IR TV Review: STUART FAILS TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE - EPISODE 2 (“Zach’s In This One”) [Max]

After establishing the concept of the show in its first episode, the second ep “Zach’s In This One” of “Stuart Fails To Save The Universe” starts to show where it is going. The first episode showed an apocalypse with giant moths and Kripke as a ruler. The idea is that Leonard and Sheldon created a quantum mechanism that undid the universe is just the kind of story they would like to tell about themselves. Stuart (Kevin Sussman), the focus of this series, goes back somehow to see himself at the comic store (still running in the apocalypse) and sends him on a quest He and his trust geologist sidekick (Brian Posehn) jump into a new universe at the end of the first episode. With its stinger, its progression shows that everybody is smiling and nobody is allowed to be angry or they get zapped like Kirk in “Gamesters Of Triskelion”.

This series is made for fans of "The Big Bang Theory" and seems like a show those guys would watch. The great thing about the trio of characters here is they don’t always win and the comedy comes out of those problems. It also playing toward and against type which does happen at the end of the episode. Because this is single camera, producer Chuck Lorre can play with effects and the rules of reality are completely off here which allows him to play with form. As the 2nd episode ends the aspect that sticks is how much empathy the characters have. Kripke is obviously the villain of the three that happens to be along for the ride but you can’t hate him either. He simply wants to be liked but can’t control his sarcasm. B

By Tim Wassberg