The 2024 TV season couldn’t be more anticipated by audiences, given how the back half of Primetime TV 2023 was wrecked by industry strikes. Unfortunately, some of the biggest returns are still rather bittersweet, and The Big Bang Theory’s prequel spinoff Young Sheldon is a prime example, with CBS previously revealing it’ll be ending after seven seasons. The dramedy is making waves outside of the broadcast network, too, as it’s been earning some Suits-esque numbers from those with Netflix subscriptions.
Since arriving on the streaming service on November 24, 2023, Young Sheldon has held a consistent spot within Netflix’s weekly Top 10 TV shows, and has thus been a mainstay within the daily rankings. Season 1 initially peaked at #6 in that first week of release, but hasn’t dropped lower than #9 since, while Season 2 popped up on the chart multiple times during that same timeframe. And that’s on a global scale, not even just here in the U.S.
When the numbers are limited to just American Netflix streamers, the Young Sheldon’s placement is even more impressive. Because even though it technically hasn’t held its Top 10 spots for as long as Suits did when the USA legal drama spent the summer as one of the most-streamed shows domestically, the Iain Armitage-starring series appears to be averaging better numbers, and has held strong to its global ranking each week, which Suits was far less consistent with.
So could this massive success have any noteworthy effect on Sheldon Cooper’s TV future? It’s quite hard to say, despite the fact that Suits’ streaming popularity (which drew much shock within the cast’s group chat) has already led to a new spinoff going into development, albeit one that so far won’t share any connective tissue with the flagship.
Co-creator Chuck Lorre has stated previously that CBS’ pseudo-cancellation came as a shock, as the creative team hadn’t yet run out of storytelling fuel for the Cooper family. And given that Netflix already has a good relationship with him through the Emmy-winning series The Kominsky Method, it wouldn’t be the most outlandish thing for the streaming service to suddenly order up Season 7 based on the strength of the comedy’s numbers so far.
But then to play devil’s advocate, if only the first two seasons of Young Sheldon have been getting all the streaming numbers, it makes it harder to then assume that the third, fourth and fifth seasons will be just as popular. Granted, viewers need to start somewhere, but I’m betting Netflix will be holding off on any big decisions regarding the show until more weeks have passed. Season 6 is set to arrive on the streaming giant on February 1.
Young Sheldon will kick off Season 7 with a premiere episode titled “Half a Wiener Schnitzel and Underwear in a Tree,” which will finally deliver the aftermath of the destructive tornado from the Season 6 finale. According to the episode synopsis, news of the weather hazard will reach Mary and Sheldon in Germany, with Missy having to step up and take care of business around the homefront.
Get ready for the return of Sheldon Cooper for (presumably) one final year of brainy hijinks and clever call-forwards to the events of The Big Bang Theory, as Young Sheldon’s new episodes will arrive on CBS on Thursday, February 15, followed by the Season 3 premiere of Ghosts and the Season 2 premiere of So Help Me Todd, with all three shows available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription.
