Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Review: A Bold Premise Still Can't Make This Big Bang Theory Spin-Off Essential

Early in the development process, creators of TV shows need to be able answer a couple of conceptual questions, not just for executives, but for themselves as well: Why does this exist, and who is it for? HBO Max's new The Big Bang Theory spin-off Stuart Fails to Save the Universe has unsatisfying answers to those questions. As a multiverse-spanning sci-fi comedy that puts previously peripheral characters in the lead roles, it's totally different from any other show in the Big Bang universe and expands the parameters of what's possible in the nearly 20-year-old franchise. It's new and different and genuinely weird. So that's the reason why it exists, sort of. But is that enough? And is this something fans of The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, and Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage will enjoy? The answers are not unequivocally "yes." To enjoy Stuart Fails, fans must be open to casual cruelty, unexpectedly graphic violence, and Rick and Morty. 

The series follows Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) — the hapless owner of the comic book store where Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) liked to hang out on The Big Bang Theory — as he hops across dimensions trying to fix a tear in the fabric of the universe. Before the events of this show, Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) built a quantum interference device — more commonly referred to as "the quantum thingy" — that malfunctioned and altered reality, creating an infinite number of universes, all of them terrible. For some reason, Stuart is the only one who can put things right, and he reluctantly answers the call to action. How does it go? Well, the answer is right there in the title.

The semi-hero is accompanied on his mission by some fellow nerds familiar to TBBT fans: Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn), a geology professor with the affect of a full-body Muppet; Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie), an abrasive, sex-obsessed physicist with an Elmer Fudd speech impediment; and Denise (Lauren Lapkus), Stuart's sweet girlfriend. Denise was introduced very late in TBBT's run and was previously so peripheral that she doesn't even have a last name. 

5.0

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe

at HBO Max

Like

• Different from the rest of the franchise in an admirably bold way
• Some funny jokes

Dislike

• Underdeveloped characters
• An unpleasant misanthropic streak

Over the course of its 10 quick episodes, Stuart Fails features appearances from across-the-multiverse versions of many other TBBT characters. The potential for cameos was surely one of the things that excited executive producers Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady enough to want to do Stuart Fails, but the main thing was obviously the opportunity to play in genres the franchise has never done before. (Lorre and Prady are the creators of The Big Bang Theory and co-created Stuart Fails with Ready Player One screenwriter Zak Penn.) In his signature "vanity card" at the end of the premiere, Lorre writes that he's "spent almost forty years writing scenes in which a small group of people sit on a couch and exchange witty banter. I only mention this to help explain what you've just seen. I just couldn't do the couch thing anymore. I had to try something new." As the characters travel to different dimensions, there's a superhero episode, a war episode, a psychological thriller, and various strains of sci-fi, all executed in a somewhat satirical fashion, as these characters lack aptitude for action — and they don't get much better at being heroes as the season progresses, which is part of the show's biggest problem. 

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On The Big Bang Theory, these characters were one-note supporting players. They were neither particularly important nor especially beloved, though obviously they were popular enough that the idea for a spin-off wasn't immediately nixed. There's not much about them on TBBT that seems to lend itself to deeper exploration. Unfortunately, Lorre, Penn, and Prady seem to agree, or at least don't manage to find much depth to them. None of the characters change enough to make the season feel complete. As a rule, this type of quest-based story requires characters to change by the end of their journey — which is the opposite of supporting characters on a traditional sitcom, who as a rule don't change. That tension — static side characters suddenly find themselves in a story arc — should be the engine that drives Stuart Fails, but the writers can't help but go for gags and familiar banter whenever possible, which undercuts the opportunity for change. No matter what's happening to them — falling in love, turning into centaurs, etc. — these nerds still feel like sitcom characters. The season finale confronts the very concept of a sitcom in a provocative way, but it's ultimately more confusing than consciousness-expanding. 

Sometimes, the show's jokes at its sad-sack characters' expense border on contempt. At one point, Stuart, Bert, and Kripke are in a world where they're sentenced to 30 months in a Clockwork Orange-like reeducation center. Stuart says he's going to think of a way to escape, and then the show cuts to them leaving them the camp 30 months later, having served their full sentences. It's a funny joke, but it also means that the heroes of the show were subjected to two and a half years of psychological torture for the sake of a gag. The writers just can't bring themselves to treat these characters like they're important, and like the things that happen to them matter — so why should the audience care about them, either?

Stuart Fails is edgier than The Big Bang Theory was, especially in that show's gentler later seasons (and it can't even be compared to the family-oriented Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy). Free from the restrictions of broadcast TV, the show indulges in HBO-level profanity and violence. This is the first show in the Big Bang Theory universe to feature severed limbs and disemboweled guts. More than anything else, Stuart Fails' flippant violence, snarky dialogue, multiverse format, and misanthropic tone resemble Rick and Morty, the long-running animated sitcom about the interdimensional adventures of an alcoholic mad scientist and his neurotic grandson. It's a bold, potentially alienating comparison; there aren't a lot of people who like both The Big Bang Theory and Rick and Morty. 

Respect is due to Stuart Fails to Save the Universe for taking a big swing; any time a creator tries something creatively risky, it is to be applauded, and that goes doubly if it's within a franchise as mainstream as The Big Bang Theory. But the thing about experiments is that they don't always work. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe fails to make a compelling case for its existence beyond the fact that it's something different. It's mostly a show for Chuck Lorre. 

Premieres: Thursday, July 23 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max, with subsequent episodes releasing Thursdays
Who's in it: Kevin Sussman, Brian Posehn, John Ross Bowie, Lauren Lapkus
Who's behind it: Chuck Lorre, Zak Penn, and Bill Prady
For fans of: The Big Bang Theory and Rick and Morty at the same time
How many episodes we watched: 10 of 10