The latest The Big Bang Theory spin-off has hit our screens, Stuart Fails To Save The Universe, and it’s the strangest one yet. I’ll admit that’s not hard given the more traditional sitcom nature of Young Sheldon and George and Mandy’s First Marriage, but it is worth flagging in advance in case you were wondering. In the show, Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), the Comic Book Store owner from the original show, gets tasked with saving the universe by an alternate version of himself. It’s a genuinely bizarre premise with Lorre even admitting some of the scripts were so out-there that HBO struggled to give feedback on them and that fans will either love it or hate it.
It takes a while to get going, but when it does, it’s a lot of fun to watch a show push the chaos to its limits. Some of the plots are as surreal as they are silly, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you’re looking for something to watch that’s a bit different, then this is definitely the show for you, but if you’re looking for something more like the original show, then it’s worth being open-minded to what this show actually is. Each episode is genuinely unpredictable, often packed with references for anyone who knows the original show, but also with moments that sprint past before you can quite process them. The title sequence deserves its own mention too. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but it grew on me across all ten episodes. It’s bold in a way I haven’t really seen a sitcom be about its own opening before. It also feels a bit AI in nature, but I also couldn’t help but wonder if that was the point.
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The cast is also brilliant. Bert (Brian Posehn), Denise (Lauren Lupkus), and Kripke (John Ross Bowie) all fully commit to the extravagance of the show while playing it the same way their characters always appeared. It’s that seriousness combined with material this weird that creates such a unique beast of a sitcom. All of them have their own character arcs within, and it’s nice to see them get their own moments to shine. Sussman also plays Stuart perfectly as a reluctant leader of a ragtag crew trying to save the universe, and it really helps to ground the show amongst the insane shenanigans they get caught up in.
Was it a well-made season of television, or did they just have the nerve to be genuinely weird in a way most comedies don’t anymore? I’m honestly not sure those are separate questions here. The only way to decide is to watch yourself and find out.