Warning: This interview about the series premiere of Young Sheldon contains spoilers.

So, what did you fans of The Big Bang Theory think? The tone of Young Sheldon, the Sheldon Cooper prequel series, is certainly less sitcom-y than the mothership, and we find that to be a delightful departure. And for newbies to the Cooper family story, are you feeling all kinds of Wonder Years vibes from the coming-of-age comedy about the exceptionally intelligent (and sometimes exceptionally difficult) Sheldon?

The series previewed Monday and will officially premiere in the CBS lineup on Nov. 2. Showrunner Steve Molaro, who left the same job at TBBT to run the show at Young Sheldon, talked to Yahoo TV about the fun and challenges of switching Sheldon Cooper timelines. Molaro said he and the Sheldon writers are relishing the opportunity to dive deeper into Cooper family history, including a look at how living with Sheldon isn’t always fun and games, how adult Sheldon’s POV of his family might not exactly match up with the reality of every situation, and how adult Sheldon might not have the whole picture on his dad.

Molaro also teased a look at the special relationship between Sheldon and his grandmother (played by Annie Potts) — the tale of a Meemaw and her Moonpie.

Having spent so many years on The Big Bang Theory, what has it been like switching to this different timeline for Sheldon Cooper?

It’s been exciting. Right from the beginning, Chuck [Lorre] and I got to work with Jon Favreau on the pilot. That was tremendous. From the beginning, Jon had described in his mind that what we were doing was an origin story. That sounded right to us. We thought that was really cool. I can tell you the first time I went on the set and walked around what is Sheldon’s house, and walked into what is Sheldon’s childhood bedroom, it felt so real. It was an emotional experience.

Jon directed the pilot. Will he continue to be involved with the show?

He’s a busy guy. He’s doing The Lion King right now, but he’s around, and he’s terrific. I know that if we need him, he’s a phone call away.

What did you focus on in terms of making sure the show honored longtime Sheldon fans from The Big Bang Theory, but was also entertaining for new fans?

We’re pretty familiar with all the stories from Sheldon’s past, through The Big Bang Theory. We’re familiar with his mom, Mary, and their relationship. I mean, right out of the gate in this first episode, we knew that Sheldon started high school at a young age, around nine. So right there we’re kind of digging in to show history. Then we just asked ourselves, “Well, okay, if that’s where this is starting, what would happen next?” One of those pieces was, I guess he’d be starting high school at the same time his [older] brother would, which was an interesting wrinkle for a family.

There are also nice little shout-outs to Professor Proton (Bob Newhart) and Sheldon’s germ phobia, which will be familiar to TBBT fans.

And he wants to play a car game with his mom. Also, we don’t really highlight it, but in the final scene with his dad, Sheldon is sitting in his spot on the couch.

View photos Montana Jordan as Georgie, Armitage, Lance Barber as George, Sr, Zoe Perry as Mary, and Raegan Revord as Missy (Photo: Robert Voets/CBS) More

I love that. That scene with his dad — one of the first things that stands out in the premiere is Sheldon’s relationship with his dad. We know a little bit about that from TBBT. We know that it’s contentious in a lot of ways, according to adult Sheldon, but there’s an incredibly sweet bonding moment that comes about between Sheldon and his dad in the pilot. His dad is frustrated by Sheldon’s intelligence, and the ways it affects the family, but it’s also because Sheldon’s aware enough and smart enough to make certain connections, so he is able to understand what happened to his dad when he got fired from his football coaching job. Is that indicative of the way we’re going to see their relationship unfold?

We’re still figuring things out, but these are two people that really don’t understand each other very well. But they’re trying. How far they get is to be determined, but it’s nice to watch them make these attempts. And I think there may be more layers to his dad than people realize, and I think even more than adult Sheldon realizes. Those stories on The Big Bang Theory are being relayed from the memories of a kid’s perspective, and stories he heard, and things his Meemaw said about his dad. Maybe the reality and what Sheldon’s perspective of it is aren’t quite in line.