"College Dropouts and the Medford Miracle" is an episode of Young Sheldon that first aired on January 5, 2023.
Sheldon has trouble getting adults outside of the university to take his grant database idea seriously, because of how young he is. So he enlists the help of Prof. Sturgis (Wallace Shawn). One group of investors wants Sheldon to drop out of college to work full time on the grant database, but George and Mary refuse to let him drop out.
Sheldon needs an investor who will support him financially and won't mind Sheldon calling his ideas stupid. Sheldon remembers Gary O'Brien (Dave Foley). Sheldon and Sturgis have a business lunch with Gary, which makes both of them doubt it was a good idea to call on him in the first place.
Meanwhile, George is annoyed that Pastor Rob (Dan Byrd) is getting all the credit for the football team's latest win — it doesn't help that George suspects Rob of having an affair with Mary. The youth pastor explains that some of the players respond better to encouragement. At a bar, George talks to Principal Petersen (Rex Linn), who really only cares about winning.
At the next game, the players insist on saying a prayer with Pastor Rob. When the youth pastor suggests a play that's unorthodox for high school football, George decides to go along with it. Coach Wilkins (Doc Farrow) is skeptical. George reasons that if the gambit goes wrong, he can blame Pastor Rob. But to George's annoyance, it actually works.
Also, Missy has a date with Dean (Travis Burnett) at Connie's house, with Connie chaperoning. The boy seems more interested in Connie than in Missy, due to his own grandmother's recent death. At first Missy goes along, but when he calls Connie "grandma," Missy dumps him. Unfortunately, Dean's mother won't come pick him up until seven o'clock.
Tropes
- Call-Back to 'Crappy Frozen Ice Cream and an Organ Grinder's Monkey': Gary O'Brien was introduced in that earlier episode.
- Landline Eavesdropping: Sheldon tries to disguise his voice while calling a prospective investor, but his plan falls apart when Mary picks up the phone and gives his identity away to the other caller.
- Mandatory Line: Georgie has very few lines in this episode. Mary says Georgie's life hasn't turned out well since dropping out of high school, so Georgie counters that he's running a successful business.
- Moon-Landing Hoax: Gary believes the moon landing was faked, adding that he thought it was real at first. Sheldon and Sturgis are troubled by this.
- Previously on…: We're reminded of how Sheldon decided to cut the university out of the profits from the grant database.
- Shout-Out:
- To Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, cited by Sheldon as two examples of someone successful who dropped out of college.
- When Connie warns Missy to keep her date G-rated, Missy points out that The Little Mermaid (1989) is rated G and has Ariel and Eric kissing on the lips.
- Western Zodiac: Gary O'Brien is a Gemini and his horoscope told him to take a chance, so he decided to take a chance on Sheldon's idea. Of course Sheldon and Sturgis don't regard astrology as something legitimate scientists should concern themselves with.
