Young Sheldon has catapulted The Big Bang Theory fans to Sheldon Cooper’s early life, highlighting the challenges he faces as a child prodigy, and his struggle to fit into a society that often misunderstood him. Among several interesting moments, the prequel series touched fans’ heartstrings with the funeral scene of George Cooper Sr., portrayed by Lance Barber in the show.
Given that this particular scene marked an emotional turning point for the series, Barber initially planned to inject some humor while filming that part. However, he eventually dropped that idea due to a heartbreaking reason, which involves the show’s cast.
Lance Barber Initially Planned to Lighten Up George Cooper Sr.’s Funeral Scene in Young Sheldon
George Cooper Sr. is the patriarch of the Cooper family, who is a pivotal character in Sheldon Cooper’s life. Played by Lance Barber in Young Sheldon, the character continued to be referenced in The Big Bang Theory, due to the influence he had on the genius character’s life.
In the original show, it was revealed that the protagonist lost his father when he was 14 years old. His absence had a huge impact on Sheldon which contributed to his views on relationships in general. Since Cooper Sr.’s death was an inevitable canon event in Sheldon’s life, avid fans are well aware that it would eventually come by the end of the prequel series.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Barber reflected that he was initially planning to inject some humor into the heartbreaking occasion. He eagerly volunteered to lie in the casket during the funeral scenes, as he recounted, “I’m going to ruin so many takes. … I’ve got a fart machine and a fake mustache.”
He added,
These actors walked up in succession to talk to George and had their moments with him,” said Barber. “I didn’t do any of my funny bets, I laid there and [had] tears in my ears the entire time. It hit me pretty hard in the way it didn’t anticipate.
The actor quickly realized the gravity of that moment as the scene required actors to approach the casket one by one and bid their farewell. Since each character shared their own emotional moment with the character, it became difficult for the Gilmore Girls actor to throw his light pranks.
Not just the actor, the show almost featured more comedic elements in the somber episode but eventually decided to ditch it to honor George Cooper Sr.’s demise.
George Cooper Sr.’s Death in Young Sheldon Almost Had ‘More Jokes’
Despite the show being a light-hearted sitcom, George Sr.’s death was one of the saddening moments in sitcom history, which was emotionally taxing for audiences. However, it almost featured much more humor than what was brought on-screen but thankfully writers and producers decided to chop it all off to honor the character’s death.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Steve Holland reflected on the penultimate episode, Funeral Script which attempted to keep the episode light-hearted but got eventually pulled out. He shared,
There were more attempts at humor and more jokes in the script that we actually shot that we ended up pulling out as we got into editing because it just felt a little tone deaf.
He continued,
When we were watching it back, we realized we had earned the right for this family to have their moment of grief, and that was actually honoring George Sr. and honoring the real emotions of this family. We didn’t have to go for the release valve of a joke all the time.
Finding the right balance between comedy and drama for that episode was challenging for them however, they eventually convinced themselves to process the grief moment like it was, without blending the comedy genre in it. Thanks to that, the sequence ended up becoming a heartfelt memory for fans, which gave a perfect departure to Sheldon’s father.
Young Sheldon is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
