Chuck
Channel: Fox 8 (Subscription TV)
Day and time*: Wednesdays 8:30pm(*as at July 2009)
Thrown into it
I have to admit that the latest show from exec producer
Josh Schwartz (he was behind The O.C. and Gossip Girl) flew under my radar
somewhat; but now that I've had a chance to catch up with Chuck, I'm pleasantly
surprised. This is yet another of the (many) series that Channel 9 originally
bought and have since on-sold to pay-TV. So you can add this to the long
list of Nine's failures to deal appropriately with its shows.
Anyhow enough of that, on to Chuck. The other name behind the show is
McG (also scoring an exec producer credit), who - apart from his film
work - also worked with Schwartz on The O.C. as well as producing on Supernatural.
If you're familiar with McG's frenetic directorial style (a la the Charlie's
Angels movie), you'll probably have some idea of what the show is like.
Probably
the closest match in a TV sense is the late, lamented Alias. In fact,
imagine Alias in which the computer geek was paired up with the butt-kicking
babe instead of that hunky Michael Vartan, and you'd be fairly close.
The basic premise is that Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) is a computer
geek who works at one of those awful computer repair kiosks. His life
seems to be going nowhere particularly fast until a package arrives from
a one-time college buddy. His pal now works for the CIA, and the package
contains basically all the organisation's current security secrets in
visual form. Chuck works out how to open the databases using an old computer
and finds all the information instantly "downloaded" to his
brain. The fact that Chuck now has all these secrets in his brain naturally
brings him to the attention of that same secretive agency - and their
rivals. Chuck is now a major security "asset" and in big danger.
The CIA therefore assigns smokin' hottie - sorry, special agent - Sarah
Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) to partner Chuck, recover as much of the information
as possible, take him on daring missions and try to keep him from being
killed.
I guess the first thing you might notice about the show is that it doesn't
take itself too seriously. I mean, the idea that security information
would be "downloaded" into someone's brain via a Commodore 64
is just bizarre; but it fits the show's also self-deprecating tone. It's
almost like the creators are winking at us and saying "It's a joke
- geddit?". This is actually really refreshing. Among the slew of
oh-so-serious crime dramas around at the moment, it's great to see a show
that is brave enough to poke some fun at itself.
Zachary Levi is fantastic as the eponymous Chuck. You can actually believe
he's a computer geek caught in a world of intrigue, and he balances the
show's requirements for humour with its other elements well. Yvonne Strahovski
provides ample eye candy as Walker; but comes into her own in the plentiful
action sequences. Joshua Gomez is hilarious as Chuck's geeky friend Morgan;
Adam Baldwin plays the show's straight-guy as military dude John Casey
and Sarah Lancaster adds a dash of normalcy as Chuck's sister Ellie.
I have a bit of a soft spot for Chuck. I like the fact that it's a show
that stands up and proudly announces just what it is - a whole lot of
fun - without trying to be anything else. It's funny, slick, fast-moving
but most of all, it's just really enjoyable.
Phil James
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