Lance Barber Returning To Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage — With 4 More Young Sheldon Alums (Exclusive)

It's not a full-blown resurrection — but it's the next best thing.

TVLine can exclusively report that Lance Barber will reprise his role as the late George Sr. in "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage" Season 2, Episode 18, marking his second appearance on the "Young Sheldon" spin-off.

But unlike his Season 1 guest stint, Barber will be joined on the call sheet by multiple "Young Sheldon" alums. While plot details surrounding the episode are being kept under wraps, TVLine can confirm that Zoe Perry (Mary), Raegan Revord (Missy) and Doc Farrow (Coach Wilkins) will return for the installment, along with Rex Linn, who makes his "Georgie & Mandy" debut as Principal Petersen. (Viewers will recall that Petersen — alongside Wilkins — was the one who arrived at the Cooper residence to inform Mary of George's death.)

Matthew Letscher, who recurs as Georgie and Ruben's business rival Fred Fagenbacher, also will guest-star in Episode 18, slated to air in late spring. 

Lance Barber first reprised Cooper family patriarch George Sr. in Season 1, Episode 12 of "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage." The storyline, which saw a bedridden Georgie (Montana Jordan) visited by his dead dad, was inspired by similar dreams that series co-creator Chuck Lorre has had of his own father.

Over breakfast in the Cooper family kitchen, we saw George tease his son for taking a sick day. But in a subsequent scene, Georgie confronted his dad and told him that he doesn't want to work himself into the ground and miss out on being there when CeeCee has kids of her own. 

"I get that," Sr. responded. He then placed his hand on Georgie's shoulder and proclaimed, "I did a good job raising you."

Speaking with TVLine about the episode, fellow co-creator Steve Holland, who served as showrunner during Seasons 11 and 12 of "The Big Bang Theory," talked about how important it was to differentiate Barber's spin-off appearances from Bob Newhart's recurring role as Arthur "Professor Proton" Jeffries on the mothership. 

"As much as we want to have these people back, we can't force them into the show just for our own selfish reasons," Holland said at the time. "We talked about [distinguishing] this from the Bob Newhart dreams in 'Big Bang Theory,' where it was much more self-aware, and he would say to Sheldon, 'I'm in your head, you're the one saying this.' We didn't want to play that same dynamic with George. If we did bring him back, we would have to make sure we found a way that wasn't just rehashing that version of ghost mentor that we did on 'Big Bang.'"

As for whether his Season 2 appearance will involve him visiting his son in another dream, or appearing via a newly created flashback, remains to be seen.

When "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage" last aired December 18, it fostered a slight sense of unease for its viewers — namely when Georgie's (Montana Jordan) unchecked ambition caused his professional partnership with Ruben (Jessie Prez) to become fraught. The men reconciled, but according to co-creator Steve Molaro, there's more "fun tension" in store at the workplace when Season 2 resumes, as Jim (Will Sasso) will come back to the tire store he sold to Georgie and Ruben... only now as their employee.

"Jim's still old school," Jordan teased to TVLine. "He still wants to [manage the business] on pen and paper, but Georgie's got it all on the computer." Despite the upcoming clashes, though, Prez confirmed that Ruben "takes joy in that hierarchy change" when the show returns.

Meanwhile, as TVLine previously reported, another "Young Sheldon" vet, Annie Potts, will return as Connie (aka Meemaw) in Episode 15, airing Thursday, April 9.

"Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage" Season 2 resumes Thursday, February 26 at 8 p.m. on CBS, with Episode 11 (of 22). And in even better news: the hit sitcom has already been renewed for Season 3.

Are you looking forward to Lance Barber's return to "Georgie & Mandy"? Revisit our interviews with cast of "Young Sheldon" timed to George Sr.'s passing, then leave a comment and let us know.