The One Story The Big Bang Theory's Kevin Sussman Hoped Had More Screen Time
Most sitcoms in the modern era often utilize various archetypes that characters fall into. One of the more popular archetypes implemented in contemporary comedies is the "sad sack" personality, which is a role defined by pessimism, depression, and self-deprecation. Sad sacks do not see their inherent value and are often the butt of many jokes. Some popular sad sacks include Ted Buckland (Sam Lloyd) from "Scrubs," Michael Scott's archnemesis Toby Flenderson (Paul Lieberstein) from "The Office," and Stuart Bloom (Kevin Sussman) from "The Big Bang Theory."
First appearing in Season 2 of "The Big Bang Theory," Stuart was introduced as a proprietor of The Comic Center of Pasadena, the comic book store that our main cast frequents. Though initially portrayed as an accomplished businessman and a graduate of a prestigious art school, we soon find out about his financial hardship, his health issues, and his struggles to find companionship and love. And it's the latter that becomes much of the focus of Stuart's arc towards the end of the series.
In a Season 11 episode titled "The Comet Polarization," following a mention by legendary author Neil Gaiman (himself), Stuart's comic book store starts to see success and as a result, he hires Denise (Lauren Lapkus) as his assistant store manager. Not long after, Stuart begins to develop feelings for her and eventually asks her out on a date in the Season 12 episode "The Wedding Gift Wormhole," which she accepts. In her last appearance of the series, Denise and Stuart move in together and they profess their love for one another.
And though Stuart has his happy ending in the series, it seems that Sussman wanted to see more on-screen development in Stuart's relationship with Denise.
Kevin Sussman wanted more on-screen development of Stuart's relationship
Appearing at a convention in 2021, Kevin Sussman spoke with RosterCon about his stint as Stuart on "The Big Bang Theory." It seems that considering Stuart had just entered into a relationship with Denise in the last season of the series, Sussman believed that the writers weren't aware that Season 12 would be the last, so he expected and wanted the series to continue and explore Stuart's relationship further on screen. "I don't think the writers knew until the final season that it was going to be the final season," Sussman speculated. "My character had just gotten a girlfriend so I was excited to see what was going to happen with that storyline."
Despite this minor gripe, however, Sussman has only positive things to say about his experience on the show. In a 2018 interview with Glitched, Sussman was asked about what his time was like on the series. Sussman expressed his love of playing a character that evolved over 11 years, explaining, "That's been fun. To play a character that develops over time and just like, all these different circumstances and all this stuff I've had to do."
Sussman would later extol the cast and crew for the familial atmosphere in which they work. "It's been overall an amazing and positive experience, working with everybody on the show," he intimated. "Everybody is super supportive. And super fun, and friendly. And I really do think that is one of the main reasons the show has lasted as long as it has because if they didn't all get along it would just be too difficult."
It's good to know that despite Stuart's profound melancholy, it was a warmer, more loving environment behind the scenes in which he likely would have thrived.