WE CAN BE HEROES
WE CAN BE HEROES
THE THIRD SPIN-OFF SERIES FROM
THE BIG BANG THEORY
GOES FULL SCI-FI WITH A CAST OF ENDEARING MISFITS
WORDS: TARA BENNETT
EVEN YEARS AGO, THE BIG BANG Theory ended its 12-season run as one of the most popular multi-camera sitcoms of modern times. Created by writers Chuck Lorre (Two And A Half Men) and Bill Prady (Star Trek: Voyager), the series revolved around the everyday lives of a close-knit bunch of ultra nerdy Caltech scientists.
Though the show ended, its universe of characters kept going with two prequel sitcoms that dove into the family history of breakout character Dr Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) with Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. While sweet and family friendly, neither were created to appeal to the kind of geeks featured in The Big Bang Theory, or real geeks who weren’t fond of the original show’s broad comedy.
Lorre, Prady and Zak Penn (Ready Player One) aim to remedy that with their long-gestating sci-fi spin-off Stuart Fails To Save The Universe. Set after the end of The Big Bang Theory, this refreshingly weird setup elevates the former recurring character Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), deadpan owner of local hangout The Comic Center of Pasadena, to lead status in what amounts to a multidimensional time-travel series.
An early version of the series came to Lorre in 2019 as he was pondering a new show that would not include a live audience, but involve single-camera filmmaking. “But there was no interest whatsoever,” Lorre tells SFX.
Believing there was something yet to explore, several years later, Lorre enlisted Penn to help him figure out an actual story. Then the studios got interested. “I was late to the party figuring out that IP, intellectual property, has immense value to these corporations that we work for,” Lorre chuckles. “Suddenly, there was interest from Warner Bros in anything that had any relationship with The Big Bang Theory.”