{"id":720216,"date":"2026-07-31T03:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T03:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/720216\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T03:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T03:22:09","slug":"how-big-bang-theory-stars-were-convinced-to-return-to-spin-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/720216\/","title":{"rendered":"How Big Bang Theory stars were convinced to return to spin-off"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Big Bang Theory spin-off Stuart Fails to Save the Universe<\/a> is definitely full of surprises \u2013 and within just two episodes, some of the original cast members have already returned to their characters to get in on the fun and bizarre series. <\/p>\n

The new, parallel universe-bending show opened with the shocking return of Kunal Nayyar\u2019s Raj Koothrappali \u2013 albeit a dishevelled, paranoid and slightly feral version of him as he hides away during the apocalypse \u2013 but episode two upped the ante even further, with a surprise appearance from Kaley Cuoco. <\/p>\n

Best known for her role as Penny, the beautiful and kind-natured next door neighbour who becomes part of Big Bang\u2019s central nerdy gang, this time she enters the lives of Stuart, Kripke, Bert and Denise as a rebel leader in one of the show\u2019s many alternate universes. <\/p>\n

While others have made cameos in spin-off Young Sheldon, neither Nayyar nor Cuoco have reprised their roles in the seven years since The Big Bang Theory ended. <\/p>\n

Speaking to Radio Times<\/a> about their surprise drop-ins, Kevin Sussman, who leads the cast as Stuart, said: \u201cI was just delighted. I wasn’t counting on anyone coming back, because they all have moved on, you know? <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, they’ve all done how many episodes of the original? It’s definitely over 200 I think, which is crazy. I was on it a lot, and I don’t even know if I’m in a third of them!\u201d <\/p>\n

The Big Bang Theory ran for 279 episodes, of which Sussman appeared in 84 as down-on-his-luck comic book store owner Stuart \u2013 a character initially brought in as a foil for leading man Leonard Hoffstadter (Johnny Galecki) in his pursuit of Penny. <\/p>\n

Read more:<\/p>\n

However, over time Stuart \u2013 and his comic books \u2013 turned into a safe space for the beloved main gang (especially when they wanted to feel better about themselves, as Stuart always seemed to have it worse). <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all really tight on the show, so it was just such a pleasure,\u201d he said of the main cast\u2019s appearances. \u201cIt’s been like seven years, I think, since the end of the original when we started, and so just seeing them, and they’re all off doing their [own thing], they’ve all got their lives and stuff and so coming back and it was kind of like a wonderful reunion.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just amazing how everybody slipped back into [it],\u201d he added. \u201cI mean, they’re obviously playing alternate versions of their characters which was so fun, and the ones that have appeared so far, they were so game for it, and they all crushed. They were all so funny, and they sort of elevated everybody else on the set because they were so good.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

(L-R) Melissa Rauch, Simon Helberg, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Jim Parsons, Mayim Bialik and Kunal Nayyar in The Big Bang Theory.\u00a0Michael Yarish \/ CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

In each episode, Stuart, alongside other recurring Big Bang Theory characters Bert (Brian Posehn), Kripke (John Ross Bowie) and Denise (Lauren Lapkus), are sent to alternate universes in a bid to track down a way to stop theirs from ending. <\/p>\n

Episode 2 saw them enter a too-perfect utopia version of Earth, where they discover an AI overlord has taken over and citizens are microchipped in their brain stem to stop aggressive behaviour \u2013 forcing everyone to remain compliant, friendly and agreeable, even if they don\u2019t want to. <\/p>\n

Penny, with a rebellious streak seemingly no matter what universe she\u2019s in, has formed a militia alongside her Big Bang beefcake ex-boyfriend, Zack (Brad Thomas Smith). <\/p>\n

Want to see this content?<\/p>\n

This page contains content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose ‘Accept and continue’ to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.<\/p>\n

Accept and continue<\/p>\n

While the appearance was short but sweet, fans were delighted to see a different side to Cuoco, and blows the door wide open to any other potential appearances as the rest of the season plays out. <\/p>\n

Seeing as Leonard and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) were the ones responsible for the quantum machine that kicked off Stuart\u2019s whole mess, are they next in line? <\/p>\n

Guess we\u2019re going to find out soon enough\u2026 <\/p>\n

Stuart Fails To Save The Universe is available to stream exclusively on HBO Max from July 24 in the UK and Ireland.<\/p>\n

Add Stuart Fails to Save the Universe to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app<\/a> \u2013 download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Comedy<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Big Bang Theory spin-off Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is definitely full of surprises \u2013 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-720216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}