‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ Bosses and Cast Explain Why Stuart Is the Perfect Hero
For years, Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) lived on the sidelines of The Big Bang Theory, struggling to keep his comic book store afloat, enduring one disaster after another, and somehow surviving it all. That underdog quality is exactly what makes him the perfect unlikely hero for Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. If the fate of the multiverse has to fall into someone’s hands, why not the guy who’s spent his entire life being underestimated?
According to cocreators and exec producers Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady, and Zak Penn, that is the exact reason why the shy comic book store owner and the Big Bang Theory auxiliary team — Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn), Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie), and Stuart’s girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus) — work so well as heroes.
“I think because they are the B-team. I mean, the characters that you identify with are not the ones that are incredibly heroic. I say, nobody loves a martyr, you know? With some exceptions…,” said Lorre with a laugh.
“I just think it’s natural, and particularly in a comedy, that you want characters who are underdogs who are at the center of your story,” he explained.
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Stars Sussan and Lapkus also believe that Stuart and his gang work as heroes because they’re not fearless superheroes; they’re everyday schmoes who try to do the right thing.
“I think there’s a weird paradox where on the one side — I can’t believe I started a sentence by saying it’s a weird paradox… it sounded very smart,” said Kevin Sussman in a very Stuart-esque manner. “On the one hand, they’re like the last people that should be trusted with the fate of the universe, but on the other hand, both of them are comic book nerds, and they know the fictitious worlds in which they wind up having to navigate.”
“We just want to be in our cozy little nerd cave, but at the same time, they are equipped to deal with the craziest stuff that winds up happening to them,” added Sussman.
“It’s so exciting,” said Lapkus. “I think you know any actor wants that to happen, but you don’t really know that it would, or think that it would, or something. So, it’s very exciting, but I think also one thing that I enjoy about it is that thinking back to being on The Big Bang Theory, because I was popping in just here and there, I had more nerves then than I do now. I think when I’m playing a role in somebody else’s world, I’m a little more nervous and want to achieve whatever they want to happen. Because we get to kind of be at the center of it, we can do what we want to do it.”
With the gang now at the center of the story instead of dropping in for the occasional scene, the cast found themselves digging deeper into characters they had spent years playing on the sidelines.
“I feel like we fleshed them out more on this show,” said Posehn. “I would never say [they are] one-dimensional, but they were more traditional sitcom characters, and they’re thrown into a different situation where you have to react to things. Like in those old shows, we never screamed, we were never terrified, we never went through all these emotions, but on this show, we had to, so it’s already different.
“Having spent a little more time with Kripke, I’m a little more forgiving of him, I think. You know, I’ve always sort of admired the guy’s lack of filter, but it was fun to watch him fear for his life,” said Bowie.
Watch the video interview above.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, Series Premiere, Thursday, July 23, HBO Max
