CBS has given its new series, Young Sheldon, a full season order after only one episode.
From executive producers Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro and Emmy winner Jim Parsons (who narrates), the 1989-set comedy starring Iain Armitage as a 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper launched Monday after the flagship to become the most-watched series premiere in any network since 2011. Airing after the season 11 premiere of The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon averaged a whopping 17.2 million viewers and an impressive 3.8 among the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. The series retained 98 percent of its Big Bang lead-in among total viewers and 93 percent in the demo. That’s the best post-Big Bang performance for any new comedy in the slot and provides the network with a reliable performer behind TV’s No. 1 comedy in the demo.
Following its Monday sampling, Young Sheldon — which stars Zoe Perry as Sheldon’s mother, Mary, taking on the role played by her mother, Laurie Metcalf, on the flagship — moves to Thursdays at 8:30 post-Big Bang when the flagship takes over the 8 p.m. slot on Nov. 2.
Young Sheldon is the first new show from the 2017-18 broadcast season to score a full-season pickup. It comes as no surprise after CBS focused the bulk of its fall marketing campaign on the Big Bang Theory prequel. The series, which opened the season with instant brand recognition, was met with mixed reviews from critics.
The full season order brings its episode count to 22 episodes.
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