Young Sheldon Casts Star Trek Icon For Final Season
The seventh and final season of Young Sheldon is underway, and the upcoming episode, titled “A Roulette Wheel and a Piano Playing Dog,” will feature a notable Star Trek star. Robert Picardo, who played the Doctor in Star Trek: Voyager, will play a semi-antagonistic role as Sheldon’s new professor. An exclusive preview clip reveals that Sheldon actually isn’t the smartest kid in the class, much to his surprise.
The Big Bang Theory showed us that Sheldon Cooper is a massive fan of Star Trek, so the fact that Robert Picardo is showing up in the next episode of Young Sheldon is a nice wink to fans of both franchises. Of course, Robert Picardo isn’t playing himself, so this won’t be a case of Sheldon meeting an actor from his favorite franchise.
Wil Wheaton, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, and William Shatner all made appearances in The Big Bang Theory, but having a Voyager guest star is certainly a rare occurrence for the franchise.
Having Robert Picardo play a professor who clashes with young Sheldon makes the situation even funnier because adult Sheldon has expressed that Star Trek: Voyager is his least favorite series. The seventh and final season started last week, showing us Sheldon beginning his new schooling in Germany with Mary. Clearly, he is a bit more out of his element than usual.
The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon have always been closely tied to the Star Trek franchise, with the various characters’ love of the franchise making for some humorous pop culture references. There have been quite a few Star Trek stars who have shown up in the franchise for guest and cameo roles. Wil Wheaton, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, and William Shatner all made appearances in The Big Bang Theory, but having a Voyager guest star is certainly a rare occurrence for the franchise.
Having Robert Picardo play a professor who clashes with young Sheldon makes the situation even funnier because adult Sheldon has expressed that Star Trek: Voyager is his least favorite series.
Young Sheldon is a prequel to The Big Bang Theory and has been a major hit, just like its predecessor. While there’s only one season left for the show to fit in Star Trek references and guest stars, the franchise will continue on with a spin-off centering on Georgie Cooper and Mandy McAllister. There’s no word on when we can expect that spin-off to air, but rumors say it could be during the 2024-2025 season.
Along with the upcoming Young Sheldon spin-off that follows Georgie and Mandy, there is another spin-off of The Big Bang Theory in the works. Details of that series are being kept under wraps, but there will surely be some more Star Trek references and cameos to come in the future. Maybe the Georgie and Mandy series or The Big Bang Theory spin-off can get some more Voyager actors on board or even bring in some cameos from new shows like Strange New Worlds.
The Big Bang Theory showed us that Sheldon Cooper is a massive fan of Star Trek, so the fact that Robert Picardo is showing up in the next episode of Young Sheldon is a nice wink to fans of both franchises.
In any case, you can see young Sheldon face off with Star Trek: Voyager’s Robert Picardo in the upcoming episode. The second episode of the final season is set to air on February 22, and the third episode will air on February 29. You can also catch the series finale of Young Sheldon when it airs on May 16.
