Is Young Sheldon based on a true story? Inspiration behind the sitcom, explored

The TBBT spinoff, Young Sheldon, depicted the early life of the genius and socially awkward Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons). Iain Armitage plays the character of Sheldon. The beloved sitcom is a fictional tale about Sheldon’s childhood in Texas.

However, it is inspired by Jim Parsons’s real-life nephew, who is a genius, just like Sheldon Cooper. Chuck Lorre, the creator of the show and The Big Bang Theory, shared this information during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

He said:

"The beginning was a phone call from Jim Parsons, who sent me a video of his 10-year-old nephew in Texas who is a prodigy — brilliant, extraordinary, off the hook, crazy smart kid."

More on this in our story.

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Is Young Sheldon based on a true story? Speculations explored

As mentioned, Young Sheldon is not based on a true story but was inspired by Jim Parson’s real-life nephew, a child prodigy.

Chuck Lorre, better known as the King of Sitcoms, created TBBT and the spinoff. In 2022, while talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Lorre revealed that he decided to make the show after a phone call with Jim Parsons, who played the older Sheldon Cooper in TBBT, when he told him about his nephew, who was a brilliant child, and asked him if he could use this for a spinoff series.

He said:

"I said, well, if we wanted to do a show about a young man who is brilliant — a comedy — we have that built into our show. That’s the backstory of Sheldon Cooper."

He further added:

"Over the years of Big Bang, we learned about his mother, we learned about his upbringing in Texas, his sister and brother. We had the backstory in place. It was just a matter of whether to execute it as its own show. It was pretty simple for me."

In a 2017 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Jim Parsons revealed how he came to the idea of using his nephew as inspiration for a show on Sheldon’s childhood. He stated:

"We had been asked by [CBS] executives, 'Would you look into your own life? Because those pitch well. So we were looking at my family and one of my nephews, my sister's kids, her oldest, he's very smart. Not like in a Sheldon way, but they frequently say, 'Where did he come from?' So we were like, this sounds like a good idea. And the more we talked -- they're in Texas -- and it was, like, this relates."

He then talked to creators Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro, who loved the idea, and that’s how the show came into existence.

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More about Young Sheldon

The show depicts Sheldon’s childhood and his life in Texas. We also get to see more of his family and the earlier influences in his life that made Sheldon who he was in TBBT.

Other than Iain Armitage, who plays the younger version of Sheldon Cooper, the cast also includes Zoe Perry, Raegan Revord, Montana Jordan, and Lance Barber.

Also Read: Top 5 Young Sheldon characters that didn't appear on The Big Bang Theory

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Young Sheldon is now available for streaming on Netflix.

Read More: Will there be Season 8 of Young Sheldon? Spinoff of the CBS series, explored