Big Bang Theory spin-off Stuart Fails to Save the Universe lands series order at HBO Max

The Big Bang Theory franchise now comprises four titles

Warner Bros Discovery-owned streamer HBO Max, whose official rebrand came into effect on Wednesday, has ordered a sci-fi-influenced spin-off from hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe comes from creators and exec producers Chuck Lorre, Zak Penn and Bill Prady, and is produced by Chuck Lorre Productions in association with Warner Bros Television.

It follows a comic book store owner, Stuart Bloom (played by Kevin Sussman), tasked with restoring reality after he breaks a device built by Big Bang Theory characters Sheldon and Leonard, accidentally bringing about a “multiverse Armageddon.” Along the way, Stuart, his girlfriend Denise, geologist friend Bert and quantum physicist Barry Kripke meet alternate-universe versions of characters from The Big Bang Theory.

In addition to Sussman, the cast includes Lauren Lapkus, Brian Posehn and John Ross Bowie.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe represents the fourth entry in The Big Bang Theory franchise, following on from Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.

The greenlight came on the same day that Warner Bros Discovery changed the name of its flagship service back to HBO Max, after using the name Max for the past two years.

“Putting characters we loved from The Big Bang Theory into a complex science-fiction story with the kind of mythology that those characters love while maintaining the comedic elements is incredibly satisfying,” said Prady.

Lorre added: “I wanted to do something radical that would take me out of my comfort zone – something the characters on The Big Bang Theory would have loved, hated and argued about.”