While Young Sheldon can run into trouble with its version of The Big Bang Theory's backstory, the spinoff could also take advantage of its period setting by indulging in a recent sitcom trend. From That 70s Show to The Goldbergs, family sitcoms run on nostalgia. While some family comedies use contemporary settings, many great family sitcoms rely on a warm sense of nostalgia to ground their storylines. Young Sheldon is no different, as The Big Bang Theory spinoff's story is set decades before the successful sitcom's story began.While Young Sheldon is a prequel to The Big Bang Theory, that is not the only difference between the two shows. Young Sheldon is also a single-camera sitcom with no laugh track, whereas The Big Bang Theory is a more traditional multi-camera "hang-out" comedy. As a result of these changes, Young Sheldon's inconsistent The Big Bang Theory backstory can tend to be more self-serious than the earlier show. While Young Sheldon is hardly dark, the spinoff does take plot lines like George Sr's potential infidelity, Mary's struggles with the church, and Georgie's messy personal life more seriously than the lighter The Big Bang Theory.
Young Sheldon Can Lean Into 90s Nostalgia
However, while Young Sheldon is set in the past, the series rarely takes advantage of this fact. Unlike The Goldbergs, Young Sheldon's vague nostalgia isn't tied to a clear time period. As such, Young Sheldon has not cashed in on the recent 90s nostalgia trend. As proven by the Basic Instinct plot in season 6, Young Sheldon's heroine Meemaw is ready to drag small-town Texas to enter the 90s while other, more conservative townspeople are not as fond of this prospect. Young Sheldon season 6 could mine a lot of nostalgic humor from interrogating the cultural shifts that happened in the 90s, much like The Goldbergs reflects on the many fads of the 80s.
Much like the 80s, the 90s has a slew of recognizable cultural artifacts that viewers will instantly recall from the decade. Not only that, but since The Big Bang Theory began airing in 2007, sixteen years ago, the odds are good that the earlier show's target demographic was in their youth during the 90s. So while Young Sheldon focuses on Georgie's sad The Big Bang Theory backstory and the hardships that George Sr faced during Sheldon's childhood, the spinoff could be looking back on uniquely 90s phenomena and benefiting from the same nostalgia that has spawned That '90s Show in the process.
Why 90s Nostalgia Is So Big
According to Patrick Metzger's popular theory, nostalgia operates in 30-year cycles, which is why The Goldbergs debuted in 2013 while That '90s Show debuted in 2023. Viewers seem to gravitate toward nostalgic content that reflects on their past about 30 years after the original events unfolded, which accounts for both the surfeit of 80s-related reboots and remakes in the last decade and the more recent string of 90s revivals. While this isn't always a reliable strategy, it beats the prospect of Young Sheldon leaning into George Sr's potential unemployment in season 6.
As such, Young Sheldon should center more stories around what life was like for kids growing up in the 90s. This approach helped The Goldbergs a decade ago and could lighten up the darker stories of The Big Bang Theory spinoff now. Not only that, but this trend would also ensure Young Sheldon brought back fond memories for The Big Bang Theory's core viewership.