• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, July 22, 2026

Unlike “The Big Bang Theory,” the premise of the new spinoff coming to HBO Max on Thursday can be described as physics in reverse.

Where “Big Bang” was built around two physicist roommates, the new spinoff -- “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” -- centers on another character from the show, Stuart Bloom.

In “The Big Bang Theory,” Bloom was a non-physicist who owned the comic book store frequented by the other “Big Bang” characters.

“Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” takes place after an unspecified apocalyptic catastrophe that may have been prevented by the two roommate physicists of “Big Bang” -- Leonard Hofstader and Sheldon Cooper.

They are no longer around. But Stuart is around and incapable of applying physics to fixing the world’s problems.

In “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” Stuart is nevertheless tasked with restoring the world to its pre-apocalyptic state using technology left behind by Leonard and Sheldon that Stuart cannot possibly understand.

The title of the show acts like a spoiler. Unless the series eventually comes to a conclusion with a finale in which Stuart does save the world, then Stuart will emerge as a post-apocalyptic Gilligan whose efforts to rescue civilization are doomed to fail. 

The first episode of “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” is enlivened by the appearances of four “Big Bang” characters besides Stuart, who is still played by Kevin Sussman.

Two of the four will be regulars on “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” -- geologist Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn) and Denise (Lauren Lapkus), former assistant manager at Stuart’s comic book store and a one-time love interest for Stuart.

“Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” opens in Stuart’s comic book store, which by some miracle is still intact, but grimy and bedraggled.

The shop even draws occasional customers, even though the Pasadena neighborhood outside is in ruins and populated by dangerous, ragged survivors.

Transactions are based on a barter system. At the outset of Episode One, Kibbler comes in to buy a rare Batman comic, and offers various canned foods to pay for it.

Two of them are name brands and possibly paid placements -- Dinty Moore Beef Stew and Fancy Feast cat food. Stuart accepts the cat food.

“Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” is the best apocalypse sitcom since “Last Man on Earth” on Fox (2015-18), starring Will Forte.

“Stuart” is also the third spinoff of “The Big Bang Theory” and the first to go exclusively to streaming.

The other two both became hits for CBS, long-time home of “Big Bang” -- “Young Sheldon,” which ran from 2017 to 2024, and “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” which premiered in 2024 and starts its third season this October.

With its “Big Bang Theory” pedigree and sitcom king Chuck Lorre and his team as producers, “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” will have a stellar run.

The Lorre team has created a great comedy in the midst of a post-apocalyptic world of chaos and violence, where life is cheap and dental floss sold in a boisterous outdoor marketplace is expensive.

“Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” starts streaming on Thursday (July 23) on HBO Max.

Photo from “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery. Left to right: Brian Posehn, Kevin Sussman, Lauren Lapkus and Tommy Walker.