Chuck was a series that ran from 2007 to 2012. The basic premise was that a guy named Chuck (played by Zachary Levi) who works at a fictional equivalent of the Geek Squad (called the Nerd Herd) in a fictional version of Best Buy (called Buy More) had a supercomputer called the Intersect (basically a database with all the CIA and NSA secrets) beamed into his brain by his old college roommate who happens to be a CIA agent. He ends up with a CIA handler named Sarah (played by Yvonne Strahovski) and an NSA handler named John Casey. The theme of the show is basically a case of the week procedural in which Chuck has to use the information in his head to stop some evil plot. Much of the comedy is brought in by the fact that Chuck cannot access the information at will, and it comes to him in flashes, usually at some inopportune time.
The show definitely lives up to the hype that its die-hard fans give it. Unfortunately, the year it premiered the Bionic Woman reboot series got all of NBC's promotional budget and Chuck was hardly mentioned at all. For a lot of people, the allure to the show was the commercial that featured Yvonne Strahovski in lingerie (which she was in a lot during the series), but it was really a well-written and well-acted show that should have gotten a bit longer run than it did. Levi and Strahovski are great as leads playing fake boyfriend and girlfriend. They have great chemistry, and of course, the show teases the "will they or won't they" get together all season. All of the actors, including the group of rather pathetic Buy More ancillary characters, are great. Whatever you may think of Adam Baldwin in real-life, he does a great Job as Casey, a guy with no people skills forced to work in a store interacting with customers. Joshua Gomez steals nearly every scene he is in as Chuck's best friend, Morgan.
For those who get the Blu-Ray set, it looks and sounds great in the HD format. The extras include deleted scenes, a 27 minute "Chuck on Chuck" feature that has Levi and Gomez discussing the show, a gag reel, and clips from various actors casting sessions. All in all, a decent amount of material.
Overall, the show is great. It is old enough now that most people reading this likely know a lot about it, but if you are one of the few just trying to figure out if you should watch it, it lives up to the hype that die-hard fans give it. If you are a fan of 80s pop culture you will see a lot of references, especially as the season goes on. While the first season is short, just 13 episodes, it sets up the characters and the story well, and really makes you care about all of the main characters. The acting and writing are top-notch, especially the romance angle between Chuck and Sarah, and Chuck trying to keep his "regular" life and his spy life separate. I highly recommend it.
The show definitely lives up to the hype that its die-hard fans give it. Unfortunately, the year it premiered the Bionic Woman reboot series got all of NBC's promotional budget and Chuck was hardly mentioned at all. For a lot of people, the allure to the show was the commercial that featured Yvonne Strahovski in lingerie (which she was in a lot during the series), but it was really a well-written and well-acted show that should have gotten a bit longer run than it did. Levi and Strahovski are great as leads playing fake boyfriend and girlfriend. They have great chemistry, and of course, the show teases the "will they or won't they" get together all season. All of the actors, including the group of rather pathetic Buy More ancillary characters, are great. Whatever you may think of Adam Baldwin in real-life, he does a great Job as Casey, a guy with no people skills forced to work in a store interacting with customers. Joshua Gomez steals nearly every scene he is in as Chuck's best friend, Morgan.
For those who get the Blu-Ray set, it looks and sounds great in the HD format. The extras include deleted scenes, a 27 minute "Chuck on Chuck" feature that has Levi and Gomez discussing the show, a gag reel, and clips from various actors casting sessions. All in all, a decent amount of material.
Overall, the show is great. It is old enough now that most people reading this likely know a lot about it, but if you are one of the few just trying to figure out if you should watch it, it lives up to the hype that die-hard fans give it. If you are a fan of 80s pop culture you will see a lot of references, especially as the season goes on. While the first season is short, just 13 episodes, it sets up the characters and the story well, and really makes you care about all of the main characters. The acting and writing are top-notch, especially the romance angle between Chuck and Sarah, and Chuck trying to keep his "regular" life and his spy life separate. I highly recommend it.
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