The Big Bang Theory went off the air in 2019 after twelve very successful seasons and after making America fall in love with its quirky characters. Chuck Lorre has spent the years since turning the beloved sitcom into something closer to a cinematic universe.
There are now three spinoff shows. The remarkable part is that no two of them are remotely alike. One’s a single-camera coming-of-age comedy set in late-’80s Texas. One’s a traditional multi-camera family sitcom. And the newest, which premiered Thursday on HBO Max, is a multiverse science-fiction adventure. TV Guide put it plainly and aptly: “Big Bang Theory spin-offs are a varied bunch.”
That’s an unusually strange portfolio for an origin show that was originally about some brilliant guys who need to learn a thing or two (or many) about social cues, empathy, and romance. Here’s how the sequel shows actually stack up.
3. ‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage’ — the best-reviewed one
Montana Jordan and Emily Osment return as young parents in the CBS sitcom’s second season.
(Troy Harvey / 2025 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
I want to be upfront about the awkward part of putting this third: by the numbers, it’s the franchise’s critical darling. CBR notes that Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage holds an 89% score from critics, the best in the franchise, ahead of the flagship’s 81% across twelve seasons.
So why last? Because being well-executed and connecting deeply with a show aren’t necessarily the same thing. That said, I’m not saying this isn’t a good show. All three of The Big Bang Theory‘s spin-offs are exceptionally well done. This one just isn’t my top pick.
As its title implies, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage picks up with Georgie and Mandy as young parents in a Texas town, living with her parents. It’s a warm four-camera sitcom in the exact mold CBS has been perfecting for decades. Montana Jordan and Emily Osment have real chemistry, and they are fantastic in this show. Will Sasso and Rachel Bay Jones are also terrific. Nothing about it is bad. In fact, according to TV Insider, CBS renewed it for a third season going into CBS’s 2026-27 television lineup, and it’s looking like a promising season.
2. ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ — the biggest swing anyone’s taken here
Kevin Sussman leads the new HBO Max spinoff alongside Lauren Lapkus, John Ross Bowie and Brian Posehn.
(Promotional press photo, courtesy of Warner Bros. Television / Chuck Lorre Productions / HBO Max)
Then there’s a show I could have never imagined when watching The Big Bang Theory, yet it somehow works. Big, original, and quirky ideas were how we got the original show anyway.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe is a single-camera show built around the least likely lead in the entire universe: Kevin Sussman’s perpetually deflated comic-shop owner. The official logline, listed on Rotten Tomatoes, lays out that Stuart breaks a device built by Sheldon and Leonard which triggers a multiverse Armageddon, with the wry closer: “As the title implies, things don’t go well.”
Critics have gone to war over it. Gold Derby rounded up reactions spanning superhero triumph to “apocalyptically bad.” The AV Club called it “wilder, nerdier, and very uneven.” Over at Comic Book Club, it’s “one of the most bizarre spinoffs in TV history.”
The other half went the opposite direction entirely. CBR’s verdict on its most audacious element: “The different universes and opening credits are outlandishly magnificent.” TVLine concluded that the show “gives itself a reason to exist.” TheWrap signed off with the line “Stuart hasn’t failed in his mission at all.” And, in The Los Angeles Times, Robert Lloyd went further than anyone: “Next to the return of the doves to the backyard, nothing has made me happier recently than tumbling through the 10 episodes of the first season of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe.”
The aggregate sits around 71% on Rotten Tomatoes as of publication, still moving as reviews land. That’s the softest freshman number in the franchise.
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe reaches high. I’d still rather watch a show reach and miss than watch one refuse to reach. This is the franchise’s first move to streaming, its first direct continuation of the mothership rather than a flashback, and by a mile its first attempt at anything formally strange. Its finale was shot on the Warner Bros. soundstage officially renamed for The Big Bang Theory when the series wrapped, which is a lovely full-circle gesture.
1. ‘Young Sheldon’ — still the best, and it isn’t close
Young Sheldon is an irresistible pick for number one. As a child of the 1980s, I appreciate the show’s nostalgia, but that’s not why I love it.
Variety reported the series signing off in May 2024 as the most-watched new comedy of its debut season, the biggest broadcast comedy overall after The Big Bang Theory left the air, and the No. 1 comedy for five consecutive seasons. Also, per Nielsen data cited by TheWrap, Young Sheldon accumulated 174.307 billion minutes viewed across 137 episodes — the most of any comedy debuting in 2017-18 or later.
The trick Young Sheldon pulled was genuinely audacious in hindsight. It took the least emotionally available character in a broad multi-camera comedy, built a single-camera family drama around him, and then made the show fundamentally about everyone except him. Sheldon was the hook, but the whole family contributed a great deal to why it ran seven years.
It also did something remarkable the parent series never attempted, which was to let real grief into the room and decline to resolve it with a punchline. As someone grappling with my own grief, that meant a great deal to me. Anyone who watched the two-part finale knows precisely what I mean.
What this ranking says about where the franchise goes next
I think The Big Bang Theory has a legacy that’s in good hands. These three spinoffs with three completely incompatible formats are all very much worth watching. Whether HBO Max orders more of Stuart’s misadventures is an open question. However, for a sitcom that ended seven years ago, this universe is still very much expanding, and it still honors the risk-taking, geek-culture spirit of the original.
Would you rank the shows differently? Let me know. I also invite you to follow me on Yahoo for more takes on modern and classic TV shows.