Chuck Lorre is out of his element with the latest The Big Bang Theory spinoff in development, and he likes it that way.
“There’s a lot of CGI. There’s a lot of special technical stuff that — you know, for me in my career, a big production number was two people sitting on a couch, drinking coffee! This is different,” Lorre said while speaking of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe at the Banff World Media Festival on Monday per Variety.
“This is trying to incorporate some of that world of science fiction/fantasy into a comedy. And I’m completely out of my element, which is what I wanted,” Lorre continued. “Which is what I was hoping to do, something that I had no experience with. And maybe I can learn as we go.”
Actor Kevin Sussman will reprise his Big Bang Theory role as comic book store owner Stuart Bloom in Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, alongside Brian Posehn, who also appeared in the sitcom as Caltech geologist Bert Kibbler; Lauren Lapkus, who played Denise, the assistant manager of Stuart’s comic book store and Stuart’s eventual love interest; and John Ross Bowie, who will reprise the role of Barry Kripke, a fellow physicist at Cal Tech.
While the series is still very early in development and has not yet been officially picked up by HBO Max, Lorre revealed that he and Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady and screenwriter Zak Penn have already written 10 episodes. The show will serve as the third spinoff of the original CBS sitcom, following Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. The latter was recently renewed for a second season as part of CBS’ 2025-2026 prime-time schedule.
The oft-dubbed “King of Sitcoms” has made a name for himself as a prolific sitcom producer, having created or co-created shows such as Cybill, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, and Mom. While one might assume that Lorre has his finger on the pulse of what the industry thinks of TV comedies, he’s admitted that he actively tries to avoid that discourse and the ebbs and flows of what’s trendy.
“What the industry perceives of as viable is not — that’s none of my business, actually,” Lorre said during the summer 2024 TCA Press Tour. “I just I try and stay focused on doing stuff that I love and hoping people that — when I think something is wonderful, I hope people agree with me. I can’t guarantee it, but that’s the hope of it.”
He continued, “I try and pursue things that I’m excited about that I think are wonderful, that working with people that I love and admire and telling stories that I think are great stories to tell, and the potential of making people laugh is a wonderful thing to do. When you come home at night, did you make people laugh? That’s not a bad day.”The mega-producer echoed the sentiment while speaking about the “immensely gratifying” staying power of his beloved sitcoms almost a year later.
“These shows that we worked so hard on for so many years that we were so determined to make meaningful and funny at that same time, they seem to be sustaining over time, which is incredibly gratifying,” he said.
“And even more so, I meet people all the time who enjoy Young Sheldon and never watched The Big Bang Theory,” he added. “They didn’t even know it was a prequel, which is incredibly gratifying, because, when Steven Molaro and I started doing that, the hope was that it would stand on its own. That it would not be leaning against this 12 years of this other series. And it did, it became its own series, its own ensemble. That’s immensely gratifying. The idea is to make a to make a silicon chip instead of Kleenex, something that you can use it again.”
