Why Young Sheldon's Graduation Episode Couldn't Air As Intended

Like many shows in production at the time, the "Big Bang Theory" spin-off "Young Sheldon" hit a few speed bumps during the larger crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike some other projects, however, the CBS comedy ended up missing an entire season finale because of this.

"Young Sheldon" season 3 aired from September 26, 2019, to April 30, 2020, ending with episode 21, "A Secret Letter and a Lowly Disc of Processed Meat." Here, Sheldon Cooper (Iain Armitage) discovers that his mother Mary (Zoe Perry) has been hiding several early-bird courting letters from prestigious colleges (including CalTech, his eventual alma mater) from him, which contributes to a large-scale family crisis. This and other developments give every main character plenty to do, and the end result works as a fine enough finale, with Sheldon becoming an East Texas Tech undergraduate as a solution that satisfies everyone involved.

However, the original plan was to film another, 22nd episode, which would have been the season finale proper and depicted Sheldon's graduation from high school. In a 2020 interview with TV Line, "Young Sheldon" co-creator and former "The Big Bang Theory" showrunner Steve Molaro described how shooting on this intended episode was cut short:

"We were in the middle of shooting [Episode 22]. We [were] two days in. We sometimes shoot on location at Van Nuys High School, and on the second day of production, they kicked us out. They were like, 'You've got to go now.' We were trying to get Iain's stuff done just in case, and we were hoping we could maybe find a way to, you know, rebuild part of what we were doing on the stage the next day, and the superintendent was like, 'Get them out now,' and we understood. We left, and that ended up being our last day."

"Young Sheldon" was quick to return to the graduation well. The very first episode of season 4 was the aptly titled "Graduation," which wrapped up this particular part of Sheldon's life. It's no surprise that the show made sure to complete this storyline, either, considering how attached Molaro was to it after season 3. Here's how he described the importance of Sheldon's graduation in the TV Line interview:

"I think it's an important moment. I certainly would still like to get a chance to see it. Who knows what the world has in store for any of us, but it's a big moment for the show and in his life, and the script is written, so let's do it. That's my feeling. I will tell you the first two days of it that we shot were remarkable."

"Graduation" ended up being one of the better "Young Sheldon" episodes to air before the show ended after seven seasons, so Molaro's instincts were certainly correct. So, at the end of the day, things accidentally worked out for "Young Sheldon," which netted both a good season 3 finale and a good season 4 opener from the ordeal. As Molaro noted in the interview:

"We got lucky there. We had a lovely ending planned for [episode] 22, but it just worked out that the ending of 21 also is a pretty good finale. That was very fortunate."

"Young Sheldon" is currently streaming on HBO Max.