HBO Max is set to release a new spin-off of the long-running sitcom franchise The Big Bang Theory, titled "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe." The show focuses on Kevin Sussman's character Stuart Bloom, the deadpan comic book store owner who was a fan favourite in the original series, marking the franchise's expansion into a darker, science-fiction-driven storyline nearly two decades after The Big Bang Theory first premiered.

The plot centres on Stuart accidentally breaking a device created by Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), triggering a multiverse catastrophe that he must then try to fix. He is joined by his girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus), friend Bert (Brian Posehn) and Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie), and the group's efforts bring them into contact with alternate-universe versions of familiar Big Bang Theory characters, though they ultimately fail in their mission. The series follows previous successful spin-offs Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage, and premieres on HBO on Thursday, 23 July, at 9pm ET.