Chuck: Mondays on NBC, 8:00/7:00 Central
Created by Josh Schwartz (that guy is everywhere) and directed by McG, Chuck is half witty comedy/half action spy romp and totally awesome. Chuck Bartowski is the leader of a "Nerd Herd", the tech support arm of nationwide electronics store chain "Buy More". Nerdy and socially challenged, Chuck spends most of his time hanging out with his best friend and co-worker Morgan (an even more hopeless case) and his sister Ellie and her husband "Captain Awesome". Chuck's last major relationship was in college, and ended badly when his roommate, Bryce, stole her away from him.Little does he know Bryce has since become an operative for the CIA, and he's gone rogue. Caught hacking into the one computer that holds both the CIA's and NSA's data (a result of the information sharing mandate of the 9/11 Report), before he's shot and killed Bryce sends all of this data to the first name that comes up in his e-mail client, Chuck. The government info is encrypted in a long series of visually stunning images that dazzles Chuck into unconsciousness when he opens it. He awakes to find all of the government's secrets implanted in his memory and both the CIA and NSA hot on his trail.
There are so many good things about this show, that I don't know where to start. Schwartz definitely knows how to write the funny, dorky outsider. Much like The O.C.'s Seth Cohen, Chuck Bartowski has a dry, subtle wit that's really enjoyable to watch. Effortlessly funny, it's the opposite of most of the comedy on TV today. Meanwhile, McG counterbalances this with his bombastic action set pieces and slick MTV-generation directing. This episode alone featured tremendous explosions, a 007-esque escape, and all sorts of super spy martial arts. Think of it as a toned-down version of his Charlie's Angels movies.
The world of Chuck is preposterous: all of the stores are parodies of real life businesses (the aforementioned "Buy More" is right next door to a "Large-Mart"), every CIA operative has crazy gadgets and skills, and a single computer holds all of the government's data, but it all adds to the show's rich backdrop. Being a first class nerd myself, I can't help but enjoy all of the obscure pop and tech references sprinkled throughout. Within 10 minutes, there's a Zork reference for goodness sake. The cast (which includes Firefly's Adam Baldwin -- for any Browncoats out there) also seems to have good chemistry and solid comic timing. Coupled with the razor-sharp script, Chuck is definitely a show to watch this year.
I don't want to come off as gushing, but it really is that good. Tune in, don't take it too seriously, and strap yourself in for the ride. Chuck is highly entertaining, and really that's the point isn't it? If you missed it tonight for whatever reason, you can't catch up online (at least not officially) as NBC doesn't make very many of its shows available on their website. Don't worry, though, there's an encore presentation this Saturday at 9:00/8:00 Central. Don't miss it.
I'll get to the surprisingly good Journeyman tomorrow. I may even talk about Heroes if I feel up to it, but I have some catching up to do on the online comic first. I sort of forgot they were adding new ones all summer.
6 comments:
This officially hurts my soul. From IMDB:
ABC Hot to (Fox) Trot on Monday
ABC waltzed away with a ratings victory on the first Monday of the new season, thanks to a strong performance by the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars. The 90-minute show recorded a 13.4 rating and a 21 share during its first hour at 8:00 p.m., peaking at 9:00 p.m. with a 13.7/21. But viewers deserted the network when a 90-minute version of The Bachelor came on at 9:30 p.m. The first half-hour drew only a 7.2/11, then dropped to a 6.3/10 during the 10:00 p.m. hour. Meanwhile, the premiere of Chuck on NBC wound up in second place with a 6.0/9 at 8:00 p.m. At 10:00 p.m. the debut of NBC's time-traveling Journeyman registered a 5.9/10, walloped by CBS's CSI: Miami, which opened the season with a 9.8/16.
I downloaded 'Chuck' from Amazon unBox. I guess NBC is going with that until they get the downloads directly from their site going. It's kinda nice that they download right to the TiVo. I agree that it shows a lot of promise. Not quite enough for me to change to recording it over 'How I Met Your Mother', but I'll try to catch it live or download it when I don't.
I liked Morgan's character, he reminded me of the Dave character on What About Brian, only more inept.
I was left a bit curious about where they're going to go from here with Sara and Chuck.
Chuck had a much better script and timing (as you noted) than another socially akward type comedy that I stumbled into yesterday - Big Bang Theory.
Yeah, I'm watching Big Bang Theory as I write this. While you could classify Chuck and its ilk as nerd chic, BBT is just nerdy.
It's still funny to a degree, but I'm finding it very hit or miss. At least I understand most of the Physics jargon going on.
I've never actually watched How I Met Your Mother. I can't remember why I didn't give it a try when it first started, as I do appreciate Neil Patrick Harris.
Yeah, BBT started off pretty poorly. Violi and I turned to each other and said, "This isn't going to be very good," after the first 5 min. But it did make me lol a few times and I'll probably give it another shot to see it develop a bit.
How I Met Your Mother was one that I thought was just so-so at the beginning, but has really grown and developed. Though, I think it's one that is much better when watched from the beginning of the series. Neil PH is a really funny and seemingly shallow character, who is actually very deep/caring guy.
How about some Ken Burns love?
Ken Burns doesn't need my love. Watch "The War" on PBS or rent all 6 discs from Netflix and learn about WWII. Like his other films, I'm sure it's comprehensive and fantastic.
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