Before we get into the meat of this review for HBO Max‘s Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, one of the most bizarre spinoffs in TV history, I’ll get this out of the way: I cannot stand The Big Bang Theory. The immensely popular show, which ran for 12 seasons and launched multiple careers – and two prior spinoffs in Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage – is like nails on a chalkboard, a grotesque parody of “nerd culture” that always seemed to be mercilessly mocking its subjects instead of embracing them. Isn’t it wacky they love comics and science fiction? Look at their dumb haircuts and odd t-shirts! Isn’t that hilarious, the show seemed to be saying.
Point being, if you’re Bazinga 4 Lyfe, then you’re probably already in the tank for any spinoff of the main series, and likely have already noped out of this review, and that’s fine. I merely lay this out to give context for the concept of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe being such a weird swing, even I, a card-carrying TBBT hater, felt compelled to at least give it a try. And given there are multiple extremely talented comedic performers at the core of the series, there had to be something there, right?
Well, there is, though Stuart Fails to Save the Universe ultimately fails to save the franchise from someone (that would be me) who is already sour faced and arms crossed going in. But credit where it’s due: producer Chuck Lorre, alongside co-creators Zak Penn and Bill Prady have created something odd and interesting, even if it is ultimately a failure.
In case you’re curious what the concept of the show is, unlike the three-camera sitcom of TBBT, this is a one-camera comedy without a laugh track (mostly) which focuses on Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), the proprietor of the local comic shop frequented by the cast of Big Bang. As the show opens, the world has been subsumed in a massive, multi-tiered apocalypse full of zombies and giant bugs, while Stuart morosely goes about his business selling what comics are left in exchange for cans of cat food. Enter an alternate universe version of Stuart, who explains that thanks to a machine created by Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), neither of whom appear in the series (all 10 episodes were provided to critics for review), the universal apocalypse is Stuart’s fault – and only he can fix it.
Alongside his faithful comic shop buddy Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn), and alternate versions of Stuart’s on again, off again girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus) and their rhotacism-impaired nemesis Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie), the quartet uses the device to travel through an increasingly weird and wild multiverse, trying to set things right. If you’re curious how successful they are? Check out the title of the show.
Overall, the thing plays like an exponentially less focused version of the Jerry O’Connell starring Fox series Sliders, which also thrust its protagonists through oddly specific alternate universes, always trying to find a way home. But unlike Sliders or similar series, SFTSTU seems far less concerned with fixing any sort of specific problems in each universe, versus presenting a situation – it’s a war-torn dystopia! Everyone has shock collars that make them have seizures if they try to be mean! They’re centaurs! – and just letting the characters hang. It’s a choice, but it’s one that generally riffs off the laconic listlessness of its main character, who spends most of the season refusing the heroic call; meaning you either find it funny that they’re in a cow dimension constantly puking up grass, or that episode will completely pass you by. There’s just not that much dramatic heft in a show that constantly reminds you they’re dealing with multiverse-ending stakes, but can barely bring itself to care.
And it makes a sort of sense, given Lorre has been extremely open about the concept of the series being far outside his comfort zone. That in itself should be lauded, with the 73-year-old creator pushing himself to new areas this late into his career. But because this isn’t his area of expertise, that likely explains the inclusion of Penn (Prady is the co-creator of TBBT), who has credits on The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, X2, and SYFY’s superhero series Alphas, among other shows and movies. While I wasn’t in the writer’s room so can’t say this for certain, the “look at these f**king nerds” humor that pervades TBBT is mostly absent from SFTSTU. The jokes are still extremely surface level and broadly pitched, but perhaps having Penn as part of the main creative trio helps this series treat liking comic books as a normal thing, instead the dark mark of some sort of hilarious, alien slob.
…But even with that, it’s odd that these LCS (Local Comic Shop) denizens mostly seem completely unaware of how multiverse shenanigans work. Even when late in the season they get trapped in a comic book, the show barely cares enough to riff on tried and true tropes that have existed in the pages of four-color funnies at least since two Flashes crashed together in 1961’s “The Flash of Two Worlds.” Instead Stuart proudly declares that knowing about comic books is his superpower, and then they do pretty much nothing with that knowledge. Even with the concept of the show and the characters its featuring, SFTSTU is pitched not at the nerd crowd, but at TBBT fanbase which mocks them.
At least the actors, and numerous guest stars, all seem to be game. While critics are sworn to secrecy about which TBBT guest stars show up in the series (you can probably figure it out from clues in context/who is generally available for a day or two), Posehn, Bowie, and Lapkus are three very funny performers doing their best with very unfunny material. Posehn’s Bert is a big sweet dummy, who is best used in an episode where he tries to introduce monogamy to a polygamous culture. Bowie gets the most to do as the sexually fluid Kripke, and is also very up for whatever, though he’s saddled with retrograde gay jokes and multiple jabs at his rhoticism that just seem uncomfortably out of place in a streaming series in 2026. And Lapkus, one of the funniest people alive (seriously, go watch any clip/episode of the semi-improvised The Earliest Show) is also doing her damnedest, though she gets increasingly shoved into the “girlfriend” role as the season continues.
The latter is something the show tries to riff on in a self-reflexive finale; but even there it’s all so half-hearted none of the commentary lands. You can feel the sweat and struggle put into making this show somewhere halfway between a broad, CBS, three-camera sitcom and an MCU streaming series (Marvel Cinematic Universe). But they can’t quite complete any of their ideas.
Perhaps the only aspect of SFTSTU that unequivocally works is an animated opening sequence that changes every episode, a riff on Lorre’s requisite end credits screeds. It’s accompanied by a catchy theme by Danny Elfman, and rotating visuals that represent aspects of the journey so far. It’s fun, light, moves quickly and is self-effacing in a way that the rest of the episode can’t quite match, which suggests that perhaps this series should have either been animated, a musical, or merely delivered as a series of short quips over text.
It’s things like this that suggest there’s a version of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe somewhere out in the multiverse that is deeper, funnier, and much weirder than the version we got. In this universe, the HBO Max series won’t convert anyone new to the Bazinga 4 Lyfe gang, and may in fact put off the faithful thanks to the swerve away from the tried and true formula. But like I said up top, you can’t fault them for trying; it’s better to take a big swing and miss than not step up to the plate at all. And that’s the level of sports metaphor even Stuart could figure out.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe premieres July 23, 2026 on HBO Max at 9pm ET, with new episodes rolling out weekly.
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