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The Young Sheldon series finale drew a huge crowd — in fact, it drew the CBS sitcom's biggest audience in four years.
Record-breaking viewership
It is being reported that the Young Sheldon series finale reached nearly nine million viewers on CBS on May 16 per Nielsen's Live + Same Day data (via Variety). To be exact, the first of the two-part finale, “Funeral,” drew 8.8 million viewers. “Memoir,” the series' true final episode, aired directly afterward and drew 8.95 million viewers.
This helped propel Young Sheldon to the most-watched program of the night. It was also the highest viewership that the CBS sitcom has hit since April 30, 2020. That was the night that the Season 3 finale aired, which drew about 10.2 million viewers. The nearly nine million viewers is also a 28% improvement over the rest of Young Sheldon's Season 7 average viewership.
To be fair, Young Sheldon has legs thanks to its streaming presence. Variety's report states that Season 7 episodes average 13 million views when it takes 35 days of viewership into consideration, which is a 17^ increase over Season 6's same metrics.
CBS is likely happy with the success of the Young Sheldon series finale. The network had its biggest non-sports Thursday night in terms of viewership since April 30, 2020.
As for live streaming data, CBS reported that Young Sheldon's finale episodes resulted in a 39% increase from last week in terms of Paramount+, CBS.com, and CBS app viewership. The jump from the Season 6 to Season 7 finale under the same metrics was 50%.
Overall, CBS is probably over the moon with how the Young Sheldon series finale fared. Millions tuned in to see the Big Bang Theory prequel's send-off. In the fall, they will premiere Young Sheldon's first spin-off, Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage, and are likely hoping for similar success.
What was Young Sheldon's series finale about?
Warning: Spoilers for the Young Sheldon series finale ahead
Young Sheldon's series finale had to wrap up several storylines, namely the Cooper family's reaction to George's (Lance Barber) death.
In the twelfth episode of the season, George Sr. died of a heart attack. The penultimate episode of the season depicted his funeral. All of the Cooper family — except for Sheldon — gave a heart-wrenching speech.
The final episode picks up nearly a month later. Mary Cooper (Zoe Perry) is still reeling after the death of her husband, and the rest of the family is beginning to worry. It ends with Sheldon going off to Caltech.
What is the series?
Young Sheldon is a spin-off of The Big Bang Theory created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro. It depicts the early life of Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage), the character Jim Parsons played for over a decade on The Big Bang Theory.
While Armitage takes over the role of Sheldon, Parsons returns in the prequel series. He served as the narrator of the series. However, in the series finale, Parsons makes his on-screen return, appearing in interwoven cuts to the modern day, alongside fellow Big Bang Theory alum Mayim Bialik.
Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, Raegan Revord, and Annie Potts also starred in Young Sheldon for its entire run. Emily Osment joined the series as Mandy in the sixth season and will lead a spin-off series with Jordan.
Young Sheldon may be over, but it's safe to say that it went out with a [big] bang.
