I realize I'm coming in a bit late here, but I have recently watched through the first season of Chuck, the NBC spy drama that is about to air its third season in the US.
Chuck is a spy series with its tongue firmly in its cheek. If you start watching the series under the impression that the series has any pretension, of even heightened "Hollywood" realism, like, say the Jason Bourne series or the new Bond films, you'll find the events that take place here wholly unbelievable and frankly jarring. It's not even semi-fantastical like Alias; it's full on escapism that just happens to take place in the "real world" although this world is more akin to something Joss Whedon dreamt up at his least inspiring moment, severely lacking in wit, probably due to head trauma. And while there is no magic here as such, computers appear to be magical devices, as is usual in television. So it's a bit like Bones, I guess, but with a bit more of a sense of fun about the affair.
What's it about?
Chuck (Zachary Levi) is a Hollywood nerd. He may not be George Clooney or Brad Pitt in terms of looks or charisma, but he's still relatively handsome and charming by most people's standards. He isn't very geeky either; he gets a bit nervous when talking to girls and there is the occasional Mac versus PC joke and the obligatory Star Wars reference but all that is standard affair. That wouldn't be a problem if the show didn't play to the cliche, and instead tried to subvert the whole homely, socially awkward computer nerd (which in Hollywood essentially translates as "wizard") scenario but they don't; they try to make him appear as exactly that: In truth he's more a cross between season 1 Willow and Xander from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer than an attempt to create a different kind of nerd or an honest representation of what the real stereotypical nerd is like. The same goes more or less for the other characters and their jobs in the series.
Speaking of the government agents, the CIA sends Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), a kick-ass spy heroine with a past (in particularly with the rogue agent who sent Chuck the e-mail) who's soon reluctantly paired with Casey (Adam Baldwin), a psychopathic NSA man. Except he's not so much of a psychopath after a while as he is awesome, delivering quips after punching out a bad guy in a manner that would make Horatio Caine proud. Casey's cover is that he's a new employee at the Buy More, where Chuck works, and Sarah covers as Chuck's girlfriend. The obvious "will they, won't they" between Sarah and Chuck is clearly more of an "it's just a matter of time". None of the agents in the series seem very professional, but rogue-ish and rather infantile. In fact, nobody in the series appears to be very professional; it's a wonder they somehow manage to get their jobs done, whether that's spy stuff or selling consumer electronics.
The episodes usually involve a B plot that takes place at Chuck's work place, the Buy More, and the main character of that plot is usually Chuck's best friend, Morgan (Joshua Gomez). These scenes appear to exist mostly for the sake of providing some of the "nerd" humor that are quickly sucked out of the main spy story and some Work Com comedy, though how funny this is, is up to the viewer.
Writing
Writing is average, or perhaps slightly above; professionally done with the near mathematical precision of Hollywood TV drama, but nothing special or particularly inventive. Almost all episodes have at least one jarring moment of dialogue about explaining things the audience already figured out, usually this has to do with how the characters feel, almost as often to do with the plot. The style is very laidback, though I think should've been more over the top.
Production
The production is professional as per usual on Hollywood shows, though unimaginative. CGI becomes cheaper by the day and thus more impressive and believable, although the effects budget seems to have dropped significantly after the pilot. In general the production is quite unimaginative, there's nothing to distinguish this show audio-visually from dozens of other shows.
The actors are quite good in general, which only makes it more annoying that the dialogue keeps on over-explaining things the actors have already managed to convey or the audience has already deduced based on previous events. Adam Baldwin is pure win.
Points for using some cracking pop tunes on the soundtrack for no good reason and often contradictory lyrics-wise to the point they?re trying to make.
It's a silly affair, though not as funny as one could hope. I wish that they'd aimed for humor more often and with a bit more wit. It is still enjoyable, though dependent on whether you're in the mood or into the sort of light entertainment thing in general. I don't think Chuck is a series you could easily become a fan of as such, it doesn't have that much of an air of intelligence about it or loyalty to its audience, unlike the shows that become cult favorites do. I did care about what happens to some of the characters, much more so than with a good deal of other shows, so while it doesn't pack much of an emotional punch, it's still somewhat relatable.
I'd like to add that many of the criticisms I've directed at this series actually apply to most of Hollywood television, not just Chuck.
Chuck is a spy series with its tongue firmly in its cheek. If you start watching the series under the impression that the series has any pretension, of even heightened "Hollywood" realism, like, say the Jason Bourne series or the new Bond films, you'll find the events that take place here wholly unbelievable and frankly jarring. It's not even semi-fantastical like Alias; it's full on escapism that just happens to take place in the "real world" although this world is more akin to something Joss Whedon dreamt up at his least inspiring moment, severely lacking in wit, probably due to head trauma. And while there is no magic here as such, computers appear to be magical devices, as is usual in television. So it's a bit like Bones, I guess, but with a bit more of a sense of fun about the affair.
What's it about?
Chuck (Zachary Levi) is a Hollywood nerd. He may not be George Clooney or Brad Pitt in terms of looks or charisma, but he's still relatively handsome and charming by most people's standards. He isn't very geeky either; he gets a bit nervous when talking to girls and there is the occasional Mac versus PC joke and the obligatory Star Wars reference but all that is standard affair. That wouldn't be a problem if the show didn't play to the cliche, and instead tried to subvert the whole homely, socially awkward computer nerd (which in Hollywood essentially translates as "wizard") scenario but they don't; they try to make him appear as exactly that: In truth he's more a cross between season 1 Willow and Xander from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer than an attempt to create a different kind of nerd or an honest representation of what the real stereotypical nerd is like. The same goes more or less for the other characters and their jobs in the series.
Chuck got kicked out of Stanford for cheating on tests a few years prior to the events of the series because his roommate (Matthew Bomer) framed him. And stole his girlfriend. Chuck understandably holds a grudge and hasn't been in contact with said roommate in years. Turns out the guy was in fact a CIA agent gone rogue and as he's gunned down in the opening of the series, he manages to e-mail Chuck a bunch encrypted government secrets. Chuck opens said e-mail on his home PC and the government secrets are promptly sucked into his brain. Because computers can do that. Soon government agents contact Chuck, by means of a car chase. The catch is he can't just blurt out the information to these agents as the data is encrypted and will only be triggered by random events, piece by piece. Brilliant. I wonder how much tax payer money went into that R&D.
The Halloween episode provides material for personal activities.
Speaking of the government agents, the CIA sends Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), a kick-ass spy heroine with a past (in particularly with the rogue agent who sent Chuck the e-mail) who's soon reluctantly paired with Casey (Adam Baldwin), a psychopathic NSA man. Except he's not so much of a psychopath after a while as he is awesome, delivering quips after punching out a bad guy in a manner that would make Horatio Caine proud. Casey's cover is that he's a new employee at the Buy More, where Chuck works, and Sarah covers as Chuck's girlfriend. The obvious "will they, won't they" between Sarah and Chuck is clearly more of an "it's just a matter of time". None of the agents in the series seem very professional, but rogue-ish and rather infantile. In fact, nobody in the series appears to be very professional; it's a wonder they somehow manage to get their jobs done, whether that's spy stuff or selling consumer electronics.
The pilot is a bit cringe-worthy at times because you as the audience feel you're always two steps ahead of the characters and the exposition is hammered down with such blunt force that you begin to wonder if this show was instead aimed as an inspirational recruitment video for would be CIA trained baboon assassins. And although this viewers-are-morons attitude never entirely goes away, it is toned down considerably in the subsequent episodes and thus making the show much more enjoyable.
It's a matter of national security.
The episodes usually involve a B plot that takes place at Chuck's work place, the Buy More, and the main character of that plot is usually Chuck's best friend, Morgan (Joshua Gomez). These scenes appear to exist mostly for the sake of providing some of the "nerd" humor that are quickly sucked out of the main spy story and some Work Com comedy, though how funny this is, is up to the viewer.
Other characters include Chuck's ridiculously good-looking sister, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster). Chuck and Sarah work really hard at maintaining their cover, which seems to exist mostly to fool Ellie, often this is a B or C plot of an episode. Why they do this, I do not know. If my sister or brother were to date someone and something in their relationships seemed "off" to me, literally the last thing I would think of would be that they were undercover government spies saving the state from nuclear destruction (or whatever) every week. I wouldn't think of something like that even if they said "let's go do some spy stuff now and save the country, for we are spies". Much less someone as clueless as Ellie. Ellie also has a boyfriend (Ryan McPartlin), dubbed Captain Awesome, because everyone thinks he's awesome and he thinks everything is awesome and never wears a shirt. This is much to the chagrin of Morgan who has a thing for Ellie.
An experienced professional and the guy who tags along.
Writing
Writing is average, or perhaps slightly above; professionally done with the near mathematical precision of Hollywood TV drama, but nothing special or particularly inventive. Almost all episodes have at least one jarring moment of dialogue about explaining things the audience already figured out, usually this has to do with how the characters feel, almost as often to do with the plot. The style is very laidback, though I think should've been more over the top.
Production
The production is professional as per usual on Hollywood shows, though unimaginative. CGI becomes cheaper by the day and thus more impressive and believable, although the effects budget seems to have dropped significantly after the pilot. In general the production is quite unimaginative, there's nothing to distinguish this show audio-visually from dozens of other shows.
The actors are quite good in general, which only makes it more annoying that the dialogue keeps on over-explaining things the actors have already managed to convey or the audience has already deduced based on previous events. Adam Baldwin is pure win.
Points for using some cracking pop tunes on the soundtrack for no good reason and often contradictory lyrics-wise to the point they?re trying to make.
Closing Comments
Dr. Ellie and Cpt. Awesome, who's also a doctor.
It's a silly affair, though not as funny as one could hope. I wish that they'd aimed for humor more often and with a bit more wit. It is still enjoyable, though dependent on whether you're in the mood or into the sort of light entertainment thing in general. I don't think Chuck is a series you could easily become a fan of as such, it doesn't have that much of an air of intelligence about it or loyalty to its audience, unlike the shows that become cult favorites do. I did care about what happens to some of the characters, much more so than with a good deal of other shows, so while it doesn't pack much of an emotional punch, it's still somewhat relatable.
I'd like to add that many of the criticisms I've directed at this series actually apply to most of Hollywood television, not just Chuck.
