Short Episodes, Big Impact: The Unconventional Approach of HBO Max’s ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’

When it comes to streaming comedies, viewers are accustomed to episodes that range from 25 to 35 minutes in length. However, HBO Max’s upcoming series ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ takes a different approach, with episodes that are remarkably short, even by broadcast standards.

Out of the 10 episodes in Season 1, one is 15 minutes long, four are 18 minutes long, and the remaining five vary in length from 20 to 25 minutes. This unconventional approach has raised eyebrows, but according to the show’s creators, Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, it was a deliberate choice to keep the story concise and engaging.

‘No, no. We just felt that we’d successfully told the story, and to add would be padding, and padding, generally, is a hammock between important scenes, and why would we do that if there’s no real reason,’ Lorre explained in an interview.

Lorre and Prady have spent most of their careers working in broadcast comedy, where episodes were carefully crafted to fit the 22-minute template with breaks for commercials. However, with the rise of streaming, this traditional approach is no longer a necessity.

‘The historic length of a show is entirely arbitrary, it comes from network television where a certain amount of advertising has to be sold to pay the way of making this television, but it’s not an element any longer in streaming,’ Lorre pointed out.

The creators’ decision to keep the episodes short was also influenced by the show’s binge-friendly format. Each episode ends with the heroes landing in a new alternate reality, teasing what comes next and keeping viewers engaged.

‘The way we structured it, it just fell into our laps, it’s a teaser for the next week but it also felt like a natural way of telling this story,’ Lorre said.

Added Prady, ‘We found it in the first episode where we wanted to go, ‘Everything’s all right. Oh wait, no, it isn’t.’ And that was fun, so we kept doing it.’

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe premieres on HBO Max on July 23, with episodes released weekly.

With its unique approach to episode length and engaging storylines, ‘Stuart Fails to Save the Universe’ is definitely worth checking out. Will you be tuning in to see how this unconventional series unfolds?