“The Big Bang Theory,” the CBS sitcom about a bunch of nerds and a girl who hangs out with them for some reason, which was created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, is still one of the most popular half-hour comedies in recent memory. Long after it wrapped up its original run in 2019 after 12 seasons and the same number of years, people are still tuning into “The Big Bang Theory” on HBO Max (its exclusive streaming home as of this writing). It’s also spawned a series of spin-offs, which isn’t all that surprising. Are they all worth watching, though?
Your mileage may vary, and drastically. I’m not going to pretend that “The Big Bang Theory” is my all-time favorite sitcom, but I also won’t pretend that the show doesn’t have its charming moments and doesn’t feature a pretty incredible cast, nearly all of whom have produced some stunning post-“Big Bang” work since 2019 to boot. As I write this, there are three spin-offs of “The Big Bang Theory,” bringing the total number of shows in its small-screen universe to four — so which one reigns supreme, and which is the worst of the bunch?
4. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
Technically, the CBS sitcom “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” is a spin-off of a spin-off; both George “Georgie” Cooper Jr. (Montana Jordan) and his eventual wife Mandy McAllister (Emily Osment) began their narrative on “Young Sheldon.” We’ll return to that prequel eventually, but first, let me be clear: “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” is a dreadful, mean-spirited slog that’s honestly unbearable to witness. “Georgie & Mandy,” obviously, centers around the titular couple’s first marriage — it started airing in 2024 and is still running, so as I write this, we don’t know what brings an end to said marriage — and also brings Mandy’s parents Audrey and Jim (Rachel Bay Jones and Will Sasso) into the mix, chiefly because Mandy and Georgie live with them as they raise their daughter CeCe.
Despite game guest appearances from “Young Sheldon” stars Zoe Perry and Annie Potts (reprising their roles as Mary Cooper and Connie “Meemaw” Tucker), among others, “Georgie & Mandy” is laboriously paced, full of dated and awkward jokes, and saddled with a laugh track that has no place on any sitcom, network or otherwise, in the mid-to-late 2020s. Not a single character feels like a real human with any interiority, and it’s honestly sort of embarrassing that a show with this poor level of quality is even airing on television. That said, it’s a huge ratings juggernaut, so what do I know?
3. Stuart Fails to Save the Universe
When I first heard about the HBO Max series “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” — the only non-prequel spin-off to “The Big Bang Theory” thus far — I got my hopes up, and I did so on the record right here at /Film. To be fair to Past Nina, I wasn’t totally delusional. Not only did the HBO Max of it all suggest more creative freedom than any show in “The Big Bang Theory” yet (all of the rest originated on network TV, which is much more restrictive), but the concept, in which beleaguered and constantly downtrodden comic book owner Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) found himself in a multiversal battle to save the larger universe, seemed solid. Add in comedy powerhouses like Lauren Lapkus, John Ross Bowie, and Brian Posehn returning to reprise their “Big Bang Theory” roles as Denise, Barry Kripke, and Bert Kibbler, and I thought showrunners Zak Penn and Chuck Lorre had a hit on their hands.
Unfortunately, the reality of “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” was more of a fail than a pass. Sussman is a genuinely hilarious performer — honestly, all of them are — but stocking a show with secondary and even tertiary “Big Bang Theory” characters just doesn’t really work in practice, and the narrative’s constant zigs and zags turned out to be more frustrating than fun. Maybe the show can course-correct in its confirmed second season, but as it stands, it’s just not the best “Big Bang Theory” show.
2. Young Sheldon
On some level, it makes me feel absolutely insane that Chuck Lorre — at least, this is how I imagine it — walked into the CBS offices one day and pitched, “What if Sheldon, but young?” Still, there’s no question that “Young Sheldon,” which casts “Big Little Lies” alum Iain Armitage as a young version of Jim Parsons’ idiosyncratic physicist Sheldon Cooper, is the second-best “Big Bang Theory” show with a bullet. Armitage does an excellent job playing Sheldon “but young” — I’m being flip, as he’s a child prodigy who attends college at age eleven and graduates at fourteen with major academic distinctions — and he’s joined by Zoe Perry as his mom Mary Cooper, Lance Barber as his gruff but loving father George Cooper Sr., the aforementioned Montana Jordan as Sheldon’s older brother Georgie, and Sheldon’s twin sister Melissa (Raegan Revord), known as Missy.
“Young Sheldon” wisely dispenses with the laugh track and uses a single-camera approach instead of the multi-cam setup utilized by “The Big Bang Theory,” and beyond that, it delves into some seriously deep emotional topics (we know Sheldon’s father passes away in “The Big Bang Theory,” but even with this inevitability, the arc surrounding George Sr.’s death is pretty gutting). Still, it’s just … not the best “Big Bang Theory” show. Only one show could take that spot, and you know what it is.
1. The Big Bang Theory
The original iteration tends to be the best version, and that’s true of “The Big Bang Theory,” which proved to be lightning in a bottle when it started airing in 2007. In the pilot, socially awkward dorks and California Institute of Technology employees Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons this time) and Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) introduce themselves to their bubbly new neighbor Penny (Kaley Cuoco), and history is made. Before long, the show brings Sheldon and Leonard’s coworkers and friends Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothrappali (Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar) into the fold, and by Season 3, Penny has two female cohorts: Mayim Bialik’s Amy Farrah Fowler and Melissa Rauch’s Bernadette Rostenkowski.
Sure, not every aspect of “The Big Bang Theory” ages well, and Penny’s character didn’t exactly start off strong (though the show eventually course-corrected, and frankly, Penny ended up with the best character arc of basically any series regular). Still, the chemistry between the regulars is completely undeniable, and even when “The Big Bang Theory” falters, it’s still the best group in its small-screen universe.
“The Big Bang Theory” and “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe” are streaming on HBO Max, and “Young Sheldon” is available on HBO Max and Netflix.
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