Stuart Fails to Save the Universe HBO MAX 2026 - TV Quotes

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe: When The Big Bang Theory Goes Multiversal

The comic-book-store owner who could barely save his business now has to save reality itself.

For twelve seasons, The Big Bang Theory talked about physics, superheroes, alternate realities and practically every corner of geek culture imaginable.

Now the franchise actually dives into it.

And the person responsible for saving everything isn't Sheldon, Leonard, Howard or Raj.

It's Stuart Bloom.

Yes. That Stuart.

Created by Chuck Lorre, Zak Penn and Bill Prady, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is a science-fiction action-adventure comedy that premiered on HBO Max on July 23, 2026.

Kevin Sussman returns as Stuart alongside Lauren Lapkus, Brian Posehn and John Ross Bowie.

This time, however, Pasadena is only the beginning.

So... How Did Stuart End Up Saving the Universe?

The chaos begins with a device created by Sheldon Cooper, Leonard Hofstadter and Howard Wolowitz. When it is damaged, Stuart becomes responsible for preventing a potential “multiverse Armageddon.”

Joining him are Denise, Bert Kibbler and Barry Kripke—possibly the most unlikely universe-saving team imaginable.

Their journey throws them into an apocalyptic Pasadena, an AI-controlled society, a world where magic is real, a Matrix-style simulation, telepathic civilizations and even a reality where humans evolved from cows.

Because apparently normal science wasn't weird enough.

Stuart Enters a Comic Book

The strangest twist may also be the most appropriate.

The comic-book-store owner eventually becomes trapped inside a comic book.

Stuart and his companions enter the DC Universe, encounter Mr. Freeze and receive help from the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, whose cosmic treadmill may provide their escape.

After years of selling superhero adventures, Stuart finally gets to live one.

Unfortunately, superheroes tend to make surviving look much easier.

Meet the Multiverse Crew

Kevin Sussman as Stuart Bloom

The perpetually unlucky Comic Center owner finally becomes the hero.

Stuart remains awkward, insecure and spectacularly unprepared for saving reality—which is exactly what makes him such a fun choice for the lead.

He spent years surrounded by superhero stories.

Now he's living one.

Lauren Lapkus as Denise

Stuart's former comic-store assistant and girlfriend becomes one of his closest companions.

Their relationship also follows them across realities, including one where Stuart discovers that he and Denise are married with two children.

Apparently even during cosmic destruction, Stuart still has relationship problems.

Brian Posehn as Bert Kibbler

The lovable Caltech geologist gets an impressive upgrade when the group enters a world where magic is real.

There, Bert discovers that he is an extraordinarily powerful magician.

Apparently geology was only his calling in this universe.

John Ross Bowie as Barry Kripke

Sheldon's brilliant and irritating Caltech rival becomes an essential member of Stuart's team.

One alternate Kripke takes things considerably further—becoming a warlord controlling Caltech in an apocalyptic reality.

Somewhere in existence, Kripke finally got the authority he always wanted.

Familiar Big Bang Theory Faces Return

The series also brings back familiar characters—but not necessarily as we remember them.

Kunal Nayyar returns as Raj Koothrappali, including a version imprisoned in the apocalyptic world because of his scientific knowledge.

Kaley Cuoco returns as Penny, with one version becoming part of a resistance fighting an AI-controlled society.

Melissa Rauch's Bernadette gets perhaps the wildest transformation: she's a witch in the magical reality—and considerably more dangerous than she first appears.

Mayim Bialik's Amy Farrah Fowler appears as Stuart's psychiatrist in one world and later turns up again during the DC adventure.

Brian Thomas Smith's Zack Johnson becomes a resistance fighter, while Riki Lindhome's Ramona Nowitzki and an alternate Wil Wheaton also join the returning faces.

The multiverse essentially asks: What if the characters we know had completely different lives?

The Big Bang Theory Meets DC

The original sitcom constantly referenced DC superheroes.

This time, they're actually part of the story.

Eric Allan Kramer appears as Mr. Freeze, turning one of Stuart's beloved comic-book villains into a very real threat.

Andy Ridings plays Jay Garrick/The Flash, whose cosmic treadmill becomes crucial to the group's attempt to escape the comic-book world.

Stuart isn't selling superhero comics anymore.

He's trying to survive one.

Celebrity Cameos

The weirdness doesn't stop there.

Penn & Teller, “Weird Al” Yankovic and Neil deGrasse Tyson appear as themselves, while Jon Cryer plays Sherpa.

Perhaps the cheekiest appearance comes from Christine Baranski as herself—despite Big Bang Theory fans knowing her as Leonard's mother, Beverly Hofstadter.

Reality clearly has very flexible rules here.

Why Stuart?

This might be the most interesting part of the entire idea.

Sheldon is a theoretical physicist.

Leonard is an experimental physicist.

Howard went to space.

Raj is an astrophysicist.

Stuart...

owns a comic-book store.

For years, he was the awkward friend and frequent punchline standing at the edge of everyone else's adventures.

Now he has the biggest problem imaginable:

Save the multiverse.

There's something wonderfully comic-book-like about giving the background character his chance to become the hero.

A Very Different Big Bang Theory

Chuck Lorre described the series as a “science fiction action-adventure comedy,” deliberately moving beyond his familiar sitcom territory into special effects and computer-generated worlds.

And that's what makes the spin-off interesting.

The Big Bang Theory spent years celebrating geek culture.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe actually throws its characters inside it.

And somehow, Stuart Bloom—the man who struggled to keep his comic-book store alive—is now expected to keep reality itself alive.

Considering Stuart's luck...

What could possibly go wrong?

SEASON 1

EP 01 Spoiler: Gary Dies

"I don't know. I'm not a quantum physicist.

I went to the Rhode Island

School of Design."

-Stuart

"I would've used the GPS on my iPhone,

but civilization seemed to have collapsed."

-Stuart

"Yeah, same pasty face

and same whiny voice.

It was like looking in a mirror."

"I wish it was Voldemort.

That's a guy you can reason with."

"Mercy? I am nothing if not merciful.

Troubadours sing of my mercy!"

-Barry

"I suppose we have time

for a wittle backstory.

I apologize.

You guys have heard this before.

When everything went screwy and civilization as we know it cowapsed, a vacuum of weadership was created here at the university, and as we all know…

Nature abhors a vacuum?

Wight-o. So, I seized power, got all the food, the guns, and the girls.

Yeah, end of backstory."

-Barry

"Were you not wistening?

I… I got all the girls.

By the way…are you… you seeing anyone or…"

-Barry

"You move on, you meet someone new,

and they get eaten by a moth on your honeymoon."

-Raj

"Most people underestimate

the mighty force that is geology."

-Bert

"Is the choice still sex with you or death?"

-Denise

"Slow down, champ. I'm still grieving."

-Denise

"Wats, my weign has ended."

-Barry

EP 02 Spoiler: Zack's in This One

"Unbelievable.

No more mutants.

No more giant moths."

"I lost my hawem."

-Barry

"It was all consensual.

Sex for food."

-Barry

"I can't believe I lost the love

of my life and I get you."

-Stuart

"Well, now, there are two possibilities.

One, the world we were just in no wonger exists, in which case

I did not "kill Waj."

Two, that world and this world are part of an infinite number of worlds, in which case I killed one

of an infinite number of Wajs.

Mathematicawy, a wounding error."

-Barry

"You killed the one guy that knew

how to use the damn thing."

-Stuart

"Like where humans

are a meat source

for a highly evolved

wizard people?"

-Bert

"A giant floating obelisk with

no apparent means of propulsion?"

-Bert

"I think what we're looking at

is your classic

totalitarian dystopia

with a dollop

of mind control surveillance."

"Anyway, the device has torn

the fabwic of weality,

possibly causing

the universe to cowapse

- and then weegwo."

-Barry

"Denise, you and I

are destined to be together,

and I have come

from a parallel universe

uh, to claim you."

-Stuart

"So, you're like a running joke

- in all this, aren't you?"

-Stuart

"She's only unhappy

when she's sober,

and that's not very often."

-Gary

"Okay. What kind of crazy

upside-down world is this?"

-Stuart

"And boy, oh, boy, did they!

Well, not so much them, but the AI they built.

Shortly after it turned on its creators,

- brutally killing them all the AI implanted

electronic punishment devices in everyone's brain stem.

-Beverly

"Furious, and honestly,

a a wittle turned on."

-Barry

"Yeah, it'll just get us

out of your

happy-go-fascist universe.

Besides, we don't really know

how to use it.

We have some theowies.

So, wait, none of you know

how to defeat the AI overlord?"

-Barry

"We've landed in a universe

where magic is real."

-Stuart

EP 03 Spoiler: Bert Is Magic

"His universe,

which was supposed to be my universe."

-Stuart

"But if you were supposed to have been him,

then how could he have existed

to tell you that?"

-Denise

"Okay! Yep.

I see what your problem is.

You're confusing the you and I

that you remember

with the you and I that I remember.

Easy mistake."

-Stuart

"A wonderful story

to tell our grandchildren."

-Stuart

"This version of you is an alcoholic.

I'm not an alcoholic."

-Stuart

"I can quit anytime I want."

-Denise

"Okay, I guess I'll be here selling…

whatever the hell this is."

-Stuart

"I don't need magic in the bedroom.

I'm a good listener."

-Bert

"Hey… Check this out.

In a universe of magic,

what are the comic books?

Dr. Strange Colorectal Surgeon.

It's a great story.

He does a bowel resection."

-Stuart

"Stuart, the people here

think science is evil."

-Barry

"Bert will be fine,

and you can always get

a new Denise in the next universe.

They're a dime a dozen."

-Barry

"She's got a little problem with the sauce,

but so did my mom.

Maybe that's why

I'm finding her so attractive."

-Stuart

"If this universe doesn't obey

the waws of physics,

then maybe we need magic."

-Barry

Well, the Stuart I know, he was kind of a wimpy guy.

And then this Stuart comes in and he's like, he's taking me from universe

to universe, you know.

And sometimes he loses me, but he always finds me.

He always finds me.

But it's a different me.

Totally different. But still love, right?'

-Denise

"Have you or a loved one been injured

by a defective spell

or faulty incantation?"

-Abramowitz the Grey.

"I'm kind of busy, but okay.

Excuse the mess. I gave up giving a shit.

So, what's up, buttercup?"

-Bernadette

"Well, this is gonna sound crazy,

but we've got this machine

that allows you to travel

between alternate universes."

-Stuart

"And we just need a wittle abwacadabwa

to jump-start the damn thing."

-Barry

"Sorry to disappoint you,

but I'm all out of abracadabra."

-Bernadette

"Better dental, residuals for eternal spells.

It's ridiculous.

We were out for six months, and basically,

everyone got a handful of magic beans."

-Bernadette

"My neighbor's son had a dog.

A little rescue. Adorable.

Called him Chocolate Chip because he kind of looked like a cookie.

Anyway, he ran out into traffic and a car hit him.

Then another car.

Then another one.

- Then another one."

-Bernadette

'They worship me.

See the really pretty one?

- I got to first base."

-Bert

"Oh, she can be a little bitchy.

I wouldn't call her a demon."

-Stuart

"Okay, I have no time for this.

It is the ruling of the guild

that you have enabled a demon,

and therefore, you must be destroyed."

-Wil Wheaton

"Well, let's see. Bert's magic,

Kripke's a penguin.

Hey.

And Wil Wheaton's mad

'cause I gave blood to Bernadette."

-Stuart

EP 04 Spoiler: Stuart Makes a Wallet

"I know it sounds crazy

but Penny was like

some kind of, uh, revolutionary

guerrilla leader,

uh, fighting against

this AI government thing

that put chips

in everyone's neck."

-Stuart

"That's a that's a completely

different ball of wax."

-Stuart

"After civilization collapsed,

there wasn't a big demand

for neurobiologists.

Rat farmers, sure, you know?"

-Stuart

"Not just different,

a good universe.

You know, without giant moths,

or evil demons."

-Stuart

"It means a vague time

in an unspecified future."

-Amy

"Oh, "never" is not a word

we use around here.

It can be upsetting."

-Amy

""We"? Are you

on these drugs too?"

-Stuart

"Oh, it is. I converted.

I met a girl online.

We did the whole thing,

you know, the classes,

the ceremony.

Then she goes back to her ex.

I don't know what to say."

-Bert

"Whose idea was it to name them

Jaden and Talia?"

-Stuart

"I'm gonna go now.

Bye! If any of my friends

lose their marbles,

I'll send 'em here."

-Stuart

" Just checking.

"Big" is a, uh, great adjective.

Unless you're talking about

a suspicious lump."

-Stuart

"Oh, uh, help me out.

Am I down-to-Earth famous,

or more asshole famous."

-Stuart

"Wooks wike they didn't tighten

all the scwews there."

-Barry

"Don't strain.

Remember, that's how Elvis died."

-Denise

"Doesn't bother you

that everything seems perfect?"

-Stuart

" Exactly!

When have my dreams

ever come true?"

-Stuart

"Oh, man. I wiked it there.

I mean, I was homosexual,

but my husband

was a weal wooker."

-Barry

EP 05 Spoiler: Gary Works for UPS

"When you say "sweep with,"- do you mean sex?"

-Barry

"We say "unicorn,"

but we don't have unicorns."

"They belong to me.

I went to Foot Wocker

and waited an hour

for the idiot kid

to find my size. Mine."

-Barry

"Look for a hut in a neighborhood

with good schools?"

-Denise

"They were projections

from a malevolent force

keeping us enslaved

in a false reality."

-Stuart

"Don't people in Pasadena

look for signs and omens

in animal droppings?"

-Barry

"Now, I know you're

all charmingwy iwiterate

but this is a wetter,

the wetter "K,"

as in "keep your hands off

Kwipke's bowl.""

-Barry

"You can get over her,

twicky without porn.

You can convince her

to cheat on the other guy,

but for that, you weawy need

a car with tinted windows.

And finawy,

you figure out a way

to get wid of the other guy.

Like send him on a journey?

Yeah, or maybe he, uh,

- falls off a cwiff."

-Barry

You see the size of that guy?

So what? These people don't hit.

They don't fight.

It's like you had a TV show

called Land of the Pussies."

-Barry

"I'm a certified minister

of the Universal Life Church.

Which doesn't exist

in this universe

and is bullshit

in the one it does.

Well, fine. You walk over there

and tell your best friend

that he's not entitled

to a little bit of happiness."

-Barry

EP 06 Spoiler: Corn Is Delicious

"Setting aside the fact that

"you're eating my ficus"

sounds dirty,

you're eating his ficus."

"How could

we be descended from

cows?"

"Every rose

has thorns, Stuart.

Hmm. I wonder

what a rose would taste like."

"Corn? You trying

to fatten us up?"

"I would run a comic book store,

you'd work with me,

Bert would be a geologist,

and Kripke'd be an asshole.

Mm, asshole's more of a hobby

than a vocation."

"I've always imagined

this moment,

but with less vomit in my mouth."

-Denise

"I did. You made me moo.

I think

it's the vegetarian diet.

I'm more peppy."

"We did pretty good

in those other universes.

I had sex in three out of five

of them, and granted,

one was with Gary,

but he's a very genewous wover."

-Barry

"Think you got one more moo

in you?"

"I am a world-wenowned physicist.

- I am perfectly capable

of traversing

interdimensional wealities."

-Barry

"We're falling

to our death eventually.

Or not."

"Really?

You screamed that the universe

is coming to an end

to the lady that answers

the phone at the White House

and she didn't

take you seriously?"

-Stuart

"I'm not pwaying 20 questions

while we're falling

through an endwess void."

-Barry

"We decided to stay here.

It's great. I don't have

to save the universe.

I can just chew

my frickin' cud."

-Stuart

"I'm a projection

from a collapsing

adjacent reality.

Does that sound like someone

who has a manager?"

-Stuart

"Denise, I'm not a hero.

I'm a broke-ass failed artist

who owns a comic book store.

In fact, I'm such a failure,

in every universe we go to,

I own a comic book store."

-Stuart

"Stuart, this is your decision.

I just think anyone

can be a hero

if they're trying to make life

better for other people.

And as you pointed out,

this would be all people

who exist or ever will exist,

in every possible universe."

-Denise

"There are no bad situations

as long as I'm with you."

-Denise

"Sort of

an interdimensional taint?

Think of it like being stuck

between the balls

of one universe

and the asshole of another."

EP 07 Spoiler: Dexys Midnight Runners Get a Royalty Payment

"The pool scene

where she takes her top off.

So hot.

Sexuality exists on a continuum."

-Bert

"Weird that Kripke's thoughts

have a speech impediment."

-Bert

"Wook at me, PhD from Stanford,

and I'm taking orders from a guy

who wuns a comic book store."

-Barry

"Look at Denise

looking at me taking charge."

-Stuart

"I'm not really checking again.

Just trying to be polite."

"No problem. I'll be here.

Until I drop dead,

because I married a drummer,

and this is the only way

we have health insurance."

"I'd wike to take her home,

wip her cwothes off

and finish prematurely,

then cwy wike a baby

when she gets in a cab and weaves."

-Barry

"My married name

is Bernadette Asshole."

-Bernadette

"I'll tell you what happened, Sasquatch.

I had an alcoholic mother

try to live out her dreams

by dressing me up,

shoving me in beauty pageants,

feeding me diet pills to keep me skinny,

all so I could become

Miss California Quiznos 1999."

-Bernadette

"Here I am, teaching pampered

little maggots how to tap,

which is pointless,

since the only dancing

they're ever gonna do

is on the pole."

-Bernadette

"All right, future eating disorders,

let's get back to work."

-Bernadette

"This is dumb. I can't do this.

Two yoga classes and, suddenly,

I'm Deepak Chopra"

"I haven't had a good bowel movement

since the cow world.

All this universe hopping

can't be good for my digestion.

It's basically travel,

and that's always rough

I had chili on a hot dog, and I thought,

"This is crazy."

But it's not crazy 'cause it's good."

"The Stuart from the other universe

didn't trust the first Stuart,

so he also sent a Stuart

from another universe on the same mission

as a failsafe."

EP08 Spoiler: We’re as Confused as You Are

"Checking out my horse business.

Impwessive, wight?"

-Barry

"They died how they lived,

reading comics they didn't pay for.

Rest in peace, fellas."

"I have a responsibility

to repair, you know,

the infinite totality of everything."

-Stuart

"Damn me for falling in love with a hero."

-Denise

"So, what you're calling desertion,

cowardice in the face of the enemy,

is actually us trying

to bravely restore order

across all universes."

EP 09 Spoiler: We Couldn’t Get Green Lantern

"It's hard to respect you

when you say

such idiotic things."

-Trevor

"I'm frozen for all eternity

with my ass sticking out?"

-Stuart

"You're making

a gender-based assumption.

When has an omnipotent

swirling bowl of shit

ever been a girl?"

"Can we please chat

about this when I'm able

to reach down

and scratch my balls?

"My sad, miserable childhood

has led me to this moment.

Comic books are my superpower."

-Stuart

"Batman won't help you.

He's just a rich asshole

with dead parents."

"At the wisk

of sounding wedundant,"

-Barry

"So just get Superman?

There's no way

we can get Superman.

He's an A-list character.

The Flash, on the other hand,

very gettable."

"You might find this interesting.

Gotham's airport is named

after DC comic writer

Archie Goodwin."

"I don't get it.

We're in an action-packed

comic book.

How is sitting for hours

in an airport a story?"

"Not today, Mr. Freeze.

Gutter ball.

We should keep running

for our lives."

"I'm confused.

Mr. Freeze is a Batman villain.

Flash should be fighting

Captain Cold."

-Stuart

"We're not background characters

anymore.

When Mr. Freeze showed up,

we became the "A" story,

which caused the Flash

to find us."

"A tornado is hurling

Mr. Freeze into space!

Holy cow! This is amazing."

"Does he talk comic books in the boudoir?"

"Actually,

this version of the Flash

gained his super speed

by inhaling radioactive vapors

while taking a smoke break."

"You want ridiculous?

You fought

against Captain Boomerang,

Captain Cold,

and Captain Nazi.

Hey, those were all

formidable enemies.

Boomerang kept coming back."

-Stuart

"Oh, great. Let them have it

so I can park my car

in the damn garage."

-Amy

"I see your rollerblades.

What are your rollerblades doing

in my secret closet?"

-Jay

"I don't know. What's your cosmic

treadmill doing in the garage?"

-Amy