Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Creators Tease How New Series Delivers The Big Bang Theory-Level Cameos

Across its twelve seasons and over 275 episodes, The Big Bang Theory delivered plenty of surprises to fans in the form of major celebrity cameos. In addition to appearances by the likes of Sean Astin, Christopher Lloyd, and Jerry O’Connell as specific characters in the show, it also brought in LeVar Burton, James Earl Jones, Mark Hamill, William Shatner, Carrie Fisher, and more to appear as themselves. With its upcoming spinoff series Stuart Fails to Save the Universe arriving this week, and taking on a drastically different tone and style compared to the original, fans may be expecting major cameos. The good news is that the team has figured out the formula for making them work.

Speaking with ComicBook in a new interview for the series, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe‘s co-creators confirmed that finding the celebrity cameos for each episode of the show came down to a simple idea: just asking. “Well, there’s something my mother used to say: ‘You don’t ask, you don’t get.’ So you ask,” Chuck Lorre said. “You pick up the phone and say, would you please consider. And you know, and you prepare it for a no. But every once in a while you make that phone call, and Danny Elfman says, yes. What a gift that was for our show.”

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Lorre went on to note that simply asking is the first step, but that sometimes finding the right person for a surprise role in the show is about making sure they’re actually the right one.

“Will it be funny? I don’t want to waste anybody’s time,” Lorre said. “If they come on the show, are they going to kill it? I mean, are they going to be ruthlessly funny? I want them to succeed so that, God willing, we get another season, they come again.”

Celebrity cameos aren’t the only surprise appearances that should delight fans across new episodes of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe. The series, like The Big Bang Theory, will also include references and jokes centered around the other characters and franchises that nerds love. Thanks to being under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella, that gives the franchise easy access to anything from DC, but other publishers weren’t as forthcoming.

“If you want to show something, there are lawyers involved,” Lorre said.

“Marvel wasn’t as challenging as Harvey Comics,” co-creator Bill Prady revealed. “They were very protective of Richie Rich, and there were a lot of conversations to find a sweet spot between something that made the joke work and something they were comfortable with. But we have no instructions from Warner Brothers to limit to things”

Lorre added, “Again, you ask. And sometimes the answer is ‘No, you can’t have Green Lantern.’”

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe will premiere its first episode this Thursday, July 23 on HBO Max, with new episodes every Thursday up through the season finale on September 24, 2026.

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