Young Sheldon

Young Sheldon ends up having a mind of its own, even if it’s a prequel to a long-established hit. Armitage and Perry in particular are a perfect pair as precocious son and protective but not overbearing mom. There’s an awful lot to like here, with high expectations not only met but exceeded.

In structure and tone, it has more in common with “Baskets” or “Divorce” than Chuck Lorre’s long-running ratings giant. It’s an entirely new direction for the franchise, and it’s as shocking to report this prequel is more melancholic than mawkish as it is to say that it’s also pretty darn good.

Young Sheldon has a certain Wonder Years glow to it. The challenge for the show going forward is to keep young Sheldon a believable, likable kid while also emphasizing the eccentric qualities that make him an effective comic creation. From this first episode, it really feels as though that’s not going to be a problem.

Shot single-camera style, unlike its hectic, filmed-live progenitor, it has its own gentler, more naturalistic rhythms and pleasures. Chief among these is Iain Armitage as Sheldon, charming and believable and just suggestive enough of Parsons.

Armitage is adorably watchable--so much so that we don’t really need Parsons butting in to tidy up the stories.

Young Sheldon is a smarter, more humorous and heartfelt show than "The Big Bang Theory." Adult Sheldon is entertaining, but young Sheldon is even better.

Perry, the spitting image of her mom, is flat-out terrific as Mary Cooper. ... Of course, the success of the enterprise rises and falls on Iain Armitage’s shoulders. He reveals himself as an adroit performer who can play the show off, the little boy and the kid who doesn’t know how he comes by his own gifts.

The experiment at least initially looks like a bright idea -- yielding a breezy, likable series, closer in tone to "The Wonder Years" or ABC's family comedies.

Armitage manages to be cute but not cloying, and just blunt and annoying enough to see hints of Parsons’ version of the character nearly three decades older.

The new show is much more a traditional family-focused show, and the humor is accordingly cleaner. Although there’s no question that Sheldon is often the dominant member of the “Big Bang” core, the show is still an ensemble effort. ... Young Sheldon is nicely cast, but it’s even more about the title character, and young Armitage acquits himself well, not to mention he’s cute as a bug. Also notable is Zoe Perry as Sheldon’s mother, Mary.

In many ways this show plays like a cross between “The Wonder Years” and last fall’s “Speechless” only in this one the mother character is likable. Zoe Perry, daughter of Laurie Metcalf (who plays Sheldon’s mom on “BBT”), is a standout in a pilot episode that’s warm and embraceable but not yet essential viewing. But it may get there.

What’s funny in Sheldon/adult is grating in Sheldon/child.

Young Sheldon, which depicts “The Big Bang Theory’s” Sheldon Cooper as a precocious 9-year-old in East Texas, doesn’t quite gel in either arena [functioning as a mainstream family comedy and fit into the realm of single-camera half hours] in its initial outing. But the premise and a few performances are interesting enough to give the show some time to find its way.

The only takeaway from Young Sheldon is that his present is far more interesting than his past.

With all these elements working in its favor, scale back on the titular character and give Missy and the mom some more individual airtime and you might have something worth its timeslot.

There are few jokes to speak of, just situations that are funny or awkward--mostly awkward. ... The accents are spot-on and the lead performances are excellent, in particular Zoe Perry as the hero’s mom (a role played on the flagship series by Laurie Metcalf) and Lance Barber as his father George.

Like most new comedies this fall, Young Sheldon isn’t yet very good at conveying what it’s trying to do. But what it’s trying to do is more interesting--and potentially more artistically exciting--than whatever first impressions you might have of the show. The series is at once better and worse than what you’d expect.

Basically, the brilliant brat is amusing, but in The Big Bang Theory, what's more amusing is the people who choose to be with him; in Young Sheldon what's more amusing is the people who don't have the choice but have to be with him. The pilot for Young Sheldon isn't there yet. It's too hung up on a main character we know isn't going to and can't change for the better.

Perry and Armitage are simply wonderful together. ... [But] A mildly dispiriting sense of isolation hangs from Young Sheldon.

Young Sheldon is caught in an in-between place, destined to flummox those who’d love it the most.

There’s promising raw material in both shows (with Young Sheldon, it’s the mother/son dynamic and the chemistry between Perry and Armitage), but they have work to do refining it after these pilots.

Young Sheldon isn’t funny. (At least in the one episode made available to critics.) Its punch lines--or whatever is sitting where punch lines are supposed to be--only come from Sheldon’s inappropriate responses.

Young Sheldon is the Saltine cracker of television: bland, inoffensive, and instantly forgettable.