- Directed by Jonathan Frakes
- Written by Chuck Lorre, Zak Penn and Bill Prady
- August 20, 2026
- HBO Max
- Based on The Big Bang Theory created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady
Episode Cast
- Stuart Bloom-Kevin Sussman
- Denise-Lauren Lapkus
- Bert Kibbler-Brian Posehn
- Barry Kripke-John Ross Bowie
- Simpa-Charlie Barnett
- Chana-Zoe Cipres
- Gavel-Tommy Martinez
- Manu-Brandon Sutton
- Droppings Reader-Vinessa Vidotto
- Alta-Rachelle Goulding
- Xena-Jascha Charron
- Lina-Lily Cardone
- Karni-Jackie R. Jacobson
- Lumpa-Gastón Brouet as Gaston Brouet
The quartet arrive in a reality that believes in free love and radical sharing before Bert introduces monogamy and Kripke schools them on the basics of economics.
The plot of Spoiler: Bert Gets Married (he only gets to the altar) is that these four people destroy a paradise largely just by their arrival. Does that make them villains or demonstrate that nobody on the writing staff believes such a utopia is genuinely possible? It never gets THAT deep, but I am curious. It is worthy to note this is the first one without a TBBT main character cameo. I don’t even think Gary pops in.
Bert (Brian Posehn) innocently introduces marriage and monogamy to this culture that doesn’t know anything about it. He practically brags about getting laid and wants the gravy train to keep rolling on it. It is funny the shear innocence that Posehn delivers the dialogue with.
Kripke (John Ross Bowie), being greedy and self-centered, takes comedic advantage of the situation by introducing basic economics to the society and engaging in hedonistic sexual abandon by indulging all his appetites. And it all starts because one guy decides that Kripke’s one shoe belongs to him. For a society that shares everything, the guy demonstrated an unwillingness to give it back. It really goes counter to how the writers want us to view the place.
A bit of a conceit in (televised) science fiction are aliens speaking English. A few shows have crafted in series explanations on why that is. Bert Gets Married pokes fun at that with the gang asking if the people are speaking English or are they speaking the tribal language. It is a running gag in the episode.
That and Denise (Lauren Lapkus) eagerly wanting to tell everyone that Stuart (Kevin Sussman) dug through poop to find a clue on how to leave their current reality. This starts building more of the series mythology with Stuart making some connections about messages being sent. Given that it’s a tribal society they’re in, Stuart makes the leap to look in poop after seeing a droppings reader (Vinessa Vidotto).
Once again, this show’s greatest weakness is that they introduce an interesting new reality and then move on from it as quickly as they get to it. I appreciate how quickly and effectively they set things up and give enough rules to get through the episode, but there’s plenty of meat for humor here and with what amounts to being a barely linked storyline for each world you could explore the story in each world. The concern is they will run out of gag worlds for the second season. I’m not saying we should get five or six or an entire season in one place but maybe two in a reality.
A plus is how the script gently pokes fun at certain concepts both from science fiction and in life. It wasn’t poking because they disliked them, but it understood the questions that could arise. The characters felt more like characters, even if the whole scenario was once again rushed. It was a well-produced sitcom episode that was also a science fiction series. Denise’s commentary and the burning desire for everyone to know how Stuart figured out about the red quartz crystal was absolutely hilarious and probably the funniest continuing gag of the episode. This felt more like a cast of a series of than a group of characters forced together.
The jokes came steady, though, not ridiculously or unnecessary. They never tried to force the humor. And I kind of felt bad for Bert. He was finally living the dream and had to give it all up because of Kripke.
Bert Gets Married was a good episode. I just wish they wouldn’t move so fast. Either two episodes per reality or just make these longer. Funny though.
