{"id":779886,"date":"2026-07-23T13:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/779886\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:26:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:26:20","slug":"stuart-fails-to-save-the-universe-is-very-different-from-the-big-bang-theory-thats-a-good-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/779886\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is very different from The Big Bang Theory. That\u2019s a good thing."},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for the Slatest<\/a> to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily.<\/p>\n

The big bang happened nearly 14\u00a0billion years ago, when the whole universe was in a hot dense state, but\u00a0The Big Bang Theory\u00a0began in 2007, when four male nerds and an exasperated Cheesecake Factory waitress found themselves on a couch in Pasadena. They stayed there\u2014wearing the same clothes, ordering the same takeout, butts glued to the same sofa cushions,\u00a0pretty much<\/a>\u2014for 12 years. Expansion of the megahit series started in 2017, when CBS launched\u00a0Young Sheldon, a\u00a0Bildungs-sitcom about the education of uptight know-it-all Sheldon Cooper, and fractured one more time in 2024, with the creation of\u00a0Georgie & Mandy\u2019s First Marriage, about the age-gap union of Sheldon\u2019s older brother.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, HBO Max debuts another spin-off,\u00a0Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, in which the eponymous comic-store owner\u00a0\u2026 well, the title says it all. There\u2019s a device, built by Sheldon and Leonard; there\u2019s a malfunction, apparently caused by Stuart; there are dimensional rifts and wormhole weirdnesses, but what really matters is that this isn\u2019t just a spin-off; it\u2019s a do-over. Stuart isn\u2019t only trying to save the universe\u2014he\u2019s out to fix the sitcom.<\/p>\n

In many ways,\u00a0Stuart\u00a0is the most\u00a0BBT-like of the descendant shows. Original creators Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady are in charge, now joined by veteran Marvel universe screenwriter Zak Penn. We\u2019re back in Pasadena, and a few familiar faces, whose identities I won\u2019t spoil, show up over the course of the 10-episode first season. Most significantly, the lead characters are played by\u00a0BBT\u00a0supporting actors who hung up their graphic T-shirts seven years ago.<\/p>\n

All that said,\u00a0Stuart Fails to Save the Universe\u00a0couldn\u2019t be more different from its forebear, in the best and most surprising way possible.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n June Thomas
\n The Big Bang Theory Ended With a Whimper
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For many years, Lorre has been sharing his innermost thoughts on the\u00a0vanity cards<\/a>\u00a0that appear onscreen for a couple of seconds at the end of every TV show made by Chuck Lorre Productions. Many of these messages are stupid; occasionally, they\u2019re\u00a0repulsive<\/a>; but the card at the end of Episode\u00a01 contains a clear and bracing declaration. It reads: \u201cI have spent almost\u00a0forty\u00a0years writing scenes in which a small group of people sit on a couch and exchange witty banter. \u2026 I just couldn\u2019t do the couch thing anymore. I had to try something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, Lorre succeeded:\u00a0Stuart Fails to Save the Universe\u00a0really is something else. Whereas\u00a0The Big Bang Theory\u00a0was all about stasis and that big, solid hunk of living-room furniture, the new show has to be the most dynamic live-action sitcom that has ever existed.<\/p>\n

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It is the bizarro\u00a0Big Bang Theory. Instead of four guys and a girl, here we have three geezers and a grown woman. In every episode, Stuart (Kevin Sussman), his girlfriend and former co-worker Denise (Lauren Lapkus), geologist pal Bert (Brian Posehn), and quantum physicist\/human annoyance Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie) find themselves in a brand-new setting where they have no alternative but to try something\u2014anything\u2014different. There\u2019s an improv aspect to their performances, which feels appropriate given that the show is an ever-escalating series of \u201cWhat could possibly go wrong?\u201d scenarios.<\/p>\n

The alternate universes are so wildly inventive and so completely wackadoo that I\u2019ll leave you to discover their pleasures for yourself, but let\u2019s just say that if you\u2019ve ever craved a TV sitcom that features centaurs, lecherous telepaths, or characters who share the digestive process of ruminant animals, you might want to check this one out.<\/p>\n

In fact,\u00a0Stuart Fails to Save the Universe\u00a0isn\u2019t only trying to fix the sitcom; it\u2019s trying to change the way we watch TV now, distracted as we are these days by second (or third) screens and endless scrolling. The opening credits\u2014this time accompanied by an original Danny Elfman composition rather than a Barenaked Ladies track\u2014contain a series of pleas begging viewers to pay attention instead of hitting the fast-forward button. Each episode features a new set of entreaties, and while they\u2019re mostly meh, I have to award points for trying.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Alex Kirshner
\n Will Ferrell\u2019s New Netflix Show Is Not Good
\n Read More\n <\/p>\n

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Unfortunately,\u00a0SFTSTU\u00a0can\u2019t expiate\u00a0BBT\u2019s original sins. Since the producers weren\u2019t able to alter the space-time continuum, the actors have aged. This means that, while\u00a0BBT\u00a0could\u00a0send Howard Wolowitz into space<\/a>,\u00a0SFTSTU\u00a0can\u2019t permit men aged between 55 and 60 to lust after a woman older than 41. With no other female characters for Denise to talk to, the show fails the Bechdel Test at the first hurdle, and whereas\u00a0BBT\u00a0had one main character of color,\u00a0SFTSTU\u00a0is blindingly white. Oh, yeah, and Kripke still has the speech impediment. Gwow up, Chuck Wowwe!<\/p>\n

The Big Bang Theory\u00a0was the poster child for Slow TV: It took 278 episodes just to fix the apartment building\u2019s elevator. There\u2019s more action in five minutes of\u00a0Stuart Fails to Save the Universe\u00a0than in a season\u2014heck, perhaps the whole run\u2014of its progenitor. Will\u00a0Stuart\u00a0succeed in transforming the TV comedy universe? Probably not, but it has already changed its velocity, and for the better.<\/p>\n

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