Apparently, The Big Bang Theory did more than create the universe. It also created a television franchise that refuses to stop reproducing. At this rate, scientists should quit studying the expansion of space and start measuring how far Chuck Lorre can stretch Pasadena.
First came Young Sheldon in 2017, giving us the childhood of a man who could turn choosing a seat into a constitutional crisis. Then came Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage in 2024, because even the title wanted to warn us against getting comfortable. By 2026, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe had arrived, putting the fate of existence in the hands of a man who often seemed barely equipped to survive a Tuesday.
Stuart even has an official companion podcast hosted by Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton. Technically, that is not another scripted spinoff, but I’m counting it as another item coming off the conveyor belt. Wil hosted a podcast on The Big Bang Theory, so this feels like the franchise finally found a way to pay him for something he was already doing.
I’m enjoying the ambition here, but I have a request. Can Penny and Leonard please have a show? We have explored Sheldon’s childhood, his brother’s marriage, and Stuart’s apparent qualifications for handling the apocalypse, yet I’m still waiting to see Leonard assemble a crib while Penny asks whether the baby really needs a peer-reviewed mattress.
Their relationship was one of the reasons I kept watching the original series. Leonard wanted the beautiful woman across the hall, and Penny gradually discovered that the little guy with the inhaler had something going for him. Watching them build a life together would give us a reason to return beyond seeing which familiar face emerges from a portal.
Of course, Stuart’s show is taking a considerably stranger route. Its central team consists of Stuart, Denise, Bert, and Kripke, supporting characters suddenly promoted to positions of enormous responsibility. This is roughly the equivalent of arriving at a hospital and learning that your surgeon is the fellow who usually validates parking.
Then there is the question of Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard. Why leave the people most likely to understand the machine out of the rescue party? My theory is that they created the device in the first place and would quickly solve the world’s problems simply by fixing it. So, the show would be over before it began.
Howard would inspect the hardware, Leonard would work through the physics, and Sheldon would spend forty minutes explaining why neither of them deserved credit. Somewhere in there, the universe would return to normal, whatever that is. Stuart would be left standing beside a perfectly functional machine, twiddling his thumbs, hoping just to be a part of something someday.
The creators have described the appeal of putting the wrong people in this situation, and Bill Prady has recently left the door open to Sheldon, Leonard, or Howard appearing next season. Apparently, even the missing geniuses may eventually get a turn at the factory. But that’s a tease, not a confirmation.
Stuart has already been renewed for a second season, but I haven’t found another confirmed standalone series waiting behind it. That gives the rest of us time to submit completely unsolicited ideas. Television executives love those, especially when they arrive from people eating cereal in front of the television.
Penny and Leonard would be my first choice, particularly with parenthood giving them fresh territory. Leonard could approach raising a child as an opportunity to correct everything his mother did, which would require several notebooks and possibly a grant. Penny could approach it as an opportunity to stop Leonard from reading those notebooks aloud to the child.
Imagine their kid coming home with a science assignment and asking Mom for help. Leonard would appear in the doorway so quickly that physicists would have to reconsider the speed of light. Then the kid could announce that Penny’s explanation made more sense, and we would have our season finale.
Raj deserves consideration, too. Give him a new city, a job at a planetarium, and a chance to build a life beyond watching his friends pair off. The man knows his way around the stars, so surely somebody can write him a route to a decent second date.
Howard and Bernadette could carry a family comedy as their children get older. Howard would want to be the cool dad, while Bernadette would want everybody to understand that being cool does not excuse leaving shoes in the hallway. Somewhere upstairs, a teenager would be explaining that Dad going to space is not a valid response to every argument.
Missy could also have a future of her own. Growing up as Sheldon’s twin gave her plenty of experience dealing with somebody who believed every room existed primarily to contain him. A show about her early adulthood could finally let her have the room, although I suspect she would immediately change the locks.
There are plenty of possibilities, and I’m not opposed to the franchise having fun with them. I would just like Penny and Leonard to get their turn before somebody greenlights a childhood origin story for the elevator. Although, knowing this factory, Young Elevator is probably already stuck between development and production.
