NBC’s Chuck
Monday, September 24th, 2007A Spy by Any Other Name
There are only two things wrong with NBC’s new action-comedy series CHUCK. First it’s good, really good. Second it’s on NBC, which remains in fourth place among the major broadcast networks.
I had the opportunity last summer, while in San Diego for Comic-Con 2007, to watch CHUCK’s pilot episode, which will air this evening on NBC stations around the country at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, 7 p.m. Central and Mountain time.
Admittedly, this NBC Universal/Warner Brothers Television coproduction is a bit off our regular Disney beat. At Comic-Con, however, press credentials don’t guarantee admittance to anything other than the San Diego Convention Center, so you tend to go where press agents are eager for coverage.
Sneak peeks and previews of new broadcast and cable TV shows, likely to appeal to Comic-Con’s uber-geeks, tend to be the most welcoming. More established fan favorites, like ABC TV’s Lost, make the press stand in line with the throngs of fans waiting to hear the latest word about their favorite shows.
Hence, our earlier podcast interview with Chris Chibnall, executive producer of BBC America’s Doctor Who spin off, Torchwood, and today’s review. Besides, how could I resist a show about a geeky guy turned spy called CHUCK?
School for Spies
Really smart guy Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) has a problem. He hasn’t had a date since graduating from Stanford University, where the love of his love dumped him for his equally smart and terribly dashing and athletic roommate. Chuck just can’t seem to stop telling every new girl he meets all about the breakup.
Now living in Los Angeles with his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and her husband “Captain Awesome” (Ryan McPartlin), Chuck is a Nerd Herd computer geek for Buy More Electronics, who spends most of his free time hanging out with his best buddy Morgan (Joshua Gomez).
Life is going nowhere for Chuck until, out of the blue, he receives an e-mail from his old college roommate. Shortly thereafter, the extremely attractive Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strzechowski) literally walks into his life and becomes his first real date in years. Oh, and a team of agents from the National Security Agency, lead by Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin), starts shooting at him.
To make things more interesting, the beautiful Ms. Walker, who has as many weapons and kick-ass skills as she has curves, actually works for the CIA and repeatedly saves Chuck from his would-be assassins.
It seems Chuck’s old roommate was at the center of a power struggle between the CIA and the National Security Agency. A super spy gone rogue, the e-mail he sent Chuck was encoded with the last copy of a server farm’s worth of government secrets, which, before erasing itself, downloaded its cache of data directly into Chuck’s brain, thereby making him the most valuable asset in the fight to keep the nation and the world secure.
Must See SciFi
What makes this paper-thin story line work is that CHUCK successfully fires on all cylinders. Executive producer Josh Schwartz, late of The O.C., and executive producer-director McG (Charlie’s Angels and We Are Marshall) have assembled a first-rate cast, and provided them with smart, sharp dialogue. The pilot was written by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak.
Zachary Levi is perfectly cast as the hapless Chuck Bartowski. As a comedy duo, Levi and Gomez skillfully and hysterically play well off one another. Levi’s budding chemistry with Strzechowski is something worth keeping an eye on. And, as always, Adam Baldwin brings just the right blend of comedy and menace to his role.
McG’s direction, while fast paced and full of action, is never heavy handed. Nor does he allow his actors to drift into one-dimensional parodies of the characters they’re playing.
CHUCK was the most fun I’ve had watching a new television show since I first got hooked on Lost.
The question now is can a smart, funny, fast-paced show about twenty-something spies last for an entire season and draw a large enough audience to warrant being picked up for a second year?
Monday nights this fall, CBS is relying on two hours of returning comedies followed by CSI: Miami. ABC is offering reality programming in the form of Dancing With the Stars and The Bachelor (new comer Samantha Who will debut in October).
As an alternative, NBC is planning on making Monday a night of Sci-Fi programming with CHUCK in kick-off position at eight o’clock, followed at nine by the peacock’s only real hit from last year, Heroes. They’ll round out the evening with the freshman time-travel drama Journeyman, staring Rome’s Kevin McKidd.
Clearly, Heroes is the anchor around which NBC hopes to build its new night of “must see TV.” Traditionally, however, hit shows are used as a lead-in for new shows. It remains to be seen how many people will check out CHUCK while they’re waiting for the Heroes saga to continue to unfold.
Whether you’re a Heroes fan or not, or already have a favorite show at 8 p.m. on Monday, I recommend you do yourself a favor and watch, or record and watch later, CHUCK, and not just because I like the name!
