Chuck (TV series)
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' greatest spy secrets into Chuck's brain, leading the CIA and the NSA to assign him handlers and use him on top-secret missions.[1][2] 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.[3][4] The opening theme song is a wordless edit of "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by the American rock band Cake.
Chuck
- Josh Schwartz
- Chris Fedak
"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" (Instrumental) by Cake
United States
English
5
91 (list of episodes)
- Josh Schwartz
- Chris Fedak
- Phil Laudicina
- Robert Duncan McNeill
- McG
40–46 minutes
- College Hill Pictures, Inc.
(2007–2010)
(seasons 1–3) - Fake Empire
(2010–2012)
(seasons 4–5) - Wonderland Sound and Vision
- Warner Bros. Television
September 24, 2007 –
January 27, 2012
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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] The series concluded on January 27, 2012, with a two-hour finale.[8]
Series summary[edit]
Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) is in his mid-twenties and works at Buy More, a Burbank, California, consumer-electronics chain store. 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), who are doctors that 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's 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.
Other media[edit]
Comics[edit]
Wildstorm, a DC Comics imprint, produced a six-issue mini-series written by Peter Johnson and Zev Borow (series co-executive producer and writer, respectively), with art by Jeremy Haun and Phil Noto. It started in June 2008.[125][126] A trade paperback collection was published in July 2009.[127] It also includes a public service announcement on brushing one's teeth from Captain Awesome and two gag adventures with Morgan based on film noir and The Odyssey. (WildStorm also releases Brian K. Vaughan's Ex Machina, a series which sees its main character fused with a technological structure, issue No. 39 of which is used within Chuck to conceal the Intersect Operating manual from General Beckman, Casey and Sarah for Chuck's studies from Season 2, episode No. 17 onwards.)
Possible film[edit]
In March 2013, Levi told Entertainment Weekly that Warner Brothers' use of Kickstarter to fund previously shut-down TV series could possibly open the door for a Chuck film.[129] However, he cited conflicts with Chuck broadcasts in other countries, such as Japan, as the main reason that a film would not be started anytime soon.[130] In March 2017, Levi told Larry King that he was "working on it" (the film) and that it was a "steady but sure process".[131] In March 2020, Levi told on Instagram Live session that he is still interested in making the film happen. In December 2021, Levi told Robert Littal of Black Sports Online that he would love to see a "Chuck" movie while speaking about his movie American Underdog, which starred Levi and his former Chuck co-star Adam Baldwin.[132]
