"A Couple Bruised Ribs and a Cereal Box Ghost Detector" is an episode of Young Sheldon that first aired on March 12, 2020. Directed by Chris Koch. Teleplay by Maria Ferrari, Steve Holland and Steven Molaro, based on a story by Eric Kaplan, Connor Kilpatrick and Chuck Lorre.
At a Friday night high school football game, George Sr. almost gets tackled by a player, but he ducks out of the way in time. However, he fails to move Ms. Hutchins (Sarah Baker), the school librarian, out of the way, so she gets tackled and winds up in the hospital.
It's not severe enough and the librarian is discharged the same night. Feeling responsible for her injury, George brings Ms. Hutchins to stay at the Cooper home while she recuperates.
Also, Connie gives Georgie some relationship advice, and Sheldon is still upset that Dr. Sturgis forbade him from attending his class after he accused the professor of plagiarizing an idea (Sheldon wanted to be a co-author on the paper but Sturgis only mentioned him in a footnote).
Tropes
- Mistaken for Cheating: George Sr. doing everything he can to help Ms. Hutchins, the librarian, after injuring her is occasionally mistaken for having an affair, such as when he goes out late at night and comes back with a scratched face (which was actually from trying to take care of her cats).
- Previously on…: We're reminded of Connie's friendship with Dale's ex-wife and that Sheldon accused Prof. Sturgis of academic dishonesty.
- Shout-Out:
- To Animal House: Cited by Sheldon as evidence that maturity is not a requirement to attend college. Though he's basing this on the movie poster, he hasn't seen the actual movie.
- Theme Naming: While recuperating at the Cooper household, Ms. Hutchins remembers that nobody's at her house to take care of her cats, Edgar and Allan (Poe ran away some time ago). The three cats were named after Edgar Allan Poe.
