10 Shows Like 'Stuart Fails to Save the Universe' You Should Watch Next

We may earn a commission from links on this page.

Credit: Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, HBO Max

This is Streamalikes, where you can find a curated list of recommendations to stream based on what you already like.

Table of Contents

Not since Happy Days spun off into Mork and Mindy has there been a weirder TV franchise expansion than Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, which takes the relatively straightforward sitcom antics of The Big Bang Theory and expands them into the multiverse. It seems that, at some point after the conclusion of their show, Howard, Sheldon, and Leonard built a quantum something-or-other machine that went haywire and triggered a multiversal apocalypse that only comic book guy Stuart (Kevin Sussman) can stop.

It's early days yet, but the HBO series is pretty fun, making the most of the parent show's geeky bona fides and affection for genre tropes. If you're looking for more entertainment in the same nerdy vein, here are other shows that inject varying degrees of comedy into serious sci-fi scenarios.

Sliders (1995 – 2000)

Though less overtly comedic, there's an appealing goofiness to this quintessentially '90s bit of sci-fi, a show that anticipates the multiversal mayhem of the modern Marvel era. Jerry O'Connell is Quinn Mallory, who accidentally opens a portal that sends him and a rotating group of companions (including, initially, John Rhys-Davies as Quinn's mentor) through the multiverse. The device that he invents to get them all home is, inconveniently, an unreliable timer that keeps them stuck wherever they land for...well, however much time the story demands. Over the course of their adventures, they visit worlds where the Soviet Union won the Cold War, where antibiotics were never invented, and where Hillary Clinton is president (I swear!). Increasing serialization involving a whole species of mostly evil sliders doesn't really improve things as the show goes on, but it's still a pretty good time. Stream Sliders on Peacock and Tubi.

Future Man (2017 – 2020)

Josh Hutcherson plays Josh Futturman, a twenty-something janitor who lives with his parents and isn't good at much aside from video games. Though that's enough, as it turns out: He's the only person ever to finish the game Biotic Wars, a success that triggers the arrival of time-traveling soldiers from the future who recruit Josh for their war (yes, that's basically the plot of The Last Starfighter). The show succeeds by wearing its sci-fi influences on its sleeve, taking its world and backstory seriously before populating it with goofy, raunchy, and believably out-of-their-depth characters. Buy Future Man from Prime Video.

Red Dwarf (1988 – 2020)

The subject here is outer-space sci-fi in the Star Trek mold, but it's still a beautifully irreverent sendup of the genre, with an amiable loser at its center. Craig Charles is Dave Lister, a well-meaning slob who holds the lowest job possible on the enormous mining ship Red Dwarf. When he sneaks a pregnant cat aboard, he's punished by being placed in suspension (without pay) for the rest of the trip. Which is a lot longer than anyone anticipated: When Dave wakes up, three million years have passed, and humanity is entirely extinct. The kittens survived and sired an inbred cat empire that's since risen and all but fallen, while the senile main computer has recreated Dave's hated roommate (Chris Barrie) as a hologram to keep him company. Soon joined by a prissy android, they spend the next 30+ years bumming about in space and stumbling into adventures. Stream Red Dwarf on Britbox.

In a depressingly straight and self-serious superhero-media landscape, Legends of Tomorrow soared past its rocky origins as a dumping ground for supporting characters from other DC shows to become something altogether weirder (and queerer). Initially recruited by a time traveller for a mission specifically because of their insignificance (their absences from the timeline won't affect a thing), the Legends go from screwups to reluctant heroes under the leadership of Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), putting things right in time and space. Blending solid character work with brilliant goofiness, the show saw plotlines involving a giant animatronic bear threatening the Old West, a season-ending fight scene set to "The Thong Song," and a character's nipple getting bitten off by a unicorn. Stream Legends of Tomorrow on Netflix.

Resident Alien (2021 – 2025)

I feel like Resident Alien flew a bit under the radar during its run, though it still managed a solid four-season run. Alan Tudyk (Serenity, Rogue One, Superman) stars as Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle, sort of: He's actually an alien with an unpronounceable name who crashed on Earth before killing the real Harry and assuming his identity. He's meant to scout the planet for a planned destruction, but, by assuming human form and integrating with the community in the tiny town of Patience, Colorado, he slowly begins to have second thoughts, even as he continues to be entirely repulsed by human culture. Tudyk is genuinely funny while managing to hit some moving emotional beats along his journey to not-wanting-to-kill-us-all-quite-as-much, and the supporting cast is similarly game. The fictional setting is set near the real Southern Ute Reservation, and offers up some impressive Indigenous representation, including Sara Tomko as Harry's bestie and occasional foil, Asta Twelvetrees. Stream Resident Alien on Peacock and Netflix.

The Librarians (2014 – 2018)

The Librarians began life as a charming, Indiana Jones-light TV movie led by Noah Wylie way back in 2004, which spawned two sequels, the series in question, as well as a sequel show now entering its second season. While largely a standalone take on the mildly comedic premise (a secret annex of the New York Public Library that catalogs magical and occult objects), The Librarians finds Rebecca Romjin, John Larroquette, and Christian Kane leading a group of action-scholars who use their brains to save the world. They're not lovable losers in the Stuart mode, but are, nonetheless, a bunch of true nerds who become reluctant heroes. Stream The Librarians on Prime Video.

The Last Man on Earth (2015 – 2018)

Creator Will Forte stars as Phil Miller, a former banker who believes, for about a year, that he’s the only survivor of a plague that wiped out humanity...until he meets Kristen Schaal, a notary from Delaware. The two don’t have much in common, but decide they’re responsible for repopulating the earth. Frequently genuinely funny, the show winds up striving for a larger purpose than parodying end-of-the-world narratives, exploring our obsession with the end times and what it means to live in a world where apocalyptic thinking winds up becoming self-fulfilling. Stream The Last Man on Earth on Hulu.

Pluribus (2025 – )

The tone of this sensational series is wildly different than that of Stuart, and yet it would feel like a disservice to not mention this weird sci-fi apocalypse from Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan, which displays a very dark, very dry sense of humor. Rhea Seehorn plays Carol Sturka, a fantasy romance author and general grouch who becomes one of only 13 people on the planet immune to the "Joining"—the result of an alien virus that transforms the rest of humanity into a peaceful, perky, and perpetually content hive mind. Carol refuses to surrender her miserableness in the face of a loss of identity, fighting instead to restore humanity to its admittedly cruddy ways. Saving the world means saving the world for snobby misanthropes like herself. Thrilling, heartbreaking, and genuinely funny, the show manages to address some big questions about what it means to be human, and what we'd be willing to give up to change. Stream Pluribus on Apple TV.

Based on the ‘90s-era vehicular combat games that your parents probably hated (involving, as they do, a lot of wild, demolition-derby style action in which you smash and/or blow up your opponents), Twisted Metal stars Anthony Mackie as John Doe, a driver tasked with carrying a package across the entirely lawless Wasteland while dodging challenges that include a murderous clown in an ice cream truck. Alternately brutal and goofy, the show mostly does what it says on the tin, providing plenty of frenetic car-on-car action (and car-on-semi, car-on-hearse, -ice cream truck, etc.). If the over-the-top comedic violence of Stuart is your bag, you'll get plenty of that here. Stream Twisted Metal on Peacock.

Now Apocalypse (2019)

New Queer Cinema pioneer Greg Araki followed up his neon-tinged cinematic apocalypse in Kaboom with Now Apocalypse, a successor in spirit. Avan Jogia plays Ulysses Zane, living in sun-soaked California with his best friend Carly (Kelli Berglund), a struggling actress and sex worker. He keeps having bizarre dreams about an alien invasion that feel increasingly like they might be premonitions, or possibly just anxiety delusions brought on by too much weed. The show only lasted one season and never quite made it to its own prophesied apocalypse, but it was definitely fun while it lasted, and definitely offers something a bit to the left of the typical dreary end-of-the-world. It's a comedy dystopia, just sweatier and hornier than usual. Stream Now Apocalypse on Tubi.