Chuck is an American action comedy spy drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average-computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck Bartowski, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded email from an old college friend now working for the CIA. The message embeds the only remaining copy of a software program containing the United States's greatest spy secrets into Chuck's brain, leading the CIA and the NSA to assign him handlers and use him on top-secret missions.
Produced by Fake Empire (known as College Hill Pictures, Inc. during the first three seasons before folding afterwards), Wonderland Sound and Vision, and Warner Bros. Television, the series premiered on September 24, 2007, on NBC, airing on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m./7:00 p.m. Central. As the second season finished, flagging ratings put Chuck in danger of cancellation, but fans mounted a successful campaign to encourage NBC to renew the show. The campaign was unique in that fans specifically targeted a sponsor of the show, the Subway restaurant chain, leading to the chain striking a major sponsorship deal with NBC to help cover costs of the third season. The series' renewal was uncertain in each subsequent season. The fifth season was the last, beginning on October 28, 2011, and moving to Friday nights at 8 p.m./7 Central. The series concluded on January 27, 2012, with a two-hour finale.
Episodes
Series summary Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) is in his mid-twenties and works at Buy More, a consumer-electronics chain store in Burbank, California. He is an intelligent, but unmotivated, computer service expert and works alongside his best friend, Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez). He had been expelled from Stanford University on false charges that he cheated in one of his classes, which likely damaged his drive and morale. He lives with his sister, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), and her boyfriend, Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb (Ryan McPartlin), both doctors who constantly encourage Chuck to make progress in his professional and romantic life.
Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), Chuck's former Stanford University roommate and now a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent, steals the Intersect, the entire merged database of the CIA and National Security Agency (NSA), and destroys the computer storing it. The sole surviving copy becomes subliminally embedded in Chuck's brain via encoded images when he opens an email from Bryce. The NSA's Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and CIA officer Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) are dispatched to investigate.
Chuck is recruited to use the knowledge he now possesses to help thwart assassins and international terrorists, upending his previously mundane life. The Intersect causes Chuck to receive involuntary "flashes" of information from the database, activated by triggers such as faces, voices, objects, and keywords. In order to protect his family and friends, Chuck must keep his second occupation a secret. Casey and Walker are assigned to watch over Chuck. They are forced to establish an uneasy alliance and cover identities. Walker poses as Chuck's girlfriend and takes a job at a fast food restaurant near the Buy More. Casey reluctantly becomes part of the Buy More sales team.
The main antagonists driving the plot are a series of rogue spy cabals, first internal to the United States intelligence community and then global in scope. A core part of the threat is the danger of the Intersect being either captured, making Chuck as much a liability as an asset to the government, or replicated, making Chuck obsolete or outmatched by less scrupulous spies.
Chuck, Sarah, and Casey all face professional conflicts as they grow to respect each other. A genuine romantic interest develops between Chuck and Sarah. Chuck's desire to maintain his close relationships and eventually return to a normal life is challenged by the dangers and growing responsibilities of his secret life, so that he gradually becomes a more competent, confident, and willing spy. In later seasons, upgrades to the Intersect would include skills in espionage as well as information (the reason the Intersect was originally conceived), giving Chuck temporary knowledge of hand-to-hand combat and other skills such as playing the guitar, using a zipline, foreign languages, dancing, and firearms training.
In the course of events, Chuck unravels mysteries from his life before the series, often dealing with the Intersect, such as why his parents left, why Bryce got him kicked out of Stanford, and why he is unusually suited for the Intersect. Meanwhile, Casey and Sarah confront unresolved issues from their lives before the series, including their families, Sarah's history with Bryce, and the spies they previously worked with. And as Chuck grows more comfortable with his own role, those closest to him are gradually drawn into his spy life.
Cast and characters
Main cast Character Portrayed by Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 Charles "Chuck" Bartowski Zachary Levi colspan="5" Sarah Walker Yvonne Strahovski colspan="5" Colonel John Casey Adam Baldwin colspan="5" Morgan Grimes Joshua Gomez colspan="5" Ellie Bartowski Sarah Lancaster colspan="5" Devon Woodcomb Ryan McPartlin colspan="4" Michael "Big Mike" Tucker Mark Christopher Lawrence colspan="4" Lester Patel Vik Sahay colspan="4" Jeffrey Barnes Scott Krinsky colspan="4" Anna Wu Julia Ling colspan="2" Diane Beckman Bonita Friedericy colspan="3"
Recurring cast Tony Todd as Langston Graham (seasons 1, 2 and 5) Matthew Bomer as Bryce Larkin (seasons 1 and 2) C. S. Lee as Harry Tang (season 1) Rachel Bilson as Lou Palone (season 1) Mini Andén as Carina Miller (season 1, 3 and 4) Tony Hale as Emmett Milbarge (season 2 and 3) John Larroquette as Roan Montgomery (seasons 2 and 4) Nicole Richie as Heather Chandler (seasons 2 and 4) Jordana Brewster as Jill Roberts (season 2) Arnold Vosloo as Vincent Smith (season 2) Chevy Chase as Ted Roark (season 2) Scott Bakula as Stephen Bartowski (seasons 2 and 3) Morgan Fairchild as Dr. Honey Woodcomb (seasons 2 and 4) Brandon Routh as Daniel Shaw (seasons 3 and 5) Kristin Kreuk as Hannah (season 3) Steve Austin as Hugo Panzer (seasons 3 and 4) Mekenna Melvin as Alex McHugh (seasons 3–5) Linda Hamilton as Mary Elizabeth Bartowski (seasons 4 and 5) Timothy Dalton as Alexei Volkoff (season 4) Mercedes Masohn as Zondra Rizzo (season 4) Lauren Cohan as Vivian McArthur (season 4) Ray Wise as Riley (season 4) Robin Givens as Jane Bentley (season 4) Richard Burgi as Clyde Decker (seasons 4 and 5) Carrie-Anne Moss as Gertrude Verbanski (season 5) Angus Macfadyen as Nicholas Quinn (season 5)
Production
Conception Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak wrote the script for the first episode, which was initially given a put pilot commitment by NBC before a pilot order was green lit by the network in January 2007. Schwartz and Fedak both attended the University of Southern California. Fedak pitched the idea to Schwartz, who agreed to develop the project with him. Joseph McGinty Nichol, Schwartz's fellow executive producer on The O.C., directed the first hour of the series and consequently became an executive producer via his production company, Wonderland Sound and Vision. Fedak, Peter Johnson, Scott Rosenbaum, Matthew Miller, and Allison Adler also serve as co-executive producers. NBC gave the series an early pick-up and a thirteen-episode order on May 10, 2007. On November 26, 2007, TV Guide reported that NBC had picked up the series for a full, 22 episode season.
Casting Zachary Levi and Adam Baldwin were the first two to be cast in February 2007 in the roles of Chuck Bartowski and veteran NSA agent Major John Casey, respectively. Fedak always had Baldwin in mind for the role of John Casey and the producers found that the actor was a "perfect fit" for the character during the first casting session. Relative newcomer Yvonne Strahovski was chosen for the female lead role of what was then CIA officer Sarah Kent in the same month. Casting continued throughout March with Sarah Lancaster, Joshua Gomez, and Natalie Martinez landing the parts of Dr. Ellie Bartowski (Chuck's older sister), Morgan Pace (Chuck's best friend), and Kayla Hart (Chuck's neighbor and love interest), respectively. The Kayla Hart character was dropped before filming because creators Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz found it unlikely and too complicated to the storyline that two women would be pining over Chuck. Morgan's surname was later changed to "Grimes" and Sarah's surname was changed to "Walker".
Filming locations Although Chuck's apartment was set in Echo Park, the pilot was shot in El Cabrillo in Hollywood. After the series was picked up, the apartment and the building's courtyard were re-created on a Warner Bros. soundstage. Aerial views throughout the show combine shots of Echo Park and El Cabrillo.
The exterior shots of the Burbank Buy More where Chuck and Morgan work are of a former Mervyn's store in the Fallbrook Mall in West Hills. The inside of the Burbank Buymore was also built on the Warner Bros. lot.
Marketing In May 2007, NBC announced that their official website would launch "MyNBC" allowing users to be more interactive with selected shows. MyNBC would allow fans to delve inside Chuck's "brain" which will host hot spots of top-secret government information that the title character possesses. It will also had bonus video features. In addition, NBC further announced in July 2007 that tie-in micro websites where fans who log onto Buy-More.net would be directed to NerdHerdHelp.com giving them access to exclusive content of the show and a blog written by the title character's best friend and sidekick, Morgan, would be launched in September 2007. NBC was expected to spend about $8 million in total promoting the show.
Reception
Ratings
Despite heavy promotion from NBC and positive critical reviews, Chuck suffered in domestic ratings due to stiff competition from established hits from ABC (Dancing with the Stars), Fox (House), and CBS (How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement) in the Monday 8:00–9:00 pm ET timeslot. Its ratings were also affected by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike in the first season and President Barack Obama's prime time news conference that led to the show being preempted for a week in the second season, shortly after NBC had done heavy promotion for the show around the Super Bowl. In May 2010, it was reported that Chuck ranked in the top 20 TV shows in the SocialSenseTV ratings report of social media interactions, measuring posts and reads on forums, blogs, and other social media over a three-month period. Season Timeslot (ET) Season premiere Season finale TV season Rank U.S. viewersin millions 1 Monday 8:00 p.m. September 24, 2007 January 24, 2008 2007–2008 #65 8.68 2 September 29, 2008 April 27, 2009 2008–2009 #71 7.36 3 January 10, 2010 May 24, 2010 2009–2010 #82 5.99 4 September 20, 2010 May 16, 2011 2010–2011 #101 5.58 5 Friday 8:00 p.m. October 28, 2011 January 27, 2012 2011–2012 #138 4.25
Critical reception