“Chuck” x4

Every year I pick three shows to watch every episode for the season through thick and thin. I have one simple standard: at least one show has to be new each year. With the new season of television upon us, I have yet to pick out that one new show. It is only one new show because there is nothing out there that can supplant the two shows I’ve been faithfully watching over the past three seasons: the BBC’s “Doctor Who” and NBC’s “Chuck”.

“Chuck” starts a new season this Monday with Chuck vs. The Anniversary after being on hiatus for only four months. This season begins exactly where I want it: Chuck and Sarah are finally together, Morgan is involved in spyworld and that nasty Shaw business has been resolved. And with Chuck on the search for his mother, there is a direction last season didn’t originally have.

No other American TV show captures action, humor and romance better than Chuck, and it’s a rare show that gets better with each passing season. That’s a sign of good writing, but also a sign that there’s a strong lynchpin character that holds it all together. As good as all the actors are on “Chuck”, no one impresses me more than Adam Baldwin’s Casey! Chuck and Morgan can be funny without being lethal and Sarah can be lethal without being funny; however, Casey had to be both for the show to originally work! Casey’s NSA assassin is a brutal killer with a soft spot for the other characters. Since Chuck is becoming more and more competent as a spy, he can now be the lynchpin character, but I hope the producers can keep Casey in that role for the upcoming season.

With the ratings it has received over the past three years, I didn’t think that “Chuck” would last this long. I’m grateful for the episodes we’ve had, and look forward to Season Four. I can only hope more people than last year feel the same way I do about the show and watch it!