When you think of Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady’s massively popular sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” and the characters that inhabit its quirky, nerdy world, you probably think of the brilliant but stubborn Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), the bubbly yet socially smart Penny (Kaley Cuoco), lovelorn Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki), or their friends and loved ones Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg), Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar), Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz (Melissa Rauch), and Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik). You might not immediately think of Stuart Bloom, the mild-mannered, down-on-his-luck comic book store proprietor played throughout the series by Kevin Sussman … but you should, honestly!
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Not only is Sussman a really good actor — before “The Big Bang Theory,” he popped up on shows like “ER” and “Ugly Betty,” and he actually almost played Howard Wolowitz before his commitment to the latter got in the way — but Stuart is pretty lovable, especially because he doesn’t have some of the more irritating personality traits that affect the main characters (I still can’t really figure out why anyone speaks to Sheldon, but that’s another matter entirely). You may also have recently seen Sussman in the Apple TV+ series “Lessons for Chemistry,” where he stars alongside Brie Larson, Lewis Pullman, and Aja Naomi King.
Stuart is, as it happens, also set to get his own spin-off set in the “Big Bang Theory” cinematic universe (or BBTCU, if you will) titled “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” so if you’re not all that familiar with the character, it’s time to get acquainted with him. In that vein, here are five of Stuart’s most outstanding moments throughout “The Big Bang Theory.”
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Stuart impresses Penny — and scores a date (Season 2, The Hofstadter Isotope)
Early in “The Big Bang Theory,” we get a great turn from Stuart when Penny, who’s looking for a gift for her nephew, goes to the comic book store to pick something out, joining all of the boys as they head there for their own purposes in the season 2 episode “The Hofstadter Isotope.” (Penny first asks Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, and Raj if they can just get something for her, but Sheldon is a real pain in the butt about doing that, so she simply tags along.) When they arrive, Stuart is, in contrast to Sheldon in particular, genuinely friendly to Penny and does and excellent job finding perfect presents for her nephew … and when he casually draws a sketch of her, Penny is so charmed by the entire interaction that she accepts Stuart’s invitation to go out on a date.
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Naturally, Leonard — who’s hopelessly in love with Penny — gets in a total snit about this whole thing and demands that his friends take him to a bar “with women,” but the date between Penny and Stuart goes well enough that she invites him into her apartment for “a cup of coffee.” Penny means something … else by this, but sweet, guileless Stuart takes the coffee offer literally, and when the two are waylaid by Sheldon — who invites himself over to Penny’s and starts an intense debate about Batman with Stuart — Penny falls asleep on the couch, effectively ruining any shot of future romance between her and Stuart. Still, it’s nice to see that Stuart, who suffers from low self-esteem, is actually a really sweet guy … and that Penny gives him a chance on their date to boot.
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Stuart asks Amy out — and ends up reaffirming her relationship with Sheldon (Season 5, The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition)
Okay, sure — this is the second example of Stuart being great because he successfully convinces one of the show’s female characters to go out with him, but hear me out! In the season 5 episode “The Flaming Spittoon Acquisition,” Sheldon, who hasn’t made things official with Amy quite yet, brings her to Stuart’s comic book store only for Stuart to take an interest in her (even though, by her own admission, Amy couldn’t possibly care less about comic books). Stuart asks Leonard if Amy and Sheldon are dating, and when this all gets back to Sheldon, he essentially says someone as smart as Amy would never be interested in a guy like Stuart. (God. Sorry, but Sheldon really can be so insufferable.)
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Amy, who is a nice person, agrees to go on a date with Stuart, which sends Stuart into the same style of tailspin his best friend Leonard once experienced over Stuart dating a girl. Sheldon, true to form, acts out by cyberstalking Stuart and even asking Penny out in a completely deranged moment (she quite obviously declines), and in the end, he interrupts Stuart and Amy’s date to ask if Amy will officially be his girlfriend. The reason this is included in a list of Stuart’s highlights is that the guy takes this whole situation remarkably well, which I think speaks to his character; he’s now 0 for 2 on trying to date nice and pretty girls he meets through his so-called friends.
After a personal and professional setback, Stuart gets help from an unlikely source (Season 7, The Status Quo Combustion)
Remember how I described Stuart as unlucky earlier? Well, that quality really comes to the forefront in the season 7 finale, “The Status Quo Combustion.” It comes up pretty early in the episode that, as her health declines, Howard’s mother — who’s never seen in person but was voiced by Carol Ann Susi until the actress’ death in 2014, at which point Mrs. Wolowitz passed away in-universe — can’t hold down an in-home nurse because of her bad attitude. This comes into play later when Sheldon heads to the comic book store — Sheldon, for his part, is in a bad mood because Amy suggested that maybe they could try living together — only to discover that, after Stuart’s hot plate started a fire, the entire place has smoke and fire damage. Sheldon is predictably terrible to Stuart — he offers to buy a comic to help Stuart out, complains that it’s “wet” (from the sprinklers), and then storms out — but help comes later in the form of Raj and Howard.
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Stuart lived in the same building as the comic book store, so not only is his livelihood affected, but he’s now effectively homeless — so when Howard offers him a place to stay with a serious caveat, meaning that it’s with Mrs. Wolowitz, he accepts. As it turns out, Mrs. Wolowitz loves Stuart, calling him “Stewie” and babying him just like she used to do with Howard, so this cruddy situation actually ends happily for Stuart.
Stuart becomes indispensable to Howard and Bernadette ISeason 9, The Sales Call Sublimation)
After Mrs. Wolowitz passes away, Stuart keeps living in the Wolowitz family home — largely because Howard and Bernadette end up moving in there too. In season 9 — specifically, in an episode titled “The Sales Call Sublimation” — Howard and Bernadette decide that they want a little more privacy, so they decide that it’s time to ask Stuart to go and find a new place to live after two years there. Stuart, for his part, has already found an apartment, knowing that the couple is remodeling.
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When Stuart finally leaves, Howard and Bernadette are pumped about renovating his room into a home gym or movie theater until they realize he left a few things there, at which point they realize they miss having Stuart around. Because most of the characters on “The Big Bang Theory” tend to treat Stuart like a total pest, it’s nice to see that some of them actually care about him … and Stuart’s cohabitation with Bernadette and Howard pays dividends for the series down the line. After Bernadette gives birth to her and Howard’s first baby Halley, Stuart helps with her and ends up moving back in for a while to boot, and in the series finale “The Stockholm Syndrome,” it’s revealed that he still babysits for both Halley and her younger brother, Michael, whenever Howard and Bernadette aren’t home.
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Stuart finally finds the girl of his dreams — and she loves how much he knows about Star Wars (Season 11, The Bow Tie Asymmetry)
Stuart spends a lot of “The Big Bang Theory” being totally unlucky in love — as I think I’ve made clear — but that all changes in season 11, the penultimate season of “The Big Bang Theory,” when Stuart hires aspiring artist and comic book aficionado Denise (Lauren Lapkus) to come and work at his fully repaired comic book store. In that season’s finale, “The Bow-Tie Asymmetry,” Stuart takes a chance and invites Denise to be his date to Amy and Sheldon’s long-awaited wedding (which, as it happens, is officiated by Mark Hamill playing himself). Though Denise initially says no because Stuart is her boss, when she hears about the Hamill of it all, she accepts — and is thoroughly charmed and impressed when Stuart knows more “Star Wars” lore than Luke Skywalker himself. (No, really; she calls Stuart’s knowledge “hot,” which pretty much seals the deal for these two.)
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Denise and Stuart don’t make things official, though, until the second episode of season 12 — and from that point on, the two are officially a happy couple. Still, Stuart’s “Star Wars” expertise in “The Bow-Tie Asymmetry” is what wins Denise over in the first place.