Stuart Fails debuts on HBO Max as a single-camera spinoff
HBO Max premiered "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe" on July 23, 2026, marking the streaming launch of a 10-episode spinoff of CBS's long-running sitcom "The Big Bang Theory." New episodes will be released weekly, with the premiere slot at 9 p.m. on Thursdays for the next 10 weeks.
Premise and production approach
The series follows comic-book shop owner Stuart Bloom, played by Kevin Sussman, who is tasked with restoring reality after breaking a quantum-interference device built by Sheldon and Leonard, an act that unleashes a multiverse crisis. Creators Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, and Zak Penn moved the franchise from a traditional multi-camera sitcom format to single-camera production to enable heavier visual effects, variable episode runtimes between 15 and 25 minutes, and stronger language and gore. Danny Elfman composed the theme song, and the opening credits change with each episode.
Cast and tone
Stuart is joined by girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus), geologist Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn), and physicist frenemy Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie). The premise sends the quartet through a different alternate reality each episode, ranging from a Kripke-led fascist regime to a Matrix-like world. Early reviews highlighted the show's inventiveness and visual ambition while noting uneven tone and episodic inconsistency, and described the result as a multiverse satire that is also a self-aware critique of the multiverse genre.
Other streaming premieres this week
Paramount+ added MGM+'s crime drama "The Westies," set in 1980s New York around a real-life Irish-American gang and starring Tom Brittney and J.K. Simmons, with new episodes on Mondays starting July 23. "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" launched its penultimate season on Paramount+ the same day. On July 26, AMC+ debuts the third season of "The Walking Dead: Dead City," reuniting Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in Manhattan. Prime Video is now streaming "Masters of the Universe," a sword-and-sorcery adaptation directed by Travis Knight, starring Nicholas Galitzine as He-Man and Jared Leto as Skeletor.
Upcoming TV calendar and orders
"Colin From Accounts" will end with its third season on Paramount+ on July 27. Hulu's "Futurama" returns for its 14th season on Aug. 3 with two episodes followed by weekly releases. Paramount+'s "The Challenge" premieres its 42nd season on Aug. 5. FX, FXX, and Hulu will air the 10-episode 18th season of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" starting Aug. 17. Amazon's Prime Video has ordered an eight-episode "Robocop" series. Disney+ ordered "Afterlife With Archie," a live-action series based on the zombie-themed comic book, for fall 2027. Chloe Fineman exited "Saturday Night Live" after seven seasons.
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