Chuck Me Baby One More Time!

NBC’s action-comedy “Chuck” is hard to sum up in a sentence, but I’m going to try anyway: “Chuck” is about a geeky but kind-hearted computer repairman who inadvertently downloads the entire US Intelligence database (Intersect) into his brain and must now go on secret missions for the government, aided and protected by the highly efficient, sarcastic NSA assassin Casey and the super-cool CIA super-spy Sarah.

Even with that lengthy sentence I have not done enough to accurately describe the show. I admit that I am not the harshest critic of the show. I am willing to wait out mediocre episodes in order to watch the truly great ones, because “Chuck” is the most hysterically funny, romantically sweet, hyper violent family show on TV today! Yes -- family show.

Despite having low viewer ratings for much of the year, NBC has renewed “Chuck” for a third season. The internet campaign for a third season renewal was very commendable, with fans, television journalists and advertisers all backing the show. Unfortunately, since network backing gave “Chuck” a second season renewal and fan passion won it a third, only more viewers will now ensure a fourth.

While the show’s hiatus until spring 2010 is not a perfect situation, now is an ideal time to acquaint people with “Chuck.” Lending your DVDs is a good place to start, and thewb.com, hulu and nbc.com are currently streaming episodes. And if the “You’ll like it” response isn’t enough to satisfy your family and friends’ curiosity, tell them that “Chuck” is a great show and there are some very good reasons as to why.

1. “Chuck” is fun. Other action shows are dark and gritty, but “Chuck” has a feel good quality to it. There is no other show on television that can have a major firefight with Styx’ “Mister Roboto” as background music or have a Special Forces unit plan a wedding with military precision! “Chuck” can be highly improbable and ridiculous (check out the workers at the Buy More store), but a lot is forgiven simply because it is funny.

2. Chuck's ingenuity. Chuck Bartowski is no ordinary agent. Chuck (Zachary Levi) comes up with solutions that top agents Casey or Sarah would never dream of having. Who else could stop a bomb with a computer porn virus? Or prevent a nuclear missile strike on Los Angeles by playing Missile Command? Or use laughing gas to elicit information on the whereabouts of an international terrorist? It also works with his day job at the Buy More by once having to explain his absence as “on-site computer repair” when he was actually helping a Chinese spy defect.

3. Sarah’s bodyguard crush. Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah) is INCREDIBLY good looking -- and a terrific actress as well! She can give viewers a Sarah who is tough, funny and vulnerable, sometimes in the same scene! Strahovski is completely believable as an agent who can kick major butt and fall in love with the “asset” she is supposed to protect. The third season renewal for “Chuck” gives us another year of this Australian’s amazing acting abilities!

4. The music. This show has used songs from musicians as diverse as crooner Burl Ives to indie artists Slow Club. I would have never listened to Bon Iver if it were not for “Chuck.” The music fits well with the action, especially when songs from the 1980s are used. Three ‘80s songs especially stand out with me: when Chuck and Sarah kissed in the Buy More to Huey Lewis And The News “Do You Believe In Love,” when Chuck and Sarah posed as a married couple in suburbia with Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime” (“This is not my beautiful house – this is not my beautiful wife”) and when Sarah and Casey stormed an enemy organization's headquarters to rescue Chuck to the tune of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

5. Casey unleashed! Major John Casey is a man of few words. Even in the most extreme situation, Casey (Adam Baldwin) does more with a grunt than most characters do with entire sentences! He is quite efficient at everything he does, whether it is assassinating rogue agents or selling a barbeque grill at Buy More. A lot of humor comes out of Casey’s cover as a Buy More employee. And it’s fun to spot the Ronald Reagan photo in Casey’s apartment!

6. “Chuck” got better. There were some mediocre episodes halfway through Season Two, but the later episodes were exceptional. The last ten Season Two episodes built on the previous ones and expanded the storyline all the way to the season finale, making those episodes must see viewing! The characters grew, mysteries were solved, and the stakes got higher -- all culminating with Chuck now possessing Intersect-aided super powers! And Season Three seems limitless…

… if not for the ratings. Frankly, the ratings for “Chuck” are not good. Even if it is debatable, NBC has done its part. Advertisers such as Subway have done their part. Now it’s time for us to do ours and watch “Chuck,” even if Chuck now knows kung fu, even if Casey is now a Colonel, even if Sarah’s new cover is making sandwiches! If any character can make those Subway employee uniforms look good, the smart money’s on Sarah!