Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Stuart Fails To Save The Universe episode "Spoiler: Bert Is Magic." Stream the episode with an HBO Max subscription and read at your own risk!
Stuart Fails To Save The Universe is being not shy about giving fans A-tier cameos, as Kaley Cuoco's Penny was the latest cast member from The Big Bang Theory to pop up in the spinoff. Of course, much like when Raj showed up to get killed off, this wasn't exactly the version of Penny we were expecting.
In this new universe, Penny served as a leader of the resistance in a world in which everyone had shock devices installed in the back of their necks if they were unpleasant or unkind. Penny's kidnapped Stuart, Bert, and Kripke, thinking they could help them stop the AI putting them in a surveillance state, but of course, they had no idea how to fix that. It was a great cameo, but not as great as the deep cut of Christine Baranski returning.
I Love That Christine Baranski Returned, But Was Surprised How
Baranski appeared back in The Big Bang Theory universe, but weirdly enough, she wasn't playing Dr. Beverly Hofstadter. While it felt like the stage was set for her to play Leonard's mom, she instead appeared as herself in a video meant for people in the AI's re-education center.
In it, she explained that this world was in turmoil, up until scientists created an AI to combat violence and unrest in humanity. Unfortunately, the AI killed its creators, and then more or less enslaved humanity into never misbehaving.
I do wonder why Stuart Fails To Save The Universe chose not to have Christine Baranski appear as Leonard's mother, but I guess it wouldn't have made sense to have his mother be the person hosting the re-education video. In any case, she was one of my favorite guest stars on The Big Bang Theory, even if she isn't as notable as some other major names.
I Can't Wait For The Next Big Bang Cameo
Stuart Fails To Save The Universe's co-creators may not want to do something like The Big Bang Theory again, but he sure isn't shy about featuring the former cast members in the new series. I'm all about it, and with Kaley Cuoco showing up in Episode 2, I do wonder who else could possibly show up in these upcoming episodes.
I Love Stuart Fails To Save The Universe Way More Than The Big Bang Theory
While we may not get Jim Parsons to appear based on his latest comments about The Big Bang Theory franchise, I'm holding out hope that the rest of the main cast will find their way into the series in some way before the end of Season 2. As fun as it is to see Stuart and his friends run around and get up to all these shenanigans, I fear it could just feel kind of empty if we don't get as many of the core characters in the series as possible.
That said, two episodes in, and Stuart Fails To Save The Universe has already impressed me with the premises it's setting up. I kind of expected the show to lean heavily on other popular franchises and riff on them a lot, and while I'm ok with a little bit of that, I'm also down for some zany original ideas as well. Fingers crossed we get more of that!
Stuart Fails To Save The Universe airs new episodes on HBO Max on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. ET, and critics largely like the show. I'm very excited for this upcoming episode that takes place in an anti-science and pro-magic world, and eager to see which cameo is next.
