Why Meemaw Wasn’t At Sheldon & Amy’s Wedding

Summary Meemaw missing from Sheldon's wedding in TBBT due to time constraints, not story reasons.

It's important to note Meemaw is alive in the series. Writers decided to cut her phone call scene due to episode length.

The Big Bang Theory's Meemaw was too frail to attend the wedding.

Sheldon had a very close relationship with his Meemaw, but she didn't attend his and Amy's wedding in The Big Bang Theory. Years of dating that even included a brief separation ultimately led to the couple tying the knot at the end of The Big Bang Theory season 11. Aside from their closest friends, the celebration was attended by the pair's respective families, but there's one particularly notable absence from Sheldon's side of things — his grandmother, Meemaw. Given how important Meemaw is to Sheldon, it's odd that she didn't attend Sheldon and Amy's wedding.

In The Big Bang Theory season 11 finale, "The Bow Tie Asymmetry," all of Sheldon's remaining family members traveled to Pasadena, including Georgie, with whom he hadn't been on speaking terms for a long time. Given the significance of the event and the clear effort that the show's writers put into gathering nearly all of Sheldon's family into The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon and Amy wedding episode, it's especially surprising that Meemaw is missing. As it turns out, there are specific reasons why Meemaw wasn't at Sheldon and Amy's wedding.

Related 10 Ways Sheldon & Amy Are The Most Relatable Couple From The Big Bang Theory Bazingas aside, Sheldon and Amy have an interesting relationship that fans of The Big Bang Theory love and relate to. These are the reasons why.

Why Meemaw Wasn't In Sheldon's Wedding In TBBT Season 11

Creative Constraints Are Why Meemaw Missed Sheldon And Amy's Wedding

The decision to exclude Meemaw from Sheldon and Amy's wedding in The Big Bang Theory season 11 finale was made for several reasons. According to showrunner Steve Holland in his interview with Deadline, the episode already had so many characters that it would be difficult to service all of them without sacrificing the story:

Unfortunately this episode came in very long and we had to start making hard decisions about what was serving the story and what we could lose. We had recorded a phone message from Mee-Maw explaining why she couldn’t be there (she is in her 90s after all), and sadly we had to cut it for time. It was a hard cut to make, not only because it was a sweet moment but also because I know people are going to wonder why Mee-Maw didn’t get mentioned, but at the end of the day we had to make the best episode we could and a 30-second phone call was going to be 30 seconds less wedding we got to see. I know that CBS is planning to post some bonus content online after the episode airs, and I think Mee-Maw’s phone call will be one of the things they put up.

He added that The Big Bang Theory's creative team didn't want to confuse people with two versions of the character since Young Sheldon airs immediately following The Big Bang Theory. In Young Sheldon, Annie Potts plays a significantly different version of Meemaw than June Squibb's, which would be jarring if the two versions were to appear back to back.

Holland revealed that while they did film a short scene where Meemaw explained why she couldn't attend the ceremony, they ended up cutting it, once again due to time constraints.

The Big Bang Theory's first explanation somehow makes sense; "The Bow Tie Asymmetry" episode was already packed with guest stars like Mark Hamill, who officiated the ceremony. Instead of focusing on the wedding itself, the episode also tackled several subplots, including the Coopers having a breakthrough with their scientific research. That's already a lot of stories to cram into a 30-minute outing.

Still, many feel The Big Bang Theory should've at least made an effort to explain Meemaw's absence instead of totally ignoring it. Holland revealed that while they did film a short scene where Meemaw explained why she couldn't attend the ceremony, they ended up cutting it, once again due to time constraints. The thing is, The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon-Amy wedding episode didn't have to devote that much time to explain the situation; a brief line from Mary addressing it would do the trick.

Related Big Bang Theory: 5 Best Things Sheldon Did For Amy (& 5 Best Things She Did For Him) Big Bang Theory's Sheldon and Amy stole our hearts ever since the Season 3 finale. Here are the best things Sheldon did for Amy and vice versa.

What Happened To Meemaw In The Big Bang Theory

Meemaw Is Still Alive When The Big Bang Theory Concluded

The good news is, nothing bad has happened to The Big Bang Theory's Meemaw. She's still very much alive, and the only reasons she's missing from The Big Bang Theory's season 11 finale have to do with writing and time constraints, rather than a canonical accident or death. The unused phone call scene Holland explains theoretically cited Meemaw being a bit too frail to travel as the reason for missing Sheldon's wedding, which is understandable and not unduly worrying given that Meemaw is indeed pretty elderly by the end of The Big Bang Theory's timeline.

Aside from the direct implications of Meemaw's absence from Sheldon's wedding in The Big Bang Theory's season 11 finale, it also highlights one of, if not the offshoot's biggest issue — Young Sheldon's frequent Big Bang Theory plotholes due to a lax approach when it comes to preserving continuity.

Holland essentially admitted to this through his second explanation; the fact that they expected people to be confused between Potts and Squibb's version of the character means they knew that they are vastly different, almost as if they're entirely two different people. This is a key reason why some The Big Bang Theory fans aren't exactly keen on the prequel spin-off.

Related Young Sheldon: Meemaw's Relationship Timelines Connie, aka Meemaw, on Young Sheldon, lost her husband, but when she was finally ready to get back out there, she dated a few interesting characters.

Where Meemaw Is At The End Of Young Sheldon

Meemaw Was Still The Same Woman By The End Of The Spin-Off

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Young Sheldon concluded in 2024 with season 7, and Meemaw was a key component just as she'd been throughout the show. The ending of Young Sheldon finally saw a pivotal event in his childhood — the death of his father, George. Big Bang Theory fans who have also been following the prequel spin-off knew this moment was coming, but it was still quite emotional. Meemaw was a pivotal part of this storyline, being there to comfort Mary and the Cooper children. She also seemed to take the death of George in her stride, which may be one of many reasons the adult Sheldon cares for her so deeply.

She remained the same at the end of Young Sheldon as she was during the beginning

She ended the series still in Texas. However, many feel that the show missed an opportunity by not showing how the carefree Meemaw in Young Sheldon became the serious character seen in The Big Bang Theory. It was somewhat expected that Meemaw would have a personality shift before the end of Young Sheldon, and the death of George Sr. seemed like the perfect opportunity for this to happen. However, she remained the same at the end of Young Sheldon as she was during the beginning — which also means it makes even less sense that she wasn't at Sheldon and Amy's The Big Bang Theory wedding.