Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Review: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is an ambitious departure from The Big Bang Theory formula, turning background characters into multiverse-hopping heroes. The show has genuine laughs and creative energy, but its underdeveloped characters and oddly harsh humor keep it from fully landing.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Platform: HBO Max
Genre: Science Fiction Comedy
Episodes: 10
Cast: Kevin Sussman, Brian Posehn, John Ross Bowie, Lauren Lapkus
The Big Bang Theory ran for twelve seasons and became one of the biggest sitcoms in television history, so it was only a matter of time before the franchise tried to expand further.
After Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, HBO Max is now taking things in a completely different direction with Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, a spin-off that swaps the classic multi-camera sitcom format for full-blown science fiction comedy.
The show centers on Stuart Bloom, played by Kevin Sussman, the long-suffering owner of the comic book store where the original show’s characters used to hang out.
After a device built by Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard malfunctions, reality itself gets torn apart, splitting into countless broken versions of the universe.
For reasons the show does not fully explain, Stuart is the only one who can fix it, so he sets off on a reluctant multiverse-hopping mission alongside three other familiar faces from the original series.
Joining him are Bert Kibbler, an eccentric geologist played by Brian Posehn, Barry Kripke, the socially awkward physicist known for his odd speech pattern played by John Ross Bowie, and Denise, Stuart’s girlfriend from the comic store, played by Lauren Lapkus.
Together, this unlikely group jumps from one alternate reality to another, encountering everything from a post-apocalyptic wasteland to a psychiatric hospital to a full-blown superhero universe, all while barely understanding how their own machine works.
What makes this show interesting is exactly how different it feels from anything else in The Big Bang Theory universe. Gone is the live studio audience and the couch-bound banter.
In its place is something closer in spirit to Rick and Morty, with dark humor, surprising violence, and a genuinely strange tone that longtime fans of the original sitcom might not expect.
Creator Chuck Lorre has openly said he wanted to try something new after decades of writing traditional sitcom scenes, and that ambition shows in every episode.
The problem is that ambition alone cannot carry a show. The four lead characters were minor players on the original series, and unfortunately, this spin-off does not do much to deepen them.
Despite everything that happens to them across ten episodes, from falling in love to literally turning into centaurs, they still feel like the same one-note sitcom characters they always were. For a story built around a quest that is supposed to change its heroes, that lack of growth is a real weakness.
There are also moments where the humor crosses from playful into something closer to mean-spirited. In one episode, the characters are sentenced to two and a half years of psychological torture in a reeducation camp, and the show treats it as a quick punchline rather than something that actually affects them.
It is funny in the moment, but it also reveals how little the show seems to care about its own characters as people worth investing in.
Still, there is plenty to enjoy here for fans willing to go along for the ride. The opening credits are a fun, self-aware touch, and Chuck Lorre’s signature vanity cards at the end of each episode are often funnier than the episode itself. The season finale also sets up an intriguing twist that leaves the door wide open for a second season.
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Stuart Fails to Save the Universe will not convert Rick and Morty fans who have never watched The Big Bang Theory, and it may not fully satisfy longtime TBBT fans looking for something gentler.
But for anyone curious to see this beloved sitcom universe attempt something completely new, it is worth checking out, even if it does not always stick the landing.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe premieres Thursday, July 23, on HBO Max, with new episodes releasing weekly.