Georgie & Mandy ratings nearly beat Young Sheldon with big viewership

Episode 1 of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage got mixed reviews, but according to the viewing figures, the spinoff’s debut nearly rivaled Young Sheldon.

You might have thought we’d gone back to 2007 with a sitcom laugh track, but Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is the continuation of Young Sheldon nobody saw coming. Its change in format has meant critics have been split on its first episode, but viewing figures tell a different story.

According to Nielsen data, the new TV show opened with 6.563 million total viewers, debuting in the same Thursday night slot The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon had previously taken up.

If we compare that to Young Sheldon Season 7 Episode 1, there’s just over a one million difference from its 7.991 million viewers, but it came even closer to Season 6’s debut, which had 6.879 million.

Not only that, the Georgie & Mandy spinoff ranked as the number one program of the night with adults 25–54 (0.83 rating) and adults 18–49 (0.47 rating).

CBS

In a nutshell, this means we shouldn’t be writing the sitcom off just yet. There’s clearly a vested interest from fans who want the Young Sheldon story to continue, which is helped by cast cameos including Mary, Meemaw, and Missy.

However, Episode 1 is still a far cry from what Young Sheldon Season 8 could have looked like. This time around, Georgie is struggling with raising his young family, taking a job at Jim’s tire shop while Audrey remains on his case.

Mandy isn’t getting used to things either, desperate to get back to work and away from living with her parents.

So far, we’ve only seen the core Young Sheldon cast in one scene, with Mary and Meemaw visiting Georgie and Mandy at their new place for dinner. Missy will appear in Episode 2, while the Coopers will be fully reunited with the McAllisters in Episode 5’s Thanksgiving storyline.

While there’s clearly a lot left to explore, that doesn’t mean Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is completely working. In our series review, we explained: “Think of this spinoff a bit like Georgie. At this point in his life, he’s well-meaning and has a heart of gold… yet he rarely lands the wins he’d like to.

“Perhaps it’s clever context that Georgie matches up so well to his first-ever leading role, but following in the footsteps of Young Sheldon can’t help but leave you hankering for what you had before.”

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage continues weekly on CBS. Find out if Sheldon will be in the show, why the sequel has picked the wrong characters for a spinoff, and more TV shows streaming.