The Kevin Sussman-led The Big Bang Theory spinoff has cast its fourth returning character from the original sitcom. Despite Young Sheldon’s end on CBS, Chuck Lorre and his collaborators are keeping the franchise alive with Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. However, as a direct spinoff of Young Sheldon, it has little connection to The Big Bang Theory, making the upcoming Stuart-centered project an exciting prospect. In addition to Stuart, the spinoff will also feature Bert Kibbler (Brian Posehn) and Denise (Lauren Lapkus).
Per Deadline, John Ross Bowie is joining the still-untitled Big Bang Theory spinoff from Lorre and Warner Bros. Television, reprising his role as Barry Kripke. Officially, the project has yet to be greenlit, but the outlet shares that for now, all cast members have already signed a WBTV holding deal with the intention of starring in the comedy. Similarly, specific plot details about the new Big Bang Theory spinoff are still under wraps, which will likely be the case for the foreseeable future.
What Kripke’s Involvement In The Big Bang Theory Spinoff Means For Its Story
Lorre Appears To Be Assembling The True Outcasts In The Big Bang Theory
Since the project is still in early development, it’s difficult to predict what The Big Bang Theory spinoff’s story is for now. That said, its casting choices offer an idea about what to expect. Currently, it’s safe to say that none of the main Big Bang Theory cast will appear as series regulars. It would have been difficult to get just a few of them involved without opening the show up for questions about the others’ whereabouts. Bringing familiar faces, particularly Stuart and Kripke, who weren’t members of the Pasadena gang but were also outcasts, suggests that the endeavor might tackle similar themes.
Aside from Lapkus, who joined The Big Bang Theory late, all three confirmed cast members for the new spinoff have arguably had worse social lives than Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj in the original series. At least the main group had their own circle of friends — something that Stuart, Bert, and Kripke didn’t have. They would join the group occasionally, but they weren’t exactly considered part of it. This gives Lorre and his writers an interesting launching pad for where they might want to take the upcoming Big Bang Theory franchise expansion.
Our Take On Kripke’s Return In Stuart’s The Big Bang Theory Spinoff
Kripke Is A Vital Addition To The Cast
How all four main characters of the new series come together is uncertain, since they were all just connected through their respective relationships with the Pasadena gang. Kripke and Bert can be connected, however, via both being employees at Caltech — at least up until The Big Bang Theory finale. Then, Stuart can join them through his connection with Bowie’s character. Whatever the case may be, the creatives behind the show need to find a way to bring them all together, and considering what was established in the old show, it seems like Kripke is the key to doing that.
Easily recognizable thanks to his speech impediment, some of The Big Bang Theory’s funniest moments involved Kripke.
Even if this isn’t the narrative route that Lorre follows when it comes to Kripke’s role in the show, having Bowie is still a massive get for the project. Despite his contentious relationship with Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory, he was one of its more entertaining side characters. Easily recognizable thanks to his speech impediment, some of The Big Bang Theory’s funniest moments involved Kripke. Whether that was him secretly pranking Sheldon or doing something truly baffling, Bowie was great in the role, and it’s exciting to know that people can spend more time with him moving forward.
What The Big Bang Theory’s New Spinoff Reveals About The Future Of The Pasadena Gang
A Lot Has Changed For The Pasadena Gang
The Young Sheldon finale featured a flashforward scene with older Sheldon and Amy. While the spinoff didn’t specify what year their scenes were supposed to be set in, their firstborn being already a pre-teen meant that the sequences were at least a decade and a half removed from The Big Bang Theory. It’s highly unlikely that Stuart’s show will be set at the same point in the franchise’s history. Instead, it will be more or less set in the present day. This will, unsurprisingly, raise questions about the Pasadena gang’s whereabouts during the events of the spinoff.
At this point, the only viable answer based on what’s known about it thus far is that Sheldon and his friends have moved on with their lives. This doesn’t mean that they are no longer friends, it’s just that they have other priorities to attend to rather than spending weeknights at Stuart’s comic bookshop. Maybe Raj moved out of California altogether — either to find a better job or a possible life partner. Arguably, explaining what happened to the Pasadena gang years after Sheldon won the Nobel Prize would be Lorre’s biggest storytelling challenge in creating The Big Bang Theory spinoff.
