Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe season 1, episode 2, “Spoiler: Zack’s in This One.”Stuart Fails to Save the Universe upends one of the franchise’s core relationships.
Across The Big Bang Theory‘s 12 seasons, Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) evolve from friends and neighbors to dating and, eventually, marriage in an arc that is central to the original show. However, the two characters are not together in the universe featured in episode 2 of the franchise’s latest spinoff, where Penny is the ruthless leader of a revolution against a tyrannical AI.
In an interview with Deadline, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe co-creator Bill Prady explains that Penny and Leonard aren’t together in this universe because each one gives the characters a different history. None of their original history has carried over to this universe, with this being a version of Penny who had “no Cheesecake Factory in her life” and who has learned to survive and fight back against an evil AI at any cost. Meanwhile, it’s unconfirmed what this universe’s version of Leonard is doing. Check out Prady’s comments below:
Because that’s what happened in that universe, we don’t know what Leonard is doing in that universe. Every universe gives every character a completely different history. There’s no continuity because they lived a different life, they lived in a different world. That Penny lives in a world where an evil AI controls people through shock collars, and so she had a completely different experience.
With Stuart Fails to Save the Universe being a science-fiction comedy series that fully embraces the multiverse, the show is not beholden to the continuity of The Big Bang Theory and is able to explore drastically different versions of familiar characters. Since each episode travels to a different universe, other variants of Penny could potentially appear in future episodes, and be nothing like the woman who ends up with Leonard or the revolutionary leader.
Per these rules, episode 1’s Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) is not the same as the Raj from the original show, nor are the versions of the spinoff’s main characters, as they are not the Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman), Denise (Lauren Lapkus), Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn), and Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie) from the universe that The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage take place in.
Given how different in genre and tone this show is from its predecessors, reactions to the spinoff have unsurprisingly been mixed. In ScreenRant‘s Stuart Fails to Save the Universe review, Ana Dumaraog gives it four out of 10 stars and writes that the series is “a disjointed show that doesn’t effectively entice people to be invested in Stuart and his crew’s story. Jokes don’t land for the most part, and without the physicality of being in a multi-cam setting, it’s all the more obvious.”
The overall reception on Rotten Tomatoes is more complimentary, with a “Certified Fresh” 74% critics’ score based on 39 reviews and an 81% audience score based on more than 100 ratings. Many reviews praise the series for fully leaning into its bold premise and being a refreshing change of pace for the franchise, while others express frustration over the lack of investment and narrative cohesion due to each episode going to a different universe.
In addition to Stuart Fails to Save the Universe season 1, the franchise is also continuing on with Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage season 3, which is set to premiere on Thursday, October 8 at 8:00 p.m. ET on CBS. The network television spinoff is a more traditional sitcom acting as a Young Sheldon sequel and a The Big Bang Theory prequel, all while being set in the franchise’s main universe where previous continuity must be maintained.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe releases new episodes Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET on HBO Max.
- Release Date
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July 23, 2026
- Network
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HBO Max
- Directors
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Kyle Newacheck