Chuck Lorre Ditches the Couch: Why "Stuart Fails to Save the Universe" Is Nothing Like The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory spent 12 seasons proving that a sitcom could thrive without ever leaving the living room. Characters came to that apartment, sat on that couch, made their jokes, and went home. It worked. It worked so well that the show became a cultural phenomenon. But Chuck Lorre, one of the creators who built an empire on that formula, got tired of it. Really tired of it.

In an unusually candid moment, Lorre revealed that he spent nearly 40 years writing variations of the same scene: a small group of people sitting together and trading witty banter. After decades of this, he reached a breaking point. He couldn’t write another couch scene. So he did something daring. He rejected his own playbook. The result is“Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,”which debuts on HBO Max tomorrow, July 24, and represents a complete reinvention of how a Big Bang Theory spin-off could work. Instead of static locations and familiar settings, characters get caught in a device malfunction that creates dimensional rifts, sending them careening through alternate universes filled with bizarre creatures and impossible scenarios. There are no couches. There’s barely a moment to catch your breath.

This is either the smartest move a creator has made in years, or it’s the moment Lorre finally outsmarted himself. What do you think? Is it time television moved beyond the sitcom couch formula?