Warning! Spoilers ahead for the Young Sheldon season 6 premiere. The Young Sheldon season 6 premiere featured Meemaw/Connie (Annie Potts) refuting Mary's (Zoe Perry) unflattering depiction of George (Lance Barber) from The Big Bang Theory. Despite George never appearing on The Big Bang Theory, he became an established character thanks to the grown-up Sheldon and Mary’s stories about the Cooper patriarch. According to them, he was a no-good father who was lazy and always drunk which is contradictory to George's Young Sheldon depiction.
While Young Sheldon presents a responsible version of George, Mary's mother typically doesn't have anything good to say about him. Meemaw's poor opinion of her son-in-law likely has something to do with the circumstances of Mary and George's original relationship. Connie also finds satisfaction in frustrating George in various ways. Given this, it's surprising to learn that Meemaw secretly thinks that George is actually a good dad.
Connie indirectly confirms that George is a great father in the Young Sheldon season 6 premiere during her and Georgie's (Montana Jordan) touching conversation in jail. As her grandson feels frustrated for being a bad father because of his prison stint, Meemaw eased his concerns by saying that "a terrible father would have walked away," lauding Georgie's insistence to take care of his pregnant girlfriend, although he can just leave. Considering the fact that Georgie's predicament is similar to his father's when George got Mary pregnant, it clearly isn't lost on Meemaw how her son-in-law has stayed committed to his family all these years. Although he has his flaws and his quirks tend to annoy her, ultimately, Connie has respect for George and everything he does for Mary and the kids. This effectively refutes Mary's claim that George was a no-good family man on The Big Bang Theory.
Is George A Good Or A Bad Dad?
The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon's different depictions of George remain the biggest plot inconsistency between the shows. Apparently, the discrepancy stems from Sheldon's changing perspective on fatherhood as he becomes a dad himself. This means that the subject isn't as simple as black and white. George is neither a straight-up bad nor a totally good dad; instead, he has his strengths and weaknesses, just like every human being. If anything, this complex depiction of the Cooper patriarch is one of the reasons why he has resonated with many people. Just like most dads, George is just trying to do his best to take care of his family. Sometimes he makes mistakes and that's okay, just as long as he learns his lessons.
For a definitive answer, however, it will boil down to how CBS executes George's cheating scandal on Young Sheldon. As Sheldon recalled on The Big Bang Theory, he accidentally caught his dad in bed with another woman when he was 13 years old. Mary never mentioned this, so it's curious if she even knew about this incident. To make matters more complicated in Young Sheldon, however, it has also set up the Cooper matriarch's own extramarital affair. If both plot lines move forward, it will be interesting what Meemaw has to say upon learning that his son-in-law and daughter have been unfaithful to each other.
Young Sheldon season 6 airs every Thursday on CBS.