While Young Sheldon is a beloved show, some of its characters can get on viewers’ nerves. Much like its source show, The Big Bang Theory, the series bases a lot of its humor on deeply unlikable characters. Sometimes, this makes sense, and it lays the ground for great jokes. However, other times, people are too irritated by certain characters to even enjoy the sitcom.
To be fair, most people became a fan of Young Sheldon thanks to relatable, charming, and funny characters like George, Missy, Georgie, and Meemaw. Others, like Mary and Sheldon himself, don’t get the same amount of love. It could be said that people watch this show in spite of these characters and not because of them.
Ira Rosenbloom Was Too Obsessed with Dating Meemaw – Richard Kind Played Ira
Ira is a minor character in Young Sheldon and one of Meemaw’s many romantic prospects. He enters the show when Meemaw introduces him to Sheldon so he can talk to him about the Jewish religion. However, Ira wants to have a romantic relationship with Meemaw and doesn’t accept no for an answer.
Richard Kind is a terrific actor who often keeps the audience laughing nonstop, but Ira’s stalkerish behavior with Meemaw was annoying. Ira decided to challenge Sturgis (Meemaw’s boyfriend at the time) and even gifted Meemaw tons of furniture from his store. The whole storyline moved too much from Young Sheldon’s main premise and wasn’t very entertaining.
Brenda Sparks Was Too Mean – Melissa Peterman played Brenda
Brenda Sparks is a neighbor of the Coopers, but she is not very neighborly. Brenda has a short fuse and a tendency towards anger. In the beginning, she lived with her husband, Herschel, and was constantly yelling at him. Brenda was also unnecessarily cruel towards Mary and Sheldon.
To make matters worse, Brenda later has an emotional affair with George. The situation was sensibly portrayed, and it’s easy to empathize with Brenda’s loneliness, but her personality never gets very palatable. Even when she is in the wrong, Brenda tends to be offensive and volatile, so the fandom doesn’t like her very much.
Mandy’s Mom Is a Frustrating Mother – Rachel Bay Jones Plays Audrey McAllister in Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
Audrey McAllister, best known as Mandy’s mom, is a very unlikable character, especially in Young Sheldon. She doesn’t support her daughter during her pregnancy, and when she finally comes around, she’s controlling and highly critical of both Mandy and Georgie, making her one of the worst TV moms. She also tries to raise her granddaughter with her own values, even trying to baptize her behind her back.
Audrey becomes a little better in Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, but not much. She continues to humiliate Georgie, complain about Mandy’s decisions, and undermine her husband’s opinions. To make matters worse, she shows great favoritism for her younger son, Connor.
Pastor Rob Was a Tiresome Cliché – Dan Byrd Plays Pastor Rob
Pastor Rob is a cheesy character who isn’t funny or interesting to the plot of Young Sheldon. He became the new youth pastor who teaches Sunday school, becoming very popular among the children for his open-mindedness and insightful way of explaining religion. While Mary didn’t agree with Pastor Rob’s unconventional ideas in the beginning, over time the two developed a friendship and a sort of emotional affair.
Pastor Rob, however, deeply annoys the audience. He is simply too corny. While it’s good to have a positive representation of religion on television, this is not the reason people watch Young Sheldon. For a couple of episodes, the show paid too much attention to this character, who didn’t really add anything compelling to the series.
Paige Went From Charmingly Hilarious to Unfunny – McKenna Grace plays Paige
Paige could have been a great character in Young Sheldon, but she was butchered throughout the show’s development. In the beginning, she was Sheldon’s intellectual peer and greatest rival. However, she is charming, sociable, and more grounded than Sheldon. She often makes fun of him and humbles the character, which was hilarious.
However, as Paige’s story continued, she had many teenage issues. Her family was a mess, and Paige became a rebel. She started drinking at parties and stopped taking her studies seriously. Additionally, she would go out of her way to irritate Sheldon, making her character a one-trick pony. Paige’s storyline was eventually all over the place, and her character stopped being funny and adorable and became frustrating and flanderized.
Mary’s Obsessive and Unflexible Ideas Turned Her into a Frustrating Character – Zoe Perry Plays May Cooper in Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
Mary was already a pretty annoying character in The Big Bang Theory, but in Young Sheldon, her protagonistic role gave her more screentime to get on the audience’s nerves. Mary is a good mom, and she tries her best, but she takes her religious ideas to the extreme. Sometimes, her inflexibility causes discomfort for her family, and the audience doesn’t find her too relatable.
On top of that, Mary is very protective of Sheldon, as people have already seen on TBBT. She tends to show great favoritism for Sheldon, often forgetting about her other children. If it wasn’t for George, Sheldon would likely have been dependent on her mother for the rest of his life.
Dale Is the Stereotype of Prickly Grandpa – Craig T. Nelson Plays Dale Ballar in Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
Dale is Meemaw’s more serious boyfriend. She meets him when she takes Missy to a baseball league, and he’s the coach. He also owns a Sporting Goods store and eventually hires Georgie as an employee. The problem with Dale is that he’s always grumpy, and the fandom feels Meemaw deserves someone more charming and supportive.
At some point, Dale’s stubbornness and reluctance to change his old ways become tiresome. He wants to limit Meemaw’s adventurous spirit, which is a fan-favorite character. Meemaw made a better couple with Sturgis, who was open-minded and sweet and always showed great affection to Meemaw and Sheldon.
Gene Lundy Is a Horrible Human Being – Jason Alexander Plays Gene Lundy in Young Sheldon
Only appearing in 5 episodes of Young Sheldon, Gene Lundy still managed to become one of the most annoying characters in the series. Gene is a mediocre teacher at Sheldon’s high school, but throughout the series, it turns out that Gene works as a producer, an actor, and a realtor. Gene, however, is incredibly selfish and dishonest.
The first time he appears in Young Sheldon, Gene convinces him to play Annie in the play of the same name. He wants Sheldon to save his production, and he doesn’t care how it will affect him. Later, Gene goes against Mary’s wishes and changes her whole production for a church event. He also takes control of Georgie’s idea to sell exercise tapes, trying to scam him.
Sheldon Is Too Inconsiderate – Iain Armitage Plays the Young Sheldon in the Spin-Off
While he’s more toned down than his adult version in The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon continues to be a dislikable character in Young Sheldon. The early seasons made it easier to overlook his arrogant and stubborn personality because of his age. However, he soon stopped being an adorable kid and turned into an irritating teenager.
Sheldon has no qualms about stating his superiority over others, insensibly using people (like his friend Tam), and insulting his siblings. He often believes he deserves special treatment because of his intelligence and complains to the university staff. While people often empathize with Sheldon’s anxieties, it’s hard to justify all of his actions.
Pastor Jeff Is Selfish and Beyond Redemption – Matt Hobby Plays Pastor Jeff
Pastor Jeff is, without a doubt, the worst character in Young Sheldon. While other annoying characters in the show have good moments, Pastor Jeff is beyond redemption. He is a hypocritical, greedy, selfish Pastor who pretends to be a good man. He only cares about the church’s revenue, using his influence to obtain followers and therefore more money.
While Pastor Jeff is generally irritating with his inflexible notions and condescending comments, two events made him truly unconscionable. First, he met a woman and lied about the money he made, marrying her under false pretenses. Second, he fired Mary from her job at the church after Georgie got Mandy pregnant. Mary had been incredibly loyal to both him and the institution, and the fact that he judged her so harshly proves he was never on Mary’s side.
