The first official sequel to The Big Bang Theory proves, with its very premise, that one of Sheldon Cooper’s craziest theories was secretly right all along. At the height of its popularity, The Big Bang Theory pulled in an audience as big as HBO’s fantasy phenomenon Game of Thrones. The humble hang-out sitcom about a group of nerds from Pasadena was a genuine global pop culture phenomenon, so it was no surprise when The Big Bang Theory’s series finale proved to be far from the end of the franchise.
The Big Bang Theory’s first spinoff, Young Sheldon, lasted seven seasons and, while it couldn’t recapture the almost unprecedented success of its predecessor, the show was consistently the most popular sitcom on the air throughout its run. Young Sheldon then spawned its own spinoff, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, which maintained a massive portion of the prequel’s audience despite bringing back the original show’s divisive laugh track and multi-camera sitcom setup.
In 2023, the news that a sequel series was on the way was a little surprising, since it had only been four years since The Big Bang Theory’s original finale, but the announcement that this series wouldn’t feature any of the show’s original main characters was even more shocking. Instead, the ambitious sci-fi comedy series Stuart Fails to Save the Universe centers on Kevin Sussman’s Stuart, the owner of the gang’s local comic book store, and his love interest, Denise.
Stuart Fails To Save The Universe Proves Sheldon Was Right About The Apocalypse
Sheldon’s old enemy Kripke and his colleague Bert round out the cast of the spinoff as Stuart Fails to Save the Universe assembles a rogue’s gallery of characters who played a major role in The Big Bang Theory but were never promoted to series regular status. The premise of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe sees Stuart accidentally destroy the sitcom’s universe when he is left in possession of an experimental device created by Sheldon and Leonard.
This leads to a journey across the multiverse as Stuart attempts to undo the accidental apocalyptic events of the title. Of course, longtime fans of The Big Bang Theory will know that the new show’s central conceit owes a debt to the original show’s hero and his absurd emergency preparedness drills. As part of the infamous Roommate Agreement between Sheldon and Leonard, and later Penny, Sheldon reserved the right to create absurdly detailed catastrophic scenarios and then test his roommates on their ability to handle them.
Sheldon’s Emergency Drills Are One Of The Big Bang Theory’s Best Running Gags
Armed with safety vests, a hard hat, and a brutally loud klaxon alarm, Sheldon assaulted his housemates with a new emergency drill every three months, if not more often. In season 5, episode 15, “The Friendship Contraction,” some of the apocalyptic scenarios outlined by The Big Bang Theory’s breakout character include wildfires, an earthquake, and a surprise invasion of California by Canada.
Fittingly, considering how infamously arrogant the show’s protagonist always was, it seemingly never occurred to Sheldon that the apocalypse he imagined so many times might be caused by his own inventions. It remains to be seen whether Stuart Fails to Save the Universe will show viewers how Sheldon acclimates to the end of the world across its various multiverses, since the show’s creators remain tight-lipped about the prospect of comebacks from original characters.
On the one hand, bringing back the original cast of The Big Bang Theory would threaten to overshadow the new show’s heroes and could prove prohibitively expensive when the original show had one of the most highly paid casts on TV. On the other hand, seeing how The Big Bang Theory’s heroes cope in the multiverse of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe could be worth these risks for longtime fans.
- Release Date
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2007 – 2019-00-00
- Showrunner
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Mark Cendrowski
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
