‘I’ ON CULTURE
I was looking forward to the new HBO series Stuart Fails to Save the Universe since I was a fan of The Big Bang Theory and this is the third spin off from that very successful series. So far there have been a handful of episodes and they are, to put it mildly, very different from the norm. But it’s fun and a chance to visit with characters who became old friends. An added bonus is that some of the original stars have reappeared in different guises to push the reminiscences even further.
Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) is the owner of the comic book store where the leads of the original series spent much of their time. The big joke about his character was that he was even more of a dweeb than they were. In this new series, he and another occasional cast member Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn), a geology professor, are in the comic book store, looking at a rift in the space-time continuum when another Stuart appears and tells them that three of the original series regulars, Leonard, Howard and Sheldon, built a device to strengthen the walls of the universe but it reacted badly and ripped the hole that creates a gap between all the universes. Stuart has to fix it. Now he and Bert head to Caltech where the device is to get the job done. They run into Stuart’s girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus), who is with handsome Gary (Tommy Walker), since she had assumed Stuart was dead. Gary dies at the hands of the secret police. Obviously, a different universe. They find Raj (Kunal Nayyar), now a bearded crazy, and convince him to help. Raj is eventually shot by Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie), the comic bad guy from the original series, now the dictator in this universe. But Stuart, Bert, Denise and Barry use the device and wind up in another universe.
We see a series of different strange universes. In one, everyone has a special device built into the back of their head which short-circuits if you get mad, so everyone has to be “nice.” The guys are captured by rebels led by Penny (Kaley Cuoco), who plays against type as a real nasty who slaps them around. And in another universe, where magic is possible, Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) turns out to be quite different as well.
The gags work if you’ve seen the original series, as many of the actors get to play new roles. Actually, they play the same people, but each is different than we saw them in the original series. It might be a bit of amusing fun, but it really works for fans of the series. If you haven’t figured it out, it has become a guilty pleasure for me.
One of the extra bits of fun comes at the start of each episode as the writers more or less summarize what has happened and toss in jokes. Each opening is different and amusing. Chuck Lorre, the lead writer and producer, has joked that it’s a reaction to most shows that are streamed leaving the option open of skipping the credits. For this show, you’d also lose some laughs.
For science fiction fans, this is a real treat. We see all the changes in the universes. Chances are, the actors get a kick out of being different versions of themselves. The writers have taken Marvel’s multiverse to an extreme. Each universe is completely different from the previous one. People can appear and disappear, and then turn up as the same person but with a completely different personality.
Another feature of streaming is that the shows can be a different length. That means there’s far less filler than in many regular TV episodes. Also, thanks to having different universes, I will guess we’ll see other incarnations of some of the characters.
The acting is good, something we could expect since the performers have played the parts so often. Sussman is fine as the nerd and plays off Posehn really well. He is a befuddled everyman, while Posehn is unbelievably stolid. At least so far. Lapkus is a wonderful comedienne. She seems able to use her very mobile expressions to really make shifts in personality. Bowie is very good as the incredibly incompetent villain.
If you are a fan of The Big Bang Theory or even watched it a bit, I think you will enjoy this show.
If not, well, it is part of the HBO package, so no extra cost.
