistencies between the shows that will more likely never get resolved.
These problems were borne out of The Big Bang Theory's early seasons leaning into Sheldon's childhood, whether that be for laughs or to explain his unique quirks. At that point, the idea of a Young Sheldon show was out of the equation so they tackled as much of Sheldon's childhood by way of him reminiscing. But once the prequel launched in 2017, The Big Bang Theory barely featured anything that had to do with Sheldon's childhood, except during the lead-up to and at his actual wedding, as well as the crossover. One would think that Mary and Meemaw should've been there during Sheldon's Nobel Prize ceremony, but they weren't there.
Why A Young Howard Show Makes Sense
Young Howard won't have these issues because we know only enough about the character and his childhood to be invested in him. That leaves a lot of narrative blank space for the prequel instead of producing stories on the back of random information and spinning it in a different direction to get more out of it, like what Young Sheldon is doing. We know about Howard's borderline unhealthy relationship with his mom, and she was a constant figure in The Big Bang Theory before her death, but we never saw her - a fun reveal that Young Howard can start with. Obviously, the mystery of his dad will also be a major plot point in the series. The fact that Howard has lived in the same house for decades, even after he married Bernadette and was prominent setting in The Big Bang Theory until its end, offers a visual link between the possible spinoff and its popular parent series - something that's grossly missing in Young Sheldon. Other than hearing Parsons, who narrates the prequel, everything in Young Sheldon is technically new, thus making it feel entirely separate from The Big Bang Theory.
Outside of the narrative opening that The Big Bang Theory already laid out for Young Howard, seeing Howard Wolowitz during his childhood years sounds infinitely more interesting. He's the stark opposite of Sheldon, who was always prim and proper, almost like an old man in a boy's body. Howard was a kid and he seems to act like one, playing video games and not being overly obsessed with academia like young Leonard and Raj. Howard's The Big Bang Theory arc was the best executed as it was developed over several years. If CBS is able to execute that same progression in a Young Howard series, then there's a good chance that it would be well-received by the franchise's massive fandom.