As one of the most popular and successful sitcoms in recent years, The Big Bang Theory has spawned multiple spinoffs. While Young Sheldon and Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage are prequels to the original series, the latest addition to the shared world, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, is a sequel of sorts, following alternate versions of the original supporting characters Stuart, Denise, Kripke, and Bert on an adventure to save the world after the original Stuart broke Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard's device.
The HBO MAX series follows the four taking up leading roles on a mission to put the universe back in order. In doing so, the foursome travel through various new worlds and realities, all of which have vastly different natures. The premise of the show is quite ambitious and one that could have been well developed to match the sci-fi/fantasy thrills that the original characters from The Big Bang Theory loved so much. Instead, Stuart Fails To Save The Universe leans into potentially some of the weirdest variants of reality one could imagine. So, does this spinoff really work?
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe explores the multiverse in ways where the show commits itself to never being tied down to existing inside the box. The more expected alternative dimensions are only a few of the possibilities of where this group actually travels. There are a few high notes, like a comic book universe that embraces how essential comic books had been to the original show, especially The Flash, while other universes offer low notes, such as a world where humans were descended from cows. Not every alternative reality is a home run, but the spinoff attempts to make up for that with several cameos from The Big Bang Theory's original cast members, taking on vastly different roles than how they are remembered.
Stuart Fails To Save The Universe has its occasional fun, running joke, such as the existence of Gary, a man whose only real role is to show up, be an annoyance to Stuart, and occasionally die once in every few universes. The messages in the show's opening credits also allow for a more unique version of storytelling. Yet, perhaps the biggest flaw in the nature of the show is that the versions of Stuart, Bert, Kripke, and Denise that the series follows are not the same ones audiences watched during The Big Bang Theory. The characters co-exist as if they have years of history, but as they each come from an apocalyptic world, with Denise coming from a different post-apocalyptic world, these are not necessarily the versions of the characters that already have familiarity.
Stuart Fails To Save The Universe is certainly the most unique, distinctive, and ambitious attempt at a spinoff of The Big Bang Theory, and the only one that truly comes close to embracing the sci-fi/fantasy aspects that the original sitcom loved to discuss and explore. While not every joke lands, there are pieces of this series that work if season 2 takes a little more time to slow down and allow the main characters to bond rather than sending them so fast through various universes with quick quips here and there.
Stuart Fails To Save The Universe is off to a clunky start. Not quite having found its voice yet, some aspects of the series relied too much on waiting for the next cameo from an original character. Yet, that does not mean the series does not have promise. Leaning into making fun of sitcoms in its season finale offered a new approach to all the different types of genres that the show could tackle in its various universes outside of just picking odd and unpredictable worlds.
The show has leaned into a few parody-style episodes that may be the strongest in the season. Leaning into making fun of different genres while going on this adventure could open the door for more legitimate comedy rather than trying to just throw off the audience with random ways the world is different. The entire premise of the show relies on Stuart and his friends not succeeding until the series is ready to end. In the meantime, I may as well lean into some of the biggest fictional styles and worlds that The Big Bang Theory was known to constantly mention during its run.
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