Young Sheldon: The Complete Fifth Season - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Young Sheldon: The Complete Fifth Season


Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:




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Movie
I’m one of the few people out there that hated The Big Bang Theory. It was overly cliché on nerd culture, I loathed adult Sheldon, and it was so popular with the masses that I instinctively recoiled away from it (although my wife was in love with the show). So when Young Sheldon came out my first reaction was to roll my eyes and go “ugg, a cheap spin-off” and walk away. So for the last 5 years I’ve never bothered to watch the show or even see a single episode. That is until Warner Archive sent me a copy of Season 5 to review and I realized “uh oh, I haven’t seen ANY back story for the first four seasons”. So, being that we had a rather light review month, I sat down and started binge watching season 1 to get a little caught up. 10 days later and a LOOOOT of pizza bites later, I am now officially caught up and very puzzled and bemused.

By puzzled and bemused I simply mean I have to wonder HOW a show that I disliked as much as The Big Bang Theory could churn out a family comedy as fun and interesting as Young Sheldon. This series is completely different in tone and feel to its predecessor, yet still maintains some of the glimpses and founding features that will mold Sheldon into becoming who he is later (although I will say this, younger Sheldon, played by Iain Armitage, is infinitely more likable than his adult self). Which, I must say, is part of the fun of this job. Finding shows and movies that you would have otherwise ignored and bringing them into the fold of ones you regularly watch.

While The Big Bang Theory was your typical multi camera sitcom, Young Sheldon is a single camera dramedy, pulling less from slapstick humor and a laugh track, and more of a dramatic series that is genuinely funny. In season 5 Sheldon is entering into his freshman year at Texas Tech. While he’s being his normal “thorn in the side” of his professors, he’s also becoming more sociable and well rounded as he interacts with friends Oscar and Darren across the hall. As with previous seasons this is about his adventures, foibles and fumbles, so we are privy to a bevy of adventures for the young man. This includes being a spy for his mother at a church social, a tough engineering professor (played by Lance Reddick) and various things that cause him to grow and change over the course of the season.

Meemaw is still the local sports store owner Dale (Craig T. Nelson, who actually brings us a Coach reunion when Bill Fagerbakke guest stars as a cop buddy of Dale’s), Georgie decides to drop out of HS and move to a full time job and moving into his family’s garage. Not to mention he starts dating an older woman (played by Emily Osment) and plays it off like he’s 21 to keep their age difference a secret. Mary also runs into her own problems when Mr. Lundy (Jason Alexander) cons her into becoming a Mary Kay Salesman for him, along with many many more family foibles.

Young Sheldon is less a straight up comedy, but more of a dramedy that manages to be genuinely funny at times. The small town Texas family life is warm and inviting, and the problems they run into are genuinely blue collar family issues and it shows. The entire cast is intimately familiar with each other by season 5 and they work together like a well oiled machine. The first 1-2 seasons were great, but still a bit rocky in how they interacted. Now they’ve been working together so long that they actually FEEL like a family as they interact, and not just actors on a screen. Something that is rare in TV land, and when it clicks, just WORKS beautifully.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Arriving on Blu-ray from a digital TV shoot Young Sheldon looks great on 1080p. Color reproduction pops with the warm sort of vibrancy that the show’s Texas roots give off, and clarity is spot on. Every once in a while you get the feeling that things have been lightly smoothed over on faces, but it’s rare and far between, and black levels remain solid. This isn’t a show that’s going to wow and awe you with bright colors and massively detailed action scenes. But as a family dramedy it has plenty of detail to go around, and a nice amber look to the show. An all around great looking set of discs (two BD-50s with almost no extras and a single audio options).







Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is a nice solid dramedy track. Meaning that it too won’t blow you away due to the nature of the show, but is technically proficient and does everything asked of it without problem. Voices are firmly planted up in the center of the room, and the film gets some ambient noises during a classroom yelling match, or just simple discrete sounds as the characters go about their daily lives. Bass is mild and fairly reserved, but it does accentuate the minor scoring and a few “bumps” here and there.






Extras:

• "Time Flies When You're Having Fun: Young Sheldon at 100" – A look at the five years and 100 episodes of Young Sheldon and how this family, both on the show and as an ensemble in real life, have grown into global sensations like the show itself.

Final Score: ​

Season 5 is more of the same, and really more an evolution of Sheldon and his family rather than some stand out season. I usually use the phrase “if you’ve seen one season, of Xxx show, then you’ve seen them all”. In this case I mean it as a compliment because it’s not a radical deviation from the story lines that we’ve seen before, but rather just more adventures in the life of Sheldon and his family. I’ve never seen the previous 4 seasons on Blu-ray so I can’t compare, but I can say that Season 5 looks great, with the 22 episodes split across 2 BD-50s with a solid bitrate. No extras except for a single one (typical of Warner Archive releases), but definitely a solid release for the fans. Fun Watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Iain Armitage, Zoe Perry, Lance Barber
Created by: Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: NR
Runtime: 434 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 6th, 2022

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I didn't watch all of Big Bang, enjoyed it while they were trying to "get" Penny but once she was one of them, it kind of made the show pointless.

I did enjoy the spin off here and I must say, it was more enjoyable than the original.

 

[Epoxy1]

My wife and I LOVE this show. I didn't receive a copy for review and I willingly bought it on Amazon since we like it so much. It's the last show we watch on one of the major networks, which is saying something. The casting is excellent and the writing is consistently great. While I think Ian is a great little actor, I have to say that Annie Potts steals every scene she's in and Missy and Georgie are freaking hilarious.

 

[Michael Scott]

My wife and I LOVE this show. I didn't receive a copy for review and I willingly bought it on Amazon since we like it so much. It's the last show we watch on one of the major networks, which is saying something. The casting is excellent and the writing is consistently great. While I think Ian is a great little actor, I have to say that Annie Potts steals every scene she's in and Missy and Georgie are freaking hilarious.

agreed. I'm shocked I igrnored it for so long due to the fact that I disliked The Big Bang Theory so much

 

[Epoxy1]

agreed. I'm shocked I igrnored it for so long due to the fact that I disliked The Big Bang Theory so much

I enjoyed TBBT, but I find this show to be superior...it has a lot more heart. Did you know the mom is Lauri Metcalf's daughter? I was shocked in the first episode how well she handled the voice inflections and mannerisms...she should be good at it...she was playing "mom."

 

[Michael Scott]

I enjoyed TBBT, but I find this show to be superior...it has a lot more heart. Did you know the mom is Lauri Metcalf's daughter? I was shocked in the first episode how well she handled the voice inflections and mannerisms...she should be good at it...she was playing "mom."

I didn't realize the familial connection. But I can totally see some "Jackie" esque mannerisms now that Ithink about it.

 

[Epoxy1]

I didn't realize the familial connection. But I can totally see some "Jackie" esque mannerisms now that Ithink about it.

Now you won't be able to unsee it (You're welcome ).