Streaming Big Bang spinoff sends Stuart across alternate dimensions
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Variety's TV review assesses "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe," a new HBO Max comedy that is the third spinoff of "The Big Bang Theory." Unlike earlier offshoots "Young Sheldon" and "Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage," which stuck closely to established characters' backstories, this series takes a bolder creative leap by sending comic-store owner Stuart (Kevin Sussman) hopping across alternate dimensions to prevent an apocalypse, marking a notable genre shift for the franchise that the reviewer praises as an inventive change of pace.
The show, the first "Big Bang" spinoff made for streaming rather than broadcast television, sees co-creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady team up with sci-fi writer Zak Penn to pull off the tonal pivot into full-blown science fiction. Stuart is joined by fellow "Big Bang" alumni Bert (Brian Posehn), Kripke (John Ross Bowie, now recast as a warlord) and Stuart's ex Denise (Lauren Lapkus), as the group uses a reality-hopping device to journey through wildly different worlds each episode, from a propertyless utopia to a "Fallout"-style wasteland populated by zombies and giant moths.
- New HBO Max spinoff sends "Big Bang Theory" character Stuart across dimensions.
- Third "Big Bang" spinoff and first made for streaming.
- Reviewer calls it a creative, sci-fi-driven departure from prior spinoffs.
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Big Bang Theory ran for twelve seasons on CBS as a hit sitcom about a group of socially awkward scientist friends and their neighbour Penny. It has already spawned two spinoffs that expanded on characters' early lives, staying close to the original show's style and setting. The new series shifts focus to Stuart, a minor supporting character who ran the local comic-book shop, and reimagines him at the centre of a science-fiction adventure rather than a conventional sitcom.
Several familiar faces from the original show return alongside Stuart, played by Kevin Sussman, including Bert and Kripke, plus his former girlfriend Denise. Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, who co-created the original series, are behind this spinoff too, this time working with a writer known for science-fiction projects. Notably, it is being released on a streaming platform rather than shown on traditional network television, unlike its predecessors.
This matters because it signals a change in direction for a long-running and commercially successful franchise, testing whether audiences will follow familiar characters into a very different kind of story and format.
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Originally published by Variety as “‘Big Bang Theory’ Spinoff ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ Is a Playful, Creative Romp: TV Review”.