HBO Max's Stuart Fails to Save the Universe premiered its first episode on July 23. The show reunited Stuart Bloom with an alternate-universe version of Rajesh Koothrappali from The Big Bang Theory.
Twelve minutes into the episode, Stuart, his ex-girlfriend Denise and geologist Bert Kibbler encounter the alternate Raj, who has been held prisoner at Caltech. Raj provides mathematical solutions to repair a quantum device but is shot and killed by an alternate Barry Kripke before he can act.
Series co-creators Chuck Lorre, Bill Prady and Zak Penn said the plot choice followed story needs rather than a plan to alter the original character's arc. Prady noted the requirement for a character capable of the necessary calculations made Raj the logical selection.
Actor John Ross Bowie, who plays Kripke, expressed initial discomfort with the scene but later accepted it due to the multiverse setting. Brian Posehn and Kevin Sussman, who portray Bert and Stuart, discussed their reactions to the reunion and subsequent events.
The episode also includes an inflatable balloon man prop that appeared earlier in Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage Season 2 Episode 4.
