Back Cover
Chuck Bartowski, ace computer geek at the BuyMore, is not in his right mind. That’s a good thing. Ever since he unwittingly downloaded stolen government secrets into his brain, action, excitement and a cool secret-agent girlfriend have entered his life. It’s a bad thing, too. Because now Chuck is in danger 24/7.
Excecutive producers Josh Schwartz (The OC, Gossip Girl) and McG (Charlie’s Angels, We Are Marshall) merge techno-gadgetry, maritial-arts, smackdowns, narrow escapes and gorgeious spies in short shorts into this action comedy about a millennium Everyguy. It’s “Get Smart for a 24 world” (Troy Patterson, SLATE).
Movie Review
Looking for a pleasant addition in your TV viewing rotation? Chuck may be that very show. Chuck is the epitome of a high concept show. If you can work past the paper thin premise, where the entire contents of a combined NSA/CIA supercomputer are downloaded via the attached images in an email into a person’s brain, the rewards of acceptance are great. For Chuck succeeds in spite of this premise because of the cast and the chemistry they have together. The various elements of the show add up to create an elusive quality that cannot be manufactured but only can arise organically.
Charm.
Charm is that elusive quality. For Chuck that comes from the winning portrayal of the title character by Zachary Levi. Levi brings the right mix of geek and unaware capability to the role. He gets to demonstrate that through the interactions he has with the rest of the cast. Levi comes off as a mix of Dick Van Dyke and John Ritter as Chuck.
Replete with pocket protector and Converse shoes Chuck is for all the world a geek and under-achiever. He is the lead tech for the Nerd Herd Computer Tech Support Team for a Best Buy like electronics chain – the Buy More. To those that know him its obvious to all of them that Chuck is capable of so much more. Wrongfully expelled from Stanford University in his senior year and dumped by his girl at the same time, Chuck has limped back home to live with his sister and her boyfriend, both of whom are doctors.
Saddled with a major confidence crisis, Chuck needs a major catalyst to shake him out of his current situation. And that catalyst comes in the form of an email that downloads encrypted data into Chuck’s brain through images comprised of thousands of pieces of information from an integrated network of government computers known as the Intersect. The Intersect is destroyed and Chuck is the sole repository of all that data. Data that he can flash onto when Chuck sees things that are linked to the Intersect.
Forced to live a dual life as an agent of the government Chuck is paired up with two field operatives Casey and Sarah. As Chuck notes Sarah is the beauty and Casey is, well, the beast. Sparks fly between Sarah and Chuck while Casey grates at Sarah’s conflicted professional and personal feelings. The conflicts between Chuck’s two worlds and the difficulty he and Sarah have in separating their real and fake relationship as a couple provide the tension and humour which powers the show.
Crave Factor – 8
Video
The show is shot digitally so it lacks the warmth that film provides. It is clear and natural looking especially in terms of flesh tones. Colours are bright and vibrant. Black levels tend to be a bit crushed which is probably due to the limitations of the video format being used.
All in all it makes for an enjoyable viewing experience.
Crave Factor – 8
Audio
As with most TV productions the soundtrack is somewhat subdued in terms of directionality. Dialogue is locked into the front channel with the main speakers used for ambient sound. The surrounds come into play for background sound too but are used mostly for the score and soundtrack. LFE is light.
Crave Factor – 7
Extras
Special Features
Declassified Scenes
Chuck on Chuck: Series Stars Join Creators for Some Point/Counterpoint
Chuck’s World: Character Development and Original Casting Sessions
Chuck Vs. the Chuckles: Gag Reel
Chuck’s Online World: Gallery of Web-Originated Mini-Featurettes
Also includes EA SPORTS’ Madden NFL 09 Demo on Xbox 360
Deleted scenes are found on each disc. Most supply some additional character beats but any with actor CS Lee as BuyMore Assistant Manager Harry Tang are definitely worth checking out. The Tang character is gold but unfortunately a conflict with Dexter forced him to be written out.
The third disc contains character profiles and screen tests for the main cast.
Disc four has some the following features:
Chuck Vs Chuck: a twenty-seven minute coffee table discussion where series stars Zachary Levi and Jonathon Gomez compare favourite moments from Season One with co-creators and head writers Josh Schwartz and Crhis Fedak. Its a fun and congenial bit with the four participants having a great time.
Chuck Vs The Chuckles: a collection of bloopers that are actually pretty funny for a change.
Chuck’s Online World: links to various online NBC sites.
Crave Factor – 8
Menu & Packaging
The first season of Chuck is packaged in a outer cardboard sleeve. The DVD case is translucent white. The four discs which make up the writer’s strike shortened first season are housed in a digipack with two flaps.
The 13 episodes of the writer’s strike shortened first season are spread over 4 discs. The menu layout is the same for each disc.
Done in PunchOut Letter Style each menu has the following options:
Play: plays all episodes
Episodes: allows episode selection
Declassified Scenes: access to deleted scenes – discs 1 & 2
Special Features: access to extras and deleted scenes – discs 3 & 4
Languages: Spoken languages of English and Spanish, subtitles for English, French, Spanish, and Chinese.
Note: there are chapter skips but they are only available by using your DVD player remote.
Crave Factor – 8
Conclusion & Final Thoughts
Chuck is a lightweight show that soars because of a winning cast that adroitly mixes action, comedy, and romance all peppered with geek/pop culture references throughout.
The show is into its second season and has come out of the gate at a vastly higher level. The extra layoff, because of the writer’s strike, has been put to great use. The show is really running on cylinders and a good time is guaranteed for all.
