“Chuck” Comic-Con Panel: We’re Doomed…

An unintended consequence of major Hollywood movie studios pulling out of this year’s Comic-Con has been that turnout for television series panels in Ballroom 20 have overflowed past its capacity of 4,250 people. Case in point: My nieces, my good friend Rodney and I waited two hours in line to attend this morning’s “Chuck” panel and barely got inside, sitting in the second-to-last row!

The audience was treated to an opening video clip of Josh Gomez (Morgan) being trained by Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome) Rocky-style to Jeffster! singing “Eye Of The Tiger”. It just has to be seen to be believed, and fortunately has already been posted on the ‘net.

After the cast and producer Chris Fedak took their seats, the panel started in earnest. Zac Levi (Chuck) spoke about how he would like “Chuck” to end after five years. Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah) mentioned that her favorite episode was “Chuck vs. Phase 3”. And unlike last year, the moderator was smart enough this year to allow enough time for questions from the audience.

Most of the questions were predictable and easy to answer, but one question in particular put Fedak on the spot: If Chuck was the only one who can handle the Intersect, how come so many other people have had the Intersect uploaded into them during the past two seasons? After hemming and hawing, Fedak finally said that the Intersect affects people in different ways, and will somewhat highlight the Intersect’s effect on Morgan early in Season Five.

Some cast members were sad that the show is in its final season, while others were still unconvinced of the finality. Mark Christopher Lawrence (Big Mike) opined the best way for “Chuck” to end: funny!

I just wish that the free promotional t-shirt given to me during the panel would fit me…