Steven Helmer Publications

Truthfully, there are a lot of things I'm not a fan of when it comes to this series lately. For example, Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) and Missy ( Raegan Revord ) are starting to look way older than their characters are supposed to be, and I've already mentioned the George/Brenda ( Lance Barber and Melissa Peterman ) affair thing that just doesn't seem to want to go away. However, this season's storyline involving Sheldon's idea for a database is topping that list. To summarize: Sheldon came up with an idea to build a computer database involving grant money but doesn't want to work with the university because they are doing it for profit, and he wouldn't be the one in charge. The problem is that disagreement, which escalated to a confrontation in this week's episode, just never made sense. First, I've never seen any indication the college didn't want him to be in charge of the project. The university's only concern (and it was a valid one) was t...

Synopsis: Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) finds a private investor for his computer database idea but, in order to receive the funding, he must drop out of college. George's ( Lance Barber ) football team starts a winning streak, but Pastor Rob ( Dan Byrd ) receives all the credit. My Thoughts: The Sheldon storyline was more intriguing than I expected . I was actually kind of surprised Sheldon was so willing to sacrifice his college education for his project. I know the database means a lot to him, but this is the first time I've seen the character not put education first. It did however make me once again question why he was so opposed to letting the university fund it. He makes it sound like he would have had to give up control, but I never got that impression during the last episode, which made it seem like the only issue was who would receive the lion's share of the profits. If anything, the college would have been more supportive of him remaining enrolled and working aroun...

Synopsis: Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) meets Mandy's ( Emily Osment ) parents ( Will Sasso and Rachel Bay Jones ). While searching for a comic book, Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) comes up with a way to use the internet to make it easier. My Thoughts: Do Missy's ( Raegan Revord ) parents know she has a job?   I am going to assume they do, but the show never really confirmed that. Allowing her to have the job also seems a little out of character for at least Mary ( Zoe Perry ) considering Missy had to lie about her age to get it and is sometimes working until after dark. OK, I'll admit the whole comic book database thing proved to be funnier than expected. I still have a hard time believing Sheldon was the first person to come up with that idea, but it didn't matter because it was kind of fun seeing him get distracted and, instead, trying to re-organize the store with Missy getting annoyed about having to help him, as usual. I would have asked about child labor laws when Mis...

Synopsis: Missy ( Raegan Revord ) turns to Mandy ( Emily Osment ) when she needs advice about boys and winds up making a bad decision. Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) agrees to help Billy ( Wyatt McClure ) pass 6th grade math and ends up questioning the existence of zero. My Thoughts: Am I the only one who feels sorry for Brenda Sparks ( Melissa Peterman )? I know I probably am not supposed to like her, especially since she is likely the woman who breaks up George ( Lance Barber ) and Mary's ( Zoe Perry ) marriage. However, it is hard not to feel for her. Her husband left her and she's barely surviving financially. Plus, her son has a serious learning issue, which could only add more stress/embarrassment for her. Of course, to be fair, I'm also not completely convinced she is the woman George ends up cheating with. For all the faults she does have, she doesn't seem like a woman who would purposely break up a family. I wonder what happened to the adult Billy. The Big Bang T...

Synopsis: George ( Lance Barber ) is concerned when Mary ( Zoe Perry ) goes to work at the bowling alley with Brenda ( Melissa Peterman ). Determined to help their parents financially, Missy ( Raegan Revord ) lies about her age to get a job selling comic books and Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) tries to make money by writing an episode for Star Trek: The Next Generation. My Thoughts: At first, I thought George was overreacting about Mary's new job. It's not as though he had an affair with Brenda, just the thought of an affair during a very vulnerable time for both of them. Still not great, but not something that would necessarily end their marriage either. However, after Mary's not-so-subtle reaction to Pastor Rob ( Dan Byrd ) being at the bowling alley with a woman she once babysat ( Francesca Xuereb ), I'm not so certain Brenda won't use that to her advantage. Speaking of Pastor Rob, am I the only one who likes him less every time he is in an episode? I never truste...

Synopsis: With Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) and Connie ( Annie Potts ) in jail for trying to smuggle cigarettes across the Mexican border, George ( Lance Barber ) enlists help from Dale (Craig T. Nelson) to bail them out. Feeling she is being challenged, Mary ( Zoe Perry ) faces a crisis of faith that only grows when she tries to return to church. My Thoughts: With all the drama affecting the Cooper family, I think the person I still feel sorriest for is Mandy ( Emily Osment ). She's stuck between a rock and a hard place because she doesn't want to marry Georgie (and probably shouldn't) but I'm sure still feels horrible about the fallout created by her pregnancy. I'm sure her conversation with Missy ( Raegan Revord ) didn't help with that. Despite the huge mistake he made, I feel like Georgie deserves a pat on the back. Yes, smuggling cigarettes was a horrible mistake but, as Connie even pointed out, he's at least trying to do the right thing by finding a w...

Synopsis: When Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) gets a pimple, signaling the start of puberty, he begins to worry about the future. George ( Lance Barber ) loses his job as football coach and, along with Mary ( Zoe Perry ), discovers finding a new job isn't as easy as it sounds. Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) comes up with a new business venture to help pay for the baby, but he and Connie ( Annie Potts ) end up imprisoned on the Mexican border. My Thoughts: I think Sheldon's fears about the future had little to do with his pimple. Sure, it factored in a bit and that part of the story was helped tremendously by Penn & Teller . I just think his fear had a lot more to do with the adults around him. Let's face it, the only nurturing presence he has at this point is Missy ( Raegan Revord ), who is also being forced to be more adult-like at a very young age. On that subject, I loved the heart-to-heart conversation between the twins. Once again, this show makes me baffled by the way S...

Synopsis : Tensions run high for the Coopers as a Sunday school altercation involving Missy ( Raegan Revord ) results in Mary ( Zoe Perry ) losing her job and the family being ostracized by their church. When Pastor Rob ( Dan Byrd ) shows up to check on Mary, George ( Lance Barber ) suspects a possible affair. My Thoughts -  Considering how opposed that church seemed to be in an earlier episode about talking to kids about sex , I am a little surprised the parents would even bother to explain the whole pregnant out of wedlock thing to them. I would think that conversation would be a bit too "sinful" for most of those parents to have it. I have to admit, I am surprised by Pastor Jeff ( Matt Hobby ). He sure turned judgmental in a hurry considering all the times the Coopers helped him with his own child. To be fair, he might be afraid to support the Coopers out of fear of losing his job too but, until I hear him make that explanation, he has lost all my respect. I still don...

Synopsis: When Missy ( Raegan Revord ) figures out the family secret, Mary ( Zoe Perry ) swears her and Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) to secrecy about Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) and Mandy ( Emily Osment ) expecting a baby. However, keeping the secret proves to be a lot harder than expected. My Thoughts -  I think I owe Mary an apology. At first, I thought she seemed awfully selfish when she was insisting on Georgie and Mandy getting married. However, this episode proved it was more than just her worried about the embarrassment. Her Bible-study group was quick to abandon her when they learned the news and Pastor Jeff ( Matt Hobby ) doesn't appear to be on her side either. As she predicted, her family is being turned into pariahs. I wonder if this will be the straw that ends George's ( Lance Barber ) coaching career. The boosters were already actively trying to replace him and given their church's reaction to the news, I have to think this would be yet another reason to justify...

Synopsis : After finding out Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) is going to be a father, George ( Lance Barber ) and Mary ( Zoe Perry ) insist on meeting Mandy ( Emily Osment ). However, Mary's insistence on the couple getting married creates a tense situation that brings her own marriage troubles out in the open. My Thoughts: I am going to start out by once again praising how this show portrays George. A lot of sitcoms give the dad characters a bad break by making them seem a bit stupid. George, in comparison, does have quite a bit of common sense and, for all the credit Mary gets, he might be the one holding that family together. His reaction to Georgie's news versus her reaction is a good example of this. She, mostly out of embarrassment, wants a wedding while George could easily tell that was a bad idea. I'm wondering if maybe they should have just told Missy ( Raegan Revord ) and Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) the truth. On one hand, I kind of understand why they didn't tell ...

Synopsis: While Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) struggles with the baby news, Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) copes with the death of his hero, Isaac Asimov. Missy ( Raegan Revord ) tries babysitting for the first time. My Thoughts: At first, I wasn't a big fan of the Isaac Asimov storyline . However, by the end of the episode, it was probably my favorite part. The thing I liked most about it was how the writers used it to give us a glimpse of what Sheldon's grandfather was like. He apparently didn't just encourage Sheldon, he might have been an older version of him, making it easy to understand why he was so important to Sheldon when he was younger. I feel like Georgie was a bit unfair when it came to his dad . I'm not saying George ( Lance Barber ) doesn't have a temper. But, at no point in this series has he been portrayed as a violent person. The scene with Georgie imagining George destroying the cash register was funny but just seemed quite a bit out of character. Speaki...

Synopsis: When Paige ( Mckenna Grace ) visits East Texas Tech as part of a team giving a guest lecture, Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) learns her college experience has been vastly different from his and she is lonely and miserable. Georgie ( Montana Jordan ) finally tells his girlfriend, Mandy (Emily Osment) his real age and eventually learns some life-altering news. My Thoughts: I continue to be impressed  by the way this series tackles the very real issue of discrimination against women in science. Paige could very well be smarter than Sheldon and is (at least normally) less socially awkward. Yet, while he is treated with a reasonable amount of respect by the people at his college, she's treated more as a sideshow attraction.  I think the most telling thing about it has to be the decision to give Paige a 30-year-old chaperone. Sheldon might think it is because she is a troublemaker, but it's fairly obvious that decision is gender specific. After all, Sheldon was allowed to go on...

Synopsis: Meemaw's ( Annie Potts ) financial success puts a strain on her relationship with Dale ( Craig T. Nelson ). Believing he will soon lose his coaching job, George ( Lance Barber ) takes a job at Dale's store while Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ) dabbles in the stock market and Missy ( Raegan Revord ) starts her own business. My Thoughts: I absolutely loved the introduction with Sheldon ( Jim Parsons ) and Amy ( Mayim Bialik ) discussing relationships and ultimately getting into a fight over comic books and whether they are considered a sound financial investment. It made me a bit sad The Big Bang Theory is no longer on the air (other than in reruns). This episode seems to be closing a TBBT plot hole regarding George. During TBBT's run, Sheldon mentioned his dad was caught stealing money from the till. This was something that didn't make a whole lot of sense when George was a football coach but, thanks to his potential career change, is starting to become a whole lot...

Synopsis: After their research project shows promise, Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ), Dr. Linkletter ( Ed Begley Jr) and Dr. Sturgis ( Wallace Shawn ) go on a 3-day road trip to a telescope. Meanwhile, as Georgie's ( Montana Jordan ) relationship with Mandy ( Emily Osment ) heats up, Meemaw ( Annie Potts ) wants him to come clean about his real age. My Thoughts: I have to say I was admittedly surprised when Mary ( Zoe Perry ) let Sheldon go on that road trip with almost no resistance. At minimum, I thought she would insist on tagging along as a chaperone because it's not like Dr. Linkletter has ever proven himself capable of taking care of a child and Dr. Sturgis already proved he definitely isn't. Dr. Sturgis' reaction to the armadillo was an interesting one. His admission he wanted to save the injured animal because it reminded him of what could happen to him some day was a lot deeper explanation than I was expecting. Knowing he has mental health issues; it does make me ...

Synopsis: When Mary ( Zoe Perry ) wins $500 on a promotional scratch-off lottery ticket, it causes a spat with George ( Lance Barber ), who wants to spend the money on a new dishwasher even though she thinks of it as gambling and a sin. Arguments between Sheldon ( Iain Armitage ), Dr. Linkletter ( Ed Begley Jr. ) and Dr. Sturgis ( Wallace Shawn ) result in a new lead researcher being assigned to their project. My Thoughts:  I am really trying, but I am having a hard time seeing Mary's point of view about the lottery ticket . Yes, buying a lottery ticket could be considered gambling. However, she didn't purchase the ticket, it was given to her, and I just can't see that as the same thing. Maybe if the episode would have pushed things a little further and have that $500 win result in George wanting to buy more lottery tickets, I would have been able to agree with her. One thing I do like about this series is how George is portrayed. One of my biggest complaints about most si...