Chuck Lorre Reveals No One Wanted to Make ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ (Exclusive)

[00:00:00]adventures. These characters go on a lot of them in this show. How did you decide which characters [music] from The Big Bang world would go along on this ride with Stewart?

[00:00:11]>> Well, it began with Stewart.

[00:00:13]I I had this strange idea that we could do an action-adventure comedy starring Stewart Bloom, the proprietor of the comic book store.

[00:00:24]And no one thought that was a good idea.

[00:00:28]No one.

[00:00:29]And I just put it away.

[00:00:31]And then a couple of years ago I I I I tried again.

[00:00:35]>> [music] >> And this time we we got a green light to do it.

[00:00:39]>> Why do you think now was the right time?

[00:00:41]>> Um I think there's a there's a a willingness to take a chance because of the IP, the intellectual property. Because it's [music] derived from The Big Bang Theory and The Big Theory was a really successful show.

[00:00:58]That there's a hope on on the part of Warner [music] Brothers and HBO that there's a there's some audience that will follow us that that will, you know, attract an audience of significance before we do any advertising or whatnot.

[00:01:17]So, that's that's the nature of of of what this business is now.

[00:01:23]Working from existing properties is deemed more risk-free. Although nothing's risk-free, but that's that's I think that's the thinking.

[00:01:33]>> He said that I'm the chosen one who'll set things right. But do we believe that guy?

[00:01:38]>> That guy was you.

[00:01:40]>> There's [music] this machine that can put everything right and make it the way it was.

[00:01:44]>> How would you describe this show and what old and new fans are in store for?

[00:01:52]>> Boy, describing this show is difficult.

[00:01:55]It is like nothing I've ever done before.

[00:01:58]I don't think anybody sees this one coming. It's It's It's over the top.

[00:02:03]It's very broad.

[00:02:05]It's farcical, I guess, in so many ways.

[00:02:08]Um There's action adventure sequences.

[00:02:12]Um there's all all sorts of, you know, computer graphic things going on that I could never had a chance to ever do with the shows I've done in the past.

[00:02:22]So, um it was a lot of fun.

[00:02:25]>> Well, that's got to be exciting for you.

[00:02:26]You know, to be doing something new for you.

[00:02:29]>> Yeah. I mean, for me, for almost 40 years, uh you know, uh high production value was two people on a couch talking. That was it. Now we're doing all these really cool computer-generated special effects with the same goal, though, which is, hopefully, to cause laughter. And that's the same goal as in a traditional sitcom, but uh this one's a bit a little bit more aggressive about it.

[00:03:00]>> I can't stay IN THIS UNIVERSE!

[00:03:03]>> OH, NO, THANK YOU.

[00:03:11]>> [groaning] [screaming] >> I'm bored.

[00:03:15]>> You're now on HBO. There's [music] no sensors. So, how does that open up the comedy in comparison to being on broadcast with The Big Bang Theory?

[00:03:25]>> Well, I I wrote the this the show with Bill Prady and and Zack Penn. And as we were writing it, we [music] kind of came to the same conclusion at the same time that it's kind of family-friendly.

[00:03:38]>> Mhm.

[00:03:39]>> So, [music] censorship We sent We didn't We didn't have to concern ourselves with censorship, particularly, because the tone of the show, the tone of the the relationship between the characters and the adventures they go on.

[00:03:52]Um didn't require us to push the envelope in terms of, you know, R-rated material or whatnot. There was a couple of moments we thought, I think we earned this moment.

[00:04:03]>> You earned the right.

[00:04:04]>> But over 10 10 10 and 1/2 hours of of episodes, it it it's as family-friendly as you can imagine. And uh and that was that was something we learned on the fly. We didn't necessarily go into it thinking you know, this is going to be a a PG kind of show, but it it is. You can watch it with your child.

[00:04:26]>> Stewart?

[00:04:27]>> Denise?

[00:04:28]>> What have you been up to?

[00:04:29]>> Robbing, mostly. Still working on my screenplay.

[00:04:32]>> There's that nostalgia factor, of course, bringing the OG fans, but this does stand alone.

[00:04:38]>> I hope so.

[00:04:39]>> How would you say this show is accessible to new fans, too? To welcome a whole new audience in, as well.

[00:04:47]>> I I hope it stands on its own. And one of the most wonderful things that happened with Young Sheldon on Netflix, when it arrived on Netflix, was it got a whole new audience that had never heard of The Big Bang Theory and and actually was the charming thing about talking to young young people who had watched Young Sheldon on Netflix, they'd never heard of CBS.

[00:05:10]So so, you know, it was really very encouraging that, you know, uh yes, the show could have has has a relationship with an existing series that was on on CBS for 12 years.

[00:05:25]But it wasn't reliant on it for Young Sheldon. So, I'm I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that might happen.

[00:05:32]>> Well, speaking of Young Sheldon and then, of course, Georgie and Mandy, do you think with this time travel element of it all that this team here with Stewart could maybe pop in to Young Sheldon and Georgie and Mandy?

[00:05:44]>> Wow, that would be a crossover. Yeah, I don't know. I know and we're >> be amazing by the way.

[00:05:50]>> are going to some very strange places.

[00:05:52]>> I'm you from another stream of reality.

[00:05:55]>> None of this is normal.

[00:05:58]>> If you turn the lights off, they don't bother you.

[00:06:00]>> What are the rules of these universes?

[00:06:02]>> Actually, there there are no we have to make them up as we go along. And but and each episode is in a different universe, a different reality. It's another stream of reality.

[00:06:14]And uh and they meet along the way characters we know from a another reality but are now entirely different. They're the the same person but they have lived a different life.

[00:06:26]>> Mhm.

[00:06:27]>> Um so we're getting, you know, 2.0 versions of characters we come to know from previous things and I I can't I can't mention who that might be.

[00:06:43]>> What's your plan?

[00:06:44]>> No, I don't really have one. I'm kind of new to the action genre.

[00:06:48]>> Stewart, of course, is such a fan favorite character. What do you think it is about him? His appeal? What is the secret to it?

[00:06:58]>> He's a beloved loser. You know, there's a great, I think, a comedy lineage of the, you know, of the this the sad sweet means well but can't help but stumble uh that kind of character.

[00:07:15]And uh and Kevin Sussman, you know, embodies that.

[00:07:19]He brilliantly embodied it on The Big Bang Theory as a failed artist who runs a comic book store and uh is his health is in question, his relationships are in question. You know, everything about his life is is is sort of not what you'd hope for.

[00:07:38]>> Mhm.

[00:07:39]>> And and there's something endearing about the man and I think that goes to the casting of Kevin.

[00:07:44]There's something endearing about him right out of the gate, so you're rooting for him, you know? You want him to succeed.

[00:07:52]And as the title of the show implies, he never will.

[00:07:55]>> My childhood has led me to this moment.

[00:07:59]>> Comic books are my superpower.

[00:08:02]>> That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

[00:08:03]>> Shall we?

[00:08:04]>> When you guys are putting together all of this, like I just talking to you now, I feel like there's like a sense of pride that you have.

[00:08:11]>> That we lived through this, >> [laughter] >> that we survived it.

[00:08:15]>> Just talk to me about just, you know, the nostalgia factor of all of this and and the pride that you have [music] and and the happiness working with this group of people and just being together again.

[00:08:26]>> Oh, it was really fun. Uh this was an opportunity to work again with Bill Prady, with whom I I co-created The Big Bang Theory.

[00:08:36]So, that that's been a a joy, and I I initially went to Zack Penn because Zack knows about big science fiction adventure stuff. He He He understands, you know? I mean, again, I I don't I know how characters can sit on a couch and talk. That's That's the level of my expertise. I don't know anything about the the film magic available now with, you know, computer graphics and AI and whatnot. So, so the three of us, you know, just we made a show we'd want to watch, you know? We made a show we'd want to watch, and and and when we stumbled upon something that seemed risky, and let's do it.

[00:09:20]>> Sign me up.

[00:09:21]>> Let's do it, you know?