"Chuck" Comic-Con Panel: Fan-less Fun!

My niece and I were in line since 8:30 this morning working our way into the dreaded Ballroom 20 for the 10 am Chuck Panel at Comic-Con when Erica, a friend of a friend at the show, called in a panic. I had met her the previous day and told her that she could get inside with us if she couldn’t get in herself. She told me she would call only if it was absolutely necessary. First time conventioneers are always so naive…

“I don’t think security will let me through!”

“Relax. Just tell them that your husband and daughter are saving a place for you near the head of the line,” I replied.

“That’ll never work… hold on… okay, I’m through! Where are you?”

Erica met up with my niece and I and we got into Ballroom 20 at… 10:03! Luckily, the good people at Chuck waited an additional five minutes to let inside as many people as possible!

All the previous Chuck Panels at Comic-Con were a lot of fun, and this year’s panel was no different! It started off with a video presentation of Season 3’s highlights (with the biggest cheer for the scene where Chuck and Sarah finally got together), but it soon veered off in a strange direction! When Season 3.1 ended, Chuck was going to start a quest to find his mom. The screen then revealed who was going to play Mary Bartowski for Season 4: Linda Hamilton!

After that revelation, the screens were suddenly taken over by The Ring, using it to indoctrinate the audience! Luckily, Chuck and Morgan interrupted The Ring’s video presentation (even though Morgan wanted to be at the Twilight Panel) to break The Ring’s programming with the only “cure” they had available… a Jeffster dance video!

And as the audience roared to the antics of Jeffster dancing to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” on the video screens, Vik Sahay and Scott Krinsky (who play Jeff and Lester) slyly made their way onto the floor, soon followed by Zac Levi and Yvonne Strahovski (Chuck and Sarah), and finally the rest of the cast, the producers and the moderators.

There were plot developments mentioned (like the Buy More being taken over by the CIA) and guest casting leaked (Olivia Munn of G4 and Isaiah Mustafa the “Old Spice Guy” playing CIA/Buy More Green Shirts codenamed “Greta”). Yet the one thing that really stood out for me was when producer Josh Schwarz was asked if he would things differently during Season 3, especially with the Shaw character. He answered, “We’ve learned some things,” which is the closest we’ll ever get to an actual apology for putting Shaw between Chuck and Sarah.

There were a couple sour notes, as the Chuck Panel ended exactly at 10:45 without a Q&A period for the fans and the fact that nobody who attended the panel could get autographs from the cast at the WB booth as the autograph line was capped before the panel ended. Yet my niece enjoyed the panel anyway, and so did I.

I don’t know what Erica thought of it.

Update: Thanks to the magic of YouTube, and if you’re really interested, here is the Jeffster dance sequence and the cast emerging to the floor! Who has the better chest shake, Vik or Yvonne?