The Big Bang Theory lasted for a whopping 12 seasons before wrapping on network TV. It’s so far spawned three spinoffs: two prequels and a zany sci-fi spectacular on HBO Max. It’s the latter that was a big swing for TV vet Chuck Lorre on the 2026 TV schedule, and he recently admitted Stuart Fails To Save The Universe “scared” him to death.
The longtime TV creator, who is also behind such big shows as Two and a Half Men and Mom, has a track record for creating successful sitcoms in particular. A lot of those shows have laugh tracks and a similar joke stride in common, but he’s also taken risks with more dramatic projects like The Kominsky Method, too. So I was a little surprised when he admitted to THR that Stuart Fails To Save The Universe scared him. A lot.
Yeah, it worked. It was a big swing. I was really scared to death.
You’d think with a number of successes under his belt he’d be more confident about trying something a little more out there. However, “a little” might be generous. If you’ve watched an episode of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe you should already know it picks up where Bang left off, but the plot is zany, and most reviews noted the big tonal swing from the other three shows in the Big Bang universe. There was no guarantee people who watched the original or either of the prequels would be into this.
It’s good to be scared to death. Scared to death means you’re taking a chance. It was a big risk to do a somewhat high-budget little movie every week using technology I had no familiarity with—none. I had no idea how this was going to work, and somehow it did.
So it sounds like the unknown is really what scared Lorre in his case. There was the risk of doing the show on HBO and not CBS. There was apparently –which I did not realize – a much bigger budget to manage. Of course, he doesn’t expressly state this, but I’d assume the worry would be the show is so tonally different and Big Bang fans wouldn’t be a built-in audience, too.
No one enjoys failure, but without the willingness to take a risk, we never would have known The Big Bang Theory universe could be something completely different than what came before.
Chuck Lorre Really Did Take A Risk
Given it can and has been polarizing for some audiences, I get the fear. In fact, I keep thinking about the fan on Reddit who compared it to Legends of Tomorrow.
This s–t reminds me of Legends of Tomorrow. You'll either love it or you'll hate it. There isn't any room for in-between. This show is absolutely coke-fueled absurdity.
Others have used terms like “weird good” and “stupid good,” which is closer to my own feelings. Of course, now the wild Season 1 finale is already out and Season 2 is already being worked on, Lorre can doubtless breathe a sigh of relief. It worked well enough that the cabler is asking for more, and it seems like at least a wide swath of people have checked it out with their HBO Max subscription. This never would have happened if Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and co. hadn’t taken a shot in the dark.
