‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’ Boss on Incorporating ‘Young Sheldon’ Feel Into Premiere

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage Season 1, Episode 1, “The 6:10 to Lubbock.”]

It feels like just yesterday fans were bidding the Cooper family adieu in The Big Bang Theory’s spinoff Young Sheldon, but it was a quick welcome back for eldest son Georgie (Montana Jordan) and his new bride Mandy (Emily Osment) as they kick off their own series, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.

Picking up roughly a month or two following the events of Young Sheldon, Georgie and Mandy have moved into her parents’ place, but cohabitating isn’t so easy when you’re newlyweds with a little baby.

One element making it particularly difficult is finding acceptance within the McAllister family, specifically from Mandy’s mother Audrey (Rachel Bay Jones). “Obviously she has feelings about Georgie being in her daughter’s life and that’s just a part of who she is, but she’s not going to be just a one-note character,” co-creator and executive producer Steve Holland tells TV Insider.

Troy Harvey / Warner Bros.

“In fact, I think we’ve shot seven episodes now. It’s been really fun to start to peel back the layers on Audrey and find more things about her and even just start to understand why she feels that way about Georgie.”

In the premiere, Audrey is anything but accepting of her new son-in-law, implying that he’s not smart and, by proxy, would affect the development of her granddaughter. Offended by the remarks and lack of privacy, Mandy pushes for her and Georgie to find their own home, but is the freedom the trailer park affords worth the drawbacks it comes with?

That’s a question that looms as Mandy and Georgie try learning to live with the disruptive “6:10 to Lubbock,” which shakes the heck out of their already rickety domicile on a daily basis. The gimmick of the train is a riot onscreen, especially as Meemaw (Annie Potts) and Mary (Zoe Perry) drop in to pay a visit and quickly realize Mandy and Georgie have chosen to live in the trailer rather than live in comfort with one of their families

“It was built on these sort of hydraulics so they could control the level of the shake, and it looked really fun,” Holland says of Georgie and Mandy’s trailer. “I actually wanted to get up there and do it. I think the cast had a blast on it, and also they got to be in that scene with Annie and Zoe, and I think everyone was excited about that and was so happy to have Annie and Zoe back as part of it.”

Troy Harvey / Warner Bros.

Of course, this fun is extended to the reality of the fact that Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is filmed in front of a live studio audience. Trading in Young Sheldon’s single-camera format, the new show is multi-camera with some connective elements that help to make the show feel like a seamless continuation.

“I think people will forget [and the] multi-cam will sort fall away pretty quickly if you’re a fan of Young Sheldon tuning into the show,” Holland continues. “I think it would just feel like a natural extension.”

As fans see in the premiere, once Audrey reluctantly apologizes for the unkind comments she’s made about Georgie, Mandy moves back into her family’s house with her new husband in tow. But will there continue to be tension? You can certainly count on it.

“It is fun to have that contentious relationship. I don’t think she’s ever going to fully be 1000 percent on board with Georgie,” Holland shares. “Him having to live with his in-laws and not having the strongest relationship with all of them is sort of part of the fun and the push-pull and part of the struggles of his and Mandy’s relationship.”

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One area Georgie may succeed in is getting along with his brother-in-law Connor (Dougie Baldwin), whose quirks bring to mind his own brother, Sheldon (Iain Armitage). “He might be the one person in the family who’s sort of best suited to deal with [Dougie],” Holland notes.

“It’s funny because he wasn’t that great at dealing with Sheldon, but I think he’s gotten older and he looks back on that, and he maybe wishes that he had been a little more understanding or a little more patient. In some ways, this is his second chance,” Holland adds.

Only time will tell how Georgie continues to mesh with the McAllisters as he embarks on this latest chapter of his story with Mandy. Don’t miss it for yourself, and stay tuned for what’s to come as we look ahead to the rest of the new show’s first season.

Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, Thursdays, 8/7c, CBS