# Streaming Big Bang spinoff sends Stuart across alternate dimensions

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/big-bang-theory-spinoff-stuart-fails-to-save-the-universe-is-a-playful-creative-romp-tv-review/
- Published: 2026-07-22T19:32:32+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-23T01:48:16+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/tv/reviews/stuart-fails-to-save-the-universe-review-big-bang-spinoff-1236816914/
- Topics: Art, Culture, Entertainment, TV

## Key points

- 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.

## Summary

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.

## Coverage

- [Variety: Streaming Big Bang spinoff sends Stuart across alternate dimensions](https://variety.com/2026/tv/reviews/stuart-fails-to-save-the-universe-review-big-bang-spinoff-1236816914/)
- [Collider: 'Stuart Fails To Save The Universe' Is a More Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Spin-Off Than We Expected | Review](https://collider.com/stuart-fails-to-save-the-universe-review-hbo-max/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.