There have been plenty of TV shows featuring precocious kids, but few have reached the level of shows like Young Sheldon. Premiering in 2017 on CBS, Young Sheldon acted as a prequel to the extremely popular Big Bang Theory and focused on the childhood of Sheldon Cooper from that hit sitcom. With Iain Armitage playing a young Sheldon and Jim Parsons providing voice-over as an adult looking back on his youth, it showed fans why Sheldon became the character he would be on TBBT, while also struggling to keep his continuity intact.

The show was a success, with Young Sheldon season 7 wrapping up the show. However, when wanting to find something similar to watch after finishing Young Sheldon, there are a lot of options with similar humor, setup, and characters. Most shows like Young Sheldon are sitcoms, with the precocious kids bringing plenty of laughs. The best comparisons are also TV shows that feature characters who go far beyond the realm of precocious to quirky, arrogant, and awkward. Looking at both old and newer shows, there is a lot out there for anyone looking for more of the same.

15 Abbott Elementary (2021-)

4 Seasons, 70 Episodes

Abbott Elementary has a lot in common with the beloved mockumentary sitcom Modern Family. The series follows a second-grade teacher at the underfunded Abbott Elementary School, a predominantly Black school in Philadelphia. Abbott Elementary shows how the teachers and school staff fight to ensure that the students receive the best education possible under the worst conditions imaginable. That, sadly, makes it similar to any number of real schools in the United States.

The plot follows a group of teachers who have banded together to fight for the students, even when the new principal seems uninvested and uncaring. While Abbott Elementary and Young Sheldon have different formats, they share a lot in common when it comes to the schools, and they were the two most successful sitcoms at the same time on rival networks. There is also a crossover with another sitcom, as the characters from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia showed up in the fourth season.

14 Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage (2024-)

1 Season, 16 Episodes

When Young Sheldon ended, it marked the end of Sheldon Cooper's story with his family. He went on to school and eventually became the man that fans grew to love on The Big Bang Theory. However, other than the death of George Sr., fans still wanted to follow along with Sheldon's family from the series, since they were just as important (and in some cases more so) than Sheldon himself. That was made partially possible with Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage.

This show follows the lives of Sheldon's brother Georgie and his wife Mandy as they raise their baby together under her parents' roof. Moving the show there meant that only Montana Jordan and Emily Osment returned in leading roles, although several of the Young Sheldon cast have shown up in cameos and guest roles, including Zoe Perry, Annie Potts, and Raegan Revord. While Sheldon will probably never appear, it was nice to see the family moving on from George Sr.'s death.

13 Malcolm In The Middle (2000-2006)

7 Seasons, 151 Episodes

While Young Sheldon owes its formatting to classic sitcoms like The Wonder Years, it owes just as much to the 2000s sitcom Malcolm in the Middle. This show features a working-class family trying to make it day by day while also dealing with the fact they have a child prodigy in the family in Malcolm. Frankie Muniz stars as Malcolm, a boy with a genius IQ of 165 who ends up in the gifted classes. However, at home, he has to deal with his lesser gifted siblings, which include three brothers.

Unlike Sheldon Cooper, who is an outsider who can't fit in with anyone on the show, Malcolm is a kid who feels he can't fit in with the other gifted students and instead becomes a little more of a trouble-maker to compensate for his boredom and frustration in his life. Malcolm in the Middle also shares Young Sheldon's attempts at delving into the family dynamic, with Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston memorable as Malcolm's put-upon parents.

12 Roseanne (1988-1997)

10 Seasons, 231 Episodes

One of the most notable things about Young Sheldon is that Sheldon Cooper and his family don't live in a nice, expensive-looking house like many sitcom families of this era. Instead, Sheldon's dad was a high school coach, and his family fought to make ends meet while trying to help Sheldon get through school and move on to his eventual life calling. Seeing a blue-collar family fighting to make ends meet was perfected in the classic television sitcom Roseanne​​​​​.

There was never anything like Roseanne. The show was not only about a family fighting to hold things together, but also a family who had to fight just to survive in a world where things were never easy and one bad incident could bankrupt the entire family and leave them homeless. While things were not as tough for the Coopers, the show did prove that after George Sr.'s death, Georgie had to give up his dreams to work to help his family make it, something Roseanne slammed home for 10 seasons.

11 The Wonder Years (1988-1993)

6 Seasons, 115 Episodes

The Wonder Years is set up very similarly to Young Sheldon, but since there was no show it was leading up to, there was no need to speculate about what was happening to Kevin's family. Fred Savage stars as Kevin Arnold, a teenager in a middle-class family in the late 1960s. The show is also narrated by Kevin as an older man (voiced by Daniel Stern). Just like in Young Sheldon, Kevin has his parents (Dan Lauria and Alley Mills), a sister (Olivia d'Abo), and a brother (Jason Hervey).

Of course, the big difference is that Kevin is just a normal kid with a best friend (Paul Pfeiffer) and a girlfriend (Danica McKellar), not the quirky loner Sheldon Cooper is. Fred Savage was the youngest actor to ever receive a Primetime Emmy nomination. The Wonder Years is considered one of television's greatest sitcoms and helped change how networks made sitcoms for years, an inspiration to many future shows, including three decades later when Young Sheldon came out.

10 The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019)

12 Seasons, 279 Episodes

The most obvious choice of shows to watch for fans of Young Sheldon is The Big Bang Theory, for which the show serves as a sort of prequel. In Young Sheldon, fans get a glimpse into the early years of Sheldon Cooper and the family he talked about so much on the show. Young Sheldon offers viewers a better understanding of adult Sheldon from this show as they can see exactly how he grew into this character.

The Big Bang Theory provides satisfaction in hearing adult Sheldon make subtle comments referencing his childhood from moments that are then depicted on the show, although be warned that there are moments that go against what fans originally saw on TBBT. The timeline of events doesn't exactly line up, but fans can forgive that as both Armitage and Parsons embody the spirit of Sheldon Cooper.

9 Smart Guy (1997-1999)

3 Seasons, 51 Episodes

One of the smartest child geniuses on TV, and one of the earliest depictions of a child genius on television, is in the 1990s series Smart Guy. T.J. Henderson is a 10-year-old boy who, like Sheldon, is so intelligent that he gets transferred to a high school after skipping multiple grades. Also, like Sheldon, his older brother is not thrilled about having his little brother at the same school.

Both shows are about young kids trying their best to fit in. Unlike Sheldon, T.J. is a very social child who wants to participate in everything at school. With the '90s series, T.J. is more likely to make friends and get understanding from his peers. However, in both cases, it's an interesting fish-out-of-water story with strong familial connections.

8 Fuller House (2016-2020)

5 Seasons, 75 Episodes

Fuller House is a sequel series to Full House centered around the life of the eldest Tanner daughter, D.J. It offers a series that expands on an existing series, much like Young Sheldon does. However, it's not the oldest Tanner sibling who draws parallels to Young Sheldon. D.J.'s son Max stole every scene he was in.

A precocious, highly intelligent student, Max loved to dress up in slacks and buttoned shirts with a vest, just like Sheldon. He even carried a briefcase with him to school instead of a backpack. He was also very interested in order and neatness. He loved correcting others and poking fun at his siblings who lacked the same level of intelligence as him. Max and Sheldon might have become friends had they existed in the same television world.

7 The Middle (2009-2018)

9 Seasons, 215 Episodes

Based in Indiana, The Middle centers around a lower-middle-class family struggling to make ends meet while dealing with day-to-day challenges involving work and children. There are three kids in the family like in Young Sheldon, each of whom is very different. The eldest son, Axl, is popular and athletic, but lazy and not interested in school, while the daughter, Sue, is socially awkward. The youngest son, Brick, is a bookworm and introvert. His behavior suggests he might be an autistic person, which is something fans have long theorized about Sheldon as well.

Fans will enjoy a long watch with The Middle. There are nine seasons, all of which contain at least 23 episodes, allowing plenty of story and laughs to immerse themselves in. The series almost got its own spinoff as well. A pilot was ordered centering around Sue, but ultimately, the series didn't move forward.

6 The Goldbergs (2013-2023)

10 Seasons, 229 Episodes

Also set in the '80s with the later seasons moving into the '90s, The Goldbergs has the same retro feel throughout each episode as the Goldberg family deals with challenges and various pop culture events surrounding those decades. Depicting another middle-class family with three kids, the protagonist and narrator is an adult version of the youngest son, Adam, a socially awkward, self-professed nerd who loves things like Star Trek and Star Wars and despises sports and gym class.

The audience can easily imagine that Adam and Sheldon would have shared some interests, even if Sheldon is much more academically inclined than Adam. The show is also quirkier than Young Sheldon, with stories based on the creator's real-life growing up. Patton Oswalt narrates the episodes as an adult looking back on his life in the same way Parsons does for Young Sheldon.