Stephen Colbert Jokingly Announces New ‘Sheldon’ Crossover Spinoff With ‘Ghosts’

Stephen Colbert poked fun at CBS’ obsession with all things Sheldon Cooper on Monday’s (September 30) episode of The Late Show and even suggested an idea for a potential new spinoff.

The late-night host opened Monday’s show talking about the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance, which will air live on CBS tonight, Tuesday, October 1, at 9 pm ET.

“Of course, prime-time debate means it will delay the premiere of the new CBS sitcom Ghost Sheldon,” Colbert quipped. “As long as he’s profitable, we will not let him die.”

“We will chain his soul to a radiator,” Colbert added.

The character of Sheldon Cooper first appeared on The Big Bang Theory, which premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007. The sitcom would grow to become one of CBS’ highest-rated shows, picking up four consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series from 2011 to 2014 and a total of ten Emmy wins.

The Big Bang Theory ran for 12 seasons and 279 episodes, with Jim Parsons‘ Sheldon becoming the series’ most popular character. This led to the spinoff series Young Sheldon, which debuted on September 25, 2017, and saw Iain Armitage playing Sheldon in his school years.

Young Sheldon wrapped up its run earlier this year, on May 16, 2024, but that isn’t the end of the franchise. In January 2024, it was announced that there would be a spinoff series of Young Sheldon focused on Georgie Cooper (Montana Jordan) and Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment), slated for the 2024–25 season on CBS.

Colbert’s spinoff idea sees Sheldon crossing over with another popular CBS sitcom, Ghosts, which premiered on October 7, 2021. Based on the British sitcom of the same name, Ghosts centers on married couple Samantha (Rose McIver) and Jay Arondekar (Utkarsh Ambudkar), who inherit a beautiful country house inhabited by ghosts from different eras of American history.

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Ghosts has been a hit with viewers and critics, with the second season holding a 100% rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Season 2 also averaged 9.07 million viewers, up from Season 1’s 8.41 million viewers.

Back in May, Parsons was asked what it would take for him to reprise his role as Sheldon Cooper, to which he joked, “Reincarnation…Next lifetime.”

However, while the Emmy-winning actor has put Sheldon on the shelf for now, he did add, “Never say never to anything.”

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35 c, CBS