Young Sheldon fans stumped by “weird” viral meme

Jasmine Valentine
Tam in Young Sheldon

A “weird” Young Sheldon meme has gone viral on Reddit, stumping fans — yet the source isn’t even from the show at all.

Sheldon’s best friend at high school Tam might be responsible for the show’s first friendship, but he’s currently causing mass confusion among Young Sheldon fans online.

The furor started on Reddit after a picture of Tam — played by Ryan Phuong — emerged online, pointing a gun at an unsuspecting character behind the camera.

The photo quickly became a meme in the Young Sheldon fandom, with one confused viewer writing “Does anybody know the context of this??? Tam does not seem he would do this, and I don’t know who he would be pointing a gun at?”

“Is this some weird new post trend?” another mused.

While some were quick to try and recount what episode of the prequel more resembled The Godfather, others immediately spotted the issue — the still is from a completely different show altogether.

“It’s from Shameless. It’s the scene where Carl can’t figure out how to unjam his gun and Tam (Ryan) does it for him cause he’s playing some kid from Vietnam I believe there were 6-10 of them that Kev and V took in for money,” another fan weighed in.

“You know actors can be in more than one show right?” a third stated.

Though fans “can’t believe” they’ve missed Ryan’s cameo in the Showtime drama, others are reinterpreting the scene to fit the original Young Sheldon meme.

“Things turned bad after his only friend left school,” a fourth fan added, with a fifth joking “Desperate times call for desperate measures. Sheldon’s older, less cute and more annoying.”

Young Sheldon Season 7 continues on CBS until May 16, 2024. Catch up with plenty more great TV shows to stream this month while you wait.

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About The Author

Jasmine Valentine is a TV and Movies Writer at Dexerto. She's the go-to source for all things Young Sheldon, as well as many Netflix originals. Jasmine has also written for the likes of Total Film, The Daily Beast, and Radio Times.