Last night, I watched the series finales to two shows:
"Young Sheldon" was up first and it was handled quite beautifully, I thought. There has been a lot of grousing on Facebook about why CBS would "end" it's number 1 comedy show, but it was planned all along. When Sheldon reached the age of 14, his father must die and Sheldon must be off to Cal Tech (which Missy, hilariously, thought was called "Cow" Tech).
Even Annie Potts, who plays his beloved Meemaw has been quoted as saying she thought they'd lost their minds (or something much more mildly expressed) for ending the show while it remains a big hit for the network.
The fact is that "Young Sheldon" is a back story for the eccentric genius Sheldon Cooper, star of "The Big Bang Theory." Much about Sheldon's past wa spart of the lore of TBBT, and Young Sheldon had to adhere to that lore.