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''Chuck'' is an American
action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...
/ spy-drama television series created by
Josh Schwartz Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series '' The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known fo ...
and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named
Chuck Bartowski Charles Irving Bartowski is the title character of the American spy show ''Chuck'' on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi. UGO.com named him one of the best TV nerds. Character profile At the outset of the show, Chuck Bartowski is presented ...
, played by
Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series ''Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ext ...
, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
. 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 The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
to assign him handlers and use him on top-secret missions. Produced by
Fake Empire Productions Fake Empire Productions is the production company that was formed in 2010 by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage to develop and produce television series and feature films. Their most notable productions include the series ''Gossip Girl'' (develo ...
(known as College Hill Pictures during the first three seasons before folding afterwards),
Wonderland Sound and Vision Wonderland Sound and Vision is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature films, television and digital projects. The co ...
, and
Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...
, the series premiered on September 24, 2007, on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, airing on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m./7:00 p.m. Central. The opening theme song is a wordless edit of "
Short Skirt/Long Jacket "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" is the first single by American alternative rock band Cake from their 2001 album '' Comfort Eagle''. Lyrics and background The lyrics begin to describe an ideal fantasy woman, beginning with the simple desire for a wom ...
" by the American rock band
Cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...
. 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 Charles Irving Bartowski is the title character of the American spy show ''Chuck'' on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi. UGO.com named him one of the best TV nerds. Character profile At the outset of the show, Chuck Bartowski is presented ...
(
Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series ''Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ext ...
) is in his mid-twenties and works at Buy More, a
Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...
, consumer-electronics chain store. He is an intelligent, but unmotivated, computer service expert and works alongside his best friend,
Morgan Grimes Morgan Guillermo Grimes is a major character on the television series ''Chuck''. He is portrayed by actor Joshua Gomez, and is the best friend of Chuck Bartowski. Morgan is the manager of the Burbank Buy More. He is also an employee of Chuck and ...
(
Joshua Gomez Joshua Eli Gomez (born November 20, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role as Morgan Grimes on ''Chuck''. Career He is the younger brother of actor Rick Gomez. Gomez appeared in a recurring role in the CBS series ''Without a Trace'' ...
). He had been expelled from
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
on false charges that he cheated in one of his classes, which likely damaged his drive and morale. He lives with his sister,
Ellie Ellie, or Elly, is a given name, usually feminine. The name stands on its own or can be a shortened form of any of the numerous female names beginning with the syllable El-, in particular Eleanor or Elizabeth and Elvira. It can also be a short fo ...
(
Sarah Lancaster Sarah Lancaster (born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her long-running roles as Rachel Meyers in the NBC series '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' and Ellie Bartowski in the NBC comedy-spy series '' Chuck'', a ...
), and her boyfriend, Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb (
Ryan McPartlin Ryan John McPartlin (born July 3, 1975) is an American actor, known for his role as Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb on the NBC action-comedy series ''Chuck''. Early life McPartlin was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Steve and Lois McPartlin. He w ...
), who are doctors that constantly encourage Chuck to make progress in his professional and romantic life.
Bryce Larkin Bryce Larkin is a spy on the comedy series ''Chuck'' on NBC. Bryce is the ex-college roommate and fraternity brother"Chuck Versus the Alma Mater" of the series' main character, Chuck Bartowski, and was formerly partnered and once romantically invol ...
(
Matthew Bomer Matthew Staton Bomer (born October 11, 1977) is an American actor. He is the recipient of accolades such as a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2000, he made his television debu ...
), Chuck's former
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
roommate and now a
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA) agent, steals the Intersect, the entire merged database of the CIA and
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
(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 Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in '' Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, as well as in the television series ''Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 ...
) and CIA Officer Sarah Walker (
Yvonne Strahovski Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. Primarily noted for her roles in dramatic television, she has received numerous awards and nominations, including two Pri ...
) 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.


Cast and characters


Main cast


Recurring cast

*
Tony Todd Tony Todd (born December 4, 1954) is an American actor who made his debut as Sgt. Warren in the film ''Platoon'' (1986), and portrayed Kurn in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (1990–1991) and '' Star Trek: Deep Space N ...
as
Langston Graham Langston Graham is a fictional recurring character in the NBC television series ''Chuck''. Graham was the director of the CIA, and oversaw Operation Bartowski, a fictional top-secret project to guard Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) and the Intersec ...
(seasons 1, 2 and 5) *
Matthew Bomer Matthew Staton Bomer (born October 11, 1977) is an American actor. He is the recipient of accolades such as a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2000, he made his television debu ...
as
Bryce Larkin Bryce Larkin is a spy on the comedy series ''Chuck'' on NBC. Bryce is the ex-college roommate and fraternity brother"Chuck Versus the Alma Mater" of the series' main character, Chuck Bartowski, and was formerly partnered and once romantically invol ...
(seasons 1 and 2) *
C.S. Lee Charles Seung-hee Lee (; born December 30, 1971), known professionally as C. S. Lee, is an American actor and comedian. He is perhaps best known for playing sex-obsessed forensics analyst Vince Masuka on the Showtime drama series ''Dexter''. ...
as Harry Tang (season 1) *
Rachel Bilson Rachel Sarah Bilson (born August 25, 1981) is an American actress. Born to a Californian show-business family, Bilson made her television debut in 2003, and then landed the role of Summer Roberts on the prime-time drama series ''The O.C.'' Bils ...
as Lou Palone (season 1) * Mini Andén as Carina Miller (season 1, 3 and 4) *
Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role in the Fox comedy series ''Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth. Hale played Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy ''Veep'' from 2012 until its ...
as Emmett Milbarge (season 2 and 3) *
John Larroquette John Bernard Larroquette (; born November 25, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the NBC military drama series '' Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976–1978), the NBC sitcom ''Night Court'' (1984–1992; for which he recei ...
as Roan Montgomery (seasons 2 and 4) * Nicole Richie as Heather Chandler (seasons 2 and 4) *
Jordana Brewster Jordana Brewster (born April 26, 1980) is a Panamanian-American actress. Best known for her role as Mia Toretto in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, she made her acting debut in an episode of ''All My Children'' in 1995 and next took on the recu ...
as
Jill Roberts ''Chuck'' is an American television series developed by writer/producers Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak and is broadcast by NBC. The title character of the series is Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), an affable and anxious Nerd Herd associate at Buy ...
(season 2) *
Arnold Vosloo Arnold Vosloo (born 16 June 1962) is a South African-American actor. He is famous for roles such as Imhotep in ''The Mummy'' and ''The Mummy Returns'', Colonel Coetzee in ''Blood Diamond'', Pik van Cleef in ''Hard Target'', Dr. Peyton Westlake ...
as Vincent Smith (season 2) *
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
as Ted Roark (season 2) *
Scott Bakula Scott Stewart Bakula (; born October 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in two science-fiction television series: as Sam Beckett on ''Quantum Leap'' and as Captain Jonathan Archer on ''Star Trek: Enterprise''. For ''Quantum L ...
as
Stephen Bartowski Stephen Joseph Bartowski is a recurring character on the television series ''Chuck'' portrayed by actor Scott Bakula. Stephen is the estranged father of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski, and under the government codename "Orion" was the chief desig ...
(seasons 2 and 3) *
Brandon Routh Brandon James Routh (; born October 9, 1979) is an American actor. He portrayed Superman in the 2006 film ''Superman Returns'', which garnered him international fame. In 2011, he played the titular character of the film '' Dylan Dog: Dead of Ni ...
as
Daniel Shaw Daniel Shaw is a fictional character in the television series ''Chuck''. Shaw is introduced in the third season episode "Chuck Versus Operation Awesome" as a government agent specializing in the terrorist organization known as the Ring, and who bec ...
(seasons 3 and 5) *
Kristin Kreuk Kristin Laura Kreuk (; born December 30, 1982) is a Canadian actress. Debuting on teen drama '' Edgemont'', she became most known for her roles as Lana Lang in the superhero television series ''Smallville'' (2001–2011), also as Catherine Chand ...
as Hannah (season 3) *
Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...
as
Hugo Panzer The Ring is a major spy organization in the television series ''Chuck''. The main antagonist of the second season (after being introduced in the first), Fulcrum, is revealed in the Season Two finale to be only one part of the Ring, which then se ...
(seasons 3 and 4) *
Mekenna Melvin Mekenna Melvin (born January 23, 1985) is an American actress best known for playing Alex McHugh in ''Chuck'', Angela in '' Three Rivers'' and Stefanie Fife in ''Lie to Me''. She also co-created and starred as Amber Hannold in ''Amber Lake'', an ...
as Alex McHugh (seasons 3-5) *
Linda Hamilton Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress. She played Sarah Connor in the ''Terminator'' film series and Catherine Chandler in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–1990), for which she was nominat ...
as
Mary Elizabeth Bartowski Mary Elizabeth Bartowski (née Gunter) is a character on the television series ''Chuck''. Mary is the estranged mother of Chuck and Ellie Bartowski. She is portrayed by Linda Hamilton. Biography Few details about Mary's life have been revealed o ...
(seasons 4 and 5) *
Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama ''The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence as ...
as Alexei Volkoff (season 4) * Mercedes Masohn as Zondra Rizzo (season 4) *
Lauren Cohan Lauren Cohan (born January 7, 1982) is an American-British actress best known for her role as Maggie Greene in the AMC post-apocalyptic horror television series '' The Walking Dead'' (2011–2018; 2020–2022). Her other notable TV roles incl ...
as
Vivian McArthur ''Chuck'' is an American television series developed by writer/producers Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak and is broadcast by NBC. The title character of the series is Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), an affable and anxious Nerd Herd associate at Buy ...
(season 4) *
Ray Wise Raymond Herbert Wise (born August 20, 1947) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Leland Palmer in ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991, 2017) and its prequel film '' Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' (1992), Vice President Hal Gardner i ...
as Riley (season 4) *
Robin Givens Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') ** Bush-robin **Forest ro ...
as Jane Bentley (season 4) *
Richard Burgi Richard William Burgi (, born July 30, 1958) is an American film and television actor best known for the roles of Det. Jim Ellison on '' The Sentinel'' and as Karl Mayer on ''Desperate Housewives''. He also portrayed Paul Hornsby in the ABC day ...
as Clyde Decker (seasons 4 and 5) *
Carrie-Anne Moss Carrie-Anne Moss (born August 21, 1967) is a Canadian actress. After early roles on television, she rose to international prominence for her role of Trinity in ''The Matrix'' series (1999–present). She has starred in '' Memento'' (2000) for w ...
as Gertrude Verbanski (season 5) *
Angus Macfadyen Angus Macfadyen (born 21 September 1963) is a Scottish actor. His roles include Robert the Bruce, both in ''Braveheart'' and ''Robert the Bruce'', Komodo in ''Warriors of Virtue'', Vice-Counsel Dupont in '' Equilibrium'', Jeff Denlon in the '' ...
as Nicholas Quinn (season 5)


Production


Conception

Josh Schwartz Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series '' The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known fo ...
and Chris Fedak wrote the script for the first episode, which was initially given a
put pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
commitment by
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
before a pilot order was green lit by the network in January 2007. Schwartz and Fedak both attended the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
. Fedak pitched the idea to Schwartz, who agreed to develop the project with him.
Joseph McGinty Nichol The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadiu ...
, Schwartz's fellow executive producer on ''
The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initiali ...
'', directed the first hour of the series and consequently became an executive producer via his production company,
Wonderland Sound and Vision Wonderland Sound and Vision is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature films, television and digital projects. The co ...
. 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 TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
'' reported that NBC had picked up the series for a full, 22 episode season.


Casting

Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series ''Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ext ...
and
Adam Baldwin Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in '' Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, as well as in the television series ''Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 ...
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 Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. Primarily noted for her roles in dramatic television, she has received numerous awards and nominations, including two Pri ...
was chosen for the female lead role of what was then
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
officer Sarah Kent in the same month. Casting continued throughout March with
Sarah Lancaster Sarah Lancaster (born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her long-running roles as Rachel Meyers in the NBC series '' Saved by the Bell: The New Class'' and Ellie Bartowski in the NBC comedy-spy series '' Chuck'', a ...
,
Joshua Gomez Joshua Eli Gomez (born November 20, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role as Morgan Grimes on ''Chuck''. Career He is the younger brother of actor Rick Gomez. Gomez appeared in a recurring role in the CBS series ''Without a Trace'' ...
, and
Natalie Martinez Natalie Martinez is an American actress and model. She appeared in the 2008 film '' Death Race'', several music videos between 2003 and 2011, and two short-lived telenovelas in 2006 and 2007. Martinez starred in the single season of the crime dra ...
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 Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series '' The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known fo ...
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 Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known fo ...
, the pilot was shot in
El Cabrillo El Cabrillo is a two-story, ten-unit Spanish-style courtyard condominium building located at the southeast corner of Franklin Avenue and Grace Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The Spanish Colonial Revival style building was designed ...
in Hollywood. After the series was picked up, the apartment and the building's courtyard were re-created on a
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
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 Mervyn's was an American middle-scale department store chain based in Hayward, California, and founded by Mervin G. Morris (1920–2021). It carried national brands of clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, ...
store in the Fallbrook Mall in West Hills. The inside of the Burbank Buymore was also built on the
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
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 The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
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 ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
(''
Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
''),
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
(''
House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
''), and
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
(''
How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...
'', ''
Rules of Engagement Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...
'') 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 Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
'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 The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
. 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.


Critical reception

In its first year, Chuck received critical acclaim. ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine included the show on its fall 2007 "We Like to Watch" list, saying the show "wipes the floor with the other fall debuts".Sheffield, Rob (September 20, 2007), "We Like to Watch". ''Rolling Stone'' (1035):44 ''Chuck'' landed on ''USA Todays list of the "10 Picks for 2007" and they called Levi's performance "incredibly winning", giving the comedy three-out-of-four stars.Bianco, Robert (September 7, 2007) "10 picks for 2007". ''USA Today''. ''Chuck'' drew numerous comparisons to another critically acclaimed comedy that debuted in Fall 2007—''
Reaper A reaper is a agricultural machinery, farm implement or person that wikt:reap#Verb, reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were ...
''—which also starred a twenty-something underachiever who works in a large retail, " big-box" store (Work Bench) and is drawn into heroism against his will. As 2008 drew to a close, the show received further acclaim. In December ''Time'' magazine named the show one of the top 10 TV series of the year. It also made the year-end top 10 list of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'',
Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism an ...
's list of ''TV Shows We Wish More People Watched'', ''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...
''s ''Top TV shows of 2008'' (#4), ''
The Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper printed from 1987 to 2016, when it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainmen ...
''s ''Top 10 TV Shows of the Year'' (#6), and the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'' mentions ''Chuck'' as one of the few bright spots in television in 2008. The ''Chicago Tribunes Maureen Ryan wrote that "the show pays attention to the mechanics of storytelling and doesn't just try to coast on the comedy." She continued, "
iven Iven is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Notable residents *Georg Detlev von Flemming Georg Detlev von Flemming (Polish: Jerzy Detloff Fleming) (3 March 1699 – 10 December 1771) was a ...
the level of attention paid to all those other things—emotion, suspense, plotting, character—''Chuck'' ends up being one of the TV scene's greatest pleasures at the moment." ''
Television Without Pity Television Without Pity (often abbreviated TWoP) was a website that provided detailed recaps of select television dramas, situation comedies and reality TV shows along with discussion forums. These recaps were written with sarcastic criticism an ...
's'' Angel Cohn finds ''Chuck'' to be a well-written show, saying "it features some of the smartest and most quick-witted dialogue on TV". She praises the ensemble cast and notes "while the first season was good, this show has really hit its stride in its second season." James Poniewozik of ''Time'' magazine says the show is a "delight" and that with the second season the "new episodes quickly jump back in, with higher stakes and sharper jokes." ''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...
'' Alan Sepinwall calls ''Chuck'' "the most purely entertaining show currently on television, whether you're talking network or cable." He states that "what makes ''Chuck'' so special ... is that there's a fundamental warmth and humanity underneath the jokes", with "a cast of appealing characters played by very good actors." Going into 2010, Aaron Barnhart of the ''
Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...
'' described the show's premise as "fresh, appealing and limited", expressing concern that "a lot of TV shows overstay their welcome" and fearing that in its third season the show is "about to run out of new, workable ideas". ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' called the show NBC's "best scripted hour". In an article in ''The Journal of Popular Culture'', Joseph J. Darowski recognizes the series' exploration of technology's impact on individual identity. He discusses the series' themes as a natural progression of the popular culture tradition of man-made technology encroaching first into nature, then into human bodies, and finally into human minds.


Awards and honors

Season 1 of ''Chuck'' enjoyed much formal recognition. The program was mentioned multiple times in
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
's 2007 year-in-review awards. Along with winning the honor of Best New TV Series, Sarah Walker won the award for best TV character, and Chuck and Sarah as a couple won the "Couple That We Rooted for the Most" award. ''Chuck'' was also nominated for "Best New TV Comedy Series" at the 2008
People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show, recognizing people in entertainment, voted online by the general public and fans. The show has been held annually since 1975, with the winners originally determined using Gallup Polls until ...
, which aired on January 8, 2008, but lost to ''
Samantha Who? ''Samantha Who?'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on ABC from October 15, 2007, to July 23, 2009. The series was created by Cecelia Ahern and Donald Todd, who also served as producers. Although highly rated during its first ...
'' The series stunt coordinator Merritt Yohnka won the 2007–2008
Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
for "Outstanding Stunt Coordination". ''Chuck'' was also nominated for "Outstanding Main Title Design" in 2007, but did not win. Merritt Yohnka also won the 2008–2009
Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
for "Outstanding Stunt Coordination", back-to-back wins for the same award.


Campaign for series renewal, 2009

Despite being one of the first series to be renewed by NBC for the 2008–2009 television season, ''Chuck'' was classified as a show "on the bubble" between renewal and cancellation in April 2009 after NBC decided to delay its decision on its renewal for a third season until early May. The show's second season did not improve on or maintain the audience numbers received in the first season and consistently obtained low ratings, making it one of the least-watched shows in its Monday 8:00 pm ET timeslot. Concerned that the show would not be renewed for a third season, fans launched a "Save Chuck" campaign that gained momentum with the use of social-networking websites like Twitter and Facebook. Fansite ChuckTV.net launched the first organized fan effort, the Watch/Buy/Share campaign (an idea thought up by "Chuck, vs the podcast" founder Gray Jones), on March 18, 2009; a letter writing campaign was later added to the effort. The week of April 6, 2009, television blogger Kath Skerry changed the name of her website GiveMeMyRemote.com to GiveMeMyChuck.com and used Twitter to notify her readers to support the show, prompting television columnists Alan Sepinwall of ''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...
'', Maureen Ryan of ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' and Josef Adalian of '' TelevisionWeek'' to write ''Chuck''-related news on their websites and Twitter feeds. Sepinwall also wrote an open letter to NBC on reasons for renewal, while Ryan encouraged fan support by listing the various ways they could contribute to the campaign to save ''Chuck''. One fan, Wendy Farrington, was inspired by a product placement in second-season episodes to organize a campaign to purchase "Footlong"
submarine sandwich A submarine sandwich, commonly known as a sub, hoagie ( Philadelphia metropolitan area and Western Pennsylvania English), hero ( New York City English), Italian ( Maine English), grinder (New England English), wedge (Westchester, NY), or a spuc ...
es from Subway on the air date of the second-season finale. This movement gained support from various cast and crew members, with actor
Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series ''Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ext ...
seen leading hundreds of fans to a Subway restaurant in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England. Members of the show's cast and crew participated in a special "rally cry" episode of Chuck vs the Podcast on April 24, 2009, just before the season finale, to encourage fans to keep the campaign going and thank them for their support. On the campaign, co-creator
Josh Schwartz Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series '' The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known fo ...
remarked that it "has been one of the most amazing experiences of islife to witness—and certainly the most creatively gratifying". Other fan efforts include the "Have a Heart, Renew ''Chuck''" campaign, involving ''Chuck'' fans donating money to the
American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...
on behalf of NBC. By the NBC
Upfront ''UpFront'' is a current affairs discussion, debate and analysis programme on Al Jazeera English. The show premiered on 4 September 2015 shortly after Al Jazeera moved into their new Washington D.C. hub. The show has a politics focus although othe ...
on May 19, 2009 over $17,000 was raised. The campaign also prompted press and media coverage, with ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' calling ''Chuck'' the "most discussed bubble show online". Linda Holmes, writing for
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, noted the support the campaign has received from both fans and critics, and comments: "It's very common for chasms to open between critics and viewers... But here, critics find themselves passionately advocating for something that's extraordinarily enjoyable to watch." James Poniewozik of ''Time'' magazine wrote about the efficacy of save-this-show columns and fan protests, saying, "The sad fact of advertising-supported television is that, unlike cable, it still rewards breadth, not depth, of viewership. Four million people who watch a show really hard are still just four million people to an ad buyer. Unless they spend money." He stated that the "Finale & Footlong" campaign was a far more effective way to demonstrate support since Subway is one of the show's major sponsors. However, Josh Bernoff of ''
Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...
'' remarks, "Thousands of visible, loyal viewers does not equal millions of actual viewers. Objects in the groundswell may be smaller than they appear. People who congregate online are not a representative sample." In support of the show,
Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...
sent more than 1,000 packs of its Wonka Nerds candies to NBC after Josh Schwartz made such a suggestion to fans in an April 20, 2009 interview with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. Additionally, ''Chuck'' won the annual "Save Our Shows" poll by ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'' in which 43,000 people voted, topping the poll with 54% of respondents favoring renewal, beating other bubble shows such as ''
Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...
'' (45%) and ''
Without a Trace ''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...
'' (41%). The petition campaigns were also mentioned on the May 12, 2009 episode of ''
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''. NBC's decision to renew the show for a thirteen-episode third season was announced on May 17, 2009. At that time, both NBC's
Ben Silverman Benjamin Noah Silverman (born August 15, 1970) is an American media executive. He is the co-CEO and chairman of the entertainment production company Propagate. From 2007–2009, Silverman served as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universa ...
and co-creator Chris Fedak confirmed that there was an option nine more episodes. Although Silverman said that NBC was not looking to lower costs, Schwartz said that series production studio Warner Bros. Television had asked the producers to make budget cuts to meet a decrease in the license fee by NBC. Silverman, Fedak and Schwartz promised that the show's quality would not be impacted. By October 28, 2009 NBC had picked up an additional six episodes for a total of 19 episodes in Season 3.


Series renewal, 2010

Questions about the series' continued viability began before the third season aired. Just hours before the third-season premiere, when asked whether NBC suddenly moving
Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...
out of primetime lowered the bar for ''Chuck'', NBC chairman Jeff Gaspin replied, "I wouldn't say the bar's lower, but we obviously have less choice at the moment, so he's got a better shot." When asked about the series' chances of being renewed for a fourth season and whether fans would have to step in again, Angela Bromstad replied, "Well, it's got to maintain, and it depends on development," but said that the show is a "pleasant surprise, and they're doing great work." The ratings for ''Chuck'' slipped, falling to a series-low 1.9 demo for two weeks running as of the 11th episode of the season, " Chuck Versus the Final Exam." The "TV By The Numbers" website reported on March 23, 2010 that this was "below the ratings level that would indicate likely renewal" despite the overall ratings difficulties that NBC was facing. However, on March 30, 2010, the season's 12th episode, "
Chuck Versus the American Hero "Chuck Versus the American Hero" is the 12th episode of the third season of ''Chuck''. It first aired on March 29, 2010. Chuck is given a week's paid leave before being sent on his first mission as a real agent, and chooses to use that time in an ...
" saw an increase to a 2.1 share and a 0.2 million viewer rise. ''Chuck'' was also a contestant in E!'s online Save One Show contest for the second year running, where it won with 52% of the vote. The runner up was ''One Tree Hill'', which garnered 20% of the vote. On May 13, 2010, it was announced that ''Chuck'' had been renewed by NBC for a fourth season. The season received a 13-episode order with an option of an additional nine episodes. The fourth season premiered during NBC's fall 2010 schedule. It retained its current timeslot. The premiere episode of the fourth season was titled "
Chuck Versus the Anniversary "Chuck Versus the Anniversary" is the fourth season premiere of ''Chuck''. It originally aired September 20, 2010. When the CIA gains control over the Buy More, Chuck Bartowski begins searching for his mother (Linda Hamilton). Sarah and Casey f ...
", and aired on September 20. Season four guest starred
Linda Hamilton Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress. She played Sarah Connor in the ''Terminator'' film series and Catherine Chandler in the television series ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1987–1990), for which she was nominat ...
,
Dolph Lundgren Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in ''Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...
,
Harry Dean Stanton Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including '' Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Kelly's Heroe ...
,
Olivia Munn Lisa Olivia Munn (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress and former television host. After an internship at a news station in Tulsa, she moved to Los Angeles where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming netwo ...
,
Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...
,
Dave Batista David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his port ...
, Summer Glau,
Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama ''The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence as ...
and
Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...
. It was announced on October 19, 2010 that NBC had ordered an additional 11 episodes of ''Chuck'', bringing the episode total for Season 4 to 24. Speculating on the possibility of a fifth season,
Yvonne Strahovski Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. Primarily noted for her roles in dramatic television, she has received numerous awards and nominations, including two Pri ...
(Sarah Walker) commented that she felt "... he chancesare pretty good, I will be surprised if we don't get a season five." Her co-star Adam Baldwin (John Casey) concurred.


Series renewal, 2011

It was announced on May 13, 2011 that ''Chuck'' would be renewed for a fifth, and final, season consisting of thirteen episodes, set to premiere on October 21, 2011. The show was moved from Monday and aired on Friday nights, in what some consider to be a
Friday night death slot The "Friday night death slot" or "Friday evening death slot" is a perceived graveyard slot in American television. It implies a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings (typically, between 8:00 and 11:00 p.m. ET) ...
. The premiere was later pushed a week later to October 28.


Broadcast and distribution


Broadcast history

The first showing of the pilot occurred on July 27, 2007 at
Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is c ...
in San Diego. The series was originally slated to air on Tuesday nights at 9/8c as announced at the 2007
upfronts In the television industry, an upfront is a gathering at the start of important advertising sales periods, held by television network executives and attended by major advertisers and the media. It is so named because of its main purpose, to allow ...
but this was later changed to Monday nights at 8/7c as announced during the 2007
Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts app ...
summer press tour. The season premiere aired on September 24, 2007 on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. The pilot was leaked onto
torrent Torrent or torrents may refer to: * A fast flowing stream Animals * Torrent duck, a species of the family Anatidae * Torrent fish * Torrent frog, various unrelated frogs * Torrent robin, a bird species * Torrent salamander, a family of s ...
websites on July 22, 2007. All thirteen episodes produced before the
2007 Writers Guild of America strike 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, ...
have aired. The last two episodes of the original thirteen aired on January 24, 2008, with episode 12 airing at 8/7c and episode 13 at 10/9c, three days after they aired in Canada. Despite receiving a full season pickup, the first season contained only thirteen episodes; production was stalled due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. Season Two premiered on September 29, 2008. While the series originally had a 13 episode order, NBC ordered another nine, ensuring the series would get the full 22-episode treatment. The theme song is "
Short Skirt/Long Jacket "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" is the first single by American alternative rock band Cake from their 2001 album '' Comfort Eagle''. Lyrics and background The lyrics begin to describe an ideal fantasy woman, beginning with the simple desire for a wom ...
" by
Cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...
. On February 2, 2009, ''Chuck'' broadcast a full-length
3D television 3D television (3DTV) is television that conveys depth perception to the viewer by employing techniques such as stereoscopic display, multi-view display, 2D-plus-depth, or any other form of 3D display. Most modern 3D television sets use an ...
episode. The episode was broadcast using the
ColorCode 3-D ColorCode 3-D is an anaglyph 3D stereoscopic viewing system deployed in the 2000s that uses amber and blue filters. It is intended to provide the perception of nearly full colour viewing with existing television, digital and print mediums. Danish c ...
stereoscopy system, and could be viewed by wearing a pair of glasses distributed as part of a national promotion for the movie " Monsters Vs. Aliens", which was sponsored by Intel. Season 4 appeared on the fall lineup and later received an order for 11 additional episodes on October 18, 2010. Season 1-3 were broadcast on
Virgin 1 Channel One was a British short-lived television channel owned and operated by Virgin Media Television and then Sky plc. The channel was launched on 1 October 2007 at 21:00 on Freeview, Virgin Media and Sky as Virgin1, replacing Ftn. The c ...
in the UK and Season 4 on
Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witness. ...
. In June 2022, all series became available on
ITV Hub ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV plc, ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital Channels, ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The serv ...
.


Online distribution

In an aggressive marketing campaign by NBC, the pilot episode was released across a broad range of media from satellite broadcasting to popular
social networking A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
websites such as Facebook, shown on
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.
flights, freely distributed on
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...
on about 30 cable and satellite systems including
Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
,
Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
,
Cox Communications Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
and
Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
, on
Yahoo Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...
, and from Amazon Unbox. Also, prior to the airing of ''Chuck'' in the United Kingdom, the pilot episode was released as a free temporary download on iTunes. A full week before the second season's U.S. premiere, iTunes offered a free download of the first episode as a 'pre-air premiere'. This promotion was also available on the Xbox Live Marketplace. ''Chuck'' can also be seen on
Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...
's
On Demand On-demand or on demand may refer to: Manufacturing * Build-on-demand * Just-in-time manufacturing, a methodology for production * Print on demand, printing technology and business process in which new copies of a document are not printed until an ...
service in association with Warner TV All episodes of Seasons 1 through 5 are available for purchase in the U.S. at the
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
,
PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
,
Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pri ...
, and
Xbox Live Marketplace Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace) is a digital distribution platform used by Microsoft's Xbox Series X, S, Xbox One and Xbox 360 video game consoles. The service allows users to download or purchase video games (including both ...
.


Home media

Both the DVD and
Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...
box sets are distributed by
Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video ...
. The DVD and Blu-ray Disc box sets of ''The Complete First Season'' contain the same special features: deleted scenes ("Declassified Scenes"); "Chuck's World—an inside look at character development and casting sessions"; "Chuck on Chuck"—commentaries by
Zachary Levi Zachary Levi Pugh ( ; born September 29, 1980) is an American actor. He received critical acclaim for starring as Chuck Bartowski in the series ''Chuck'', and as the title character in '' Shazam!'' and its 2023 sequel, as a part of the DC Ext ...
,
Joshua Gomez Joshua Eli Gomez (born November 20, 1975) is an American actor best known for his role as Morgan Grimes on ''Chuck''. Career He is the younger brother of actor Rick Gomez. Gomez appeared in a recurring role in the CBS series ''Without a Trace'' ...
,
Josh Schwartz Joshua Ian Schwartz (born August 6, 1976) is an American screenwriter and television producer. Schwartz is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama series '' The O.C.'' which ran for 4 seasons. Schwartz is also known fo ...
and Chris Fedak; bloopers ("Chuck vs. the Chuckles"); and "Chuck's Online World—a gallery of web originated mini-featurettes". On October 28, 2009, Warner Home Video announced that the second season of ''Chuck'' would be released on January 5, 2010. Like its predecessor, ''Chuck: The Complete Second Season'' was made available in both DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats. ''Time'' magazine put the DVD on its short list for January 2010, saying "Nerd wish fulfillment doesn't get funnier than this." "The Complete Third Season" was released on September 7, 2010 on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc in Region 1 and October 25, 2010. On June 1, 2011, Warner Home Video announced that the fourth season of ''Chuck'' release date for both DVD and Blu-ray Disc was September 6, 2011, but this was changed to October 11, 2011. In February 2012 Warner Brothers announced a complete Seasons 1-5 box set available on both Blu-ray and DVD to be released May 8 in conjunction with the Season 5 box set. This box set contains 19 discs (Blu-ray) or 23 discs (DVD) and includes all special features available in current releases. In the UK, only DVD box sets are released and not Blu-ray. Chuck Season 5 was released on September 24, 2012 on iTunes in the UK with the release of the DVD box set being released less than a month later on October 15, 2012. In Australia, the complete Seasons 1-5 DVD box set became available on August 1, 2012 in conjunction with the release of the Season 5 DVD set. Chuck has also been released individually on Blu-Ray alongside the DVD releases.


Other media


Comics

Wildstorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...
, a
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...
, produced a six-issue
mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
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. A trade paperback collection was published in July 2009. 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 Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
and ''
The Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', the ...
''. (WildStorm also releases
Brian K. Vaughan Brian K. Vaughan (born July 17, 1976) is an American comic book and television writer, best known for the comic book series '' Y: The Last Man'', '' Ex Machina'', '' Runaways'', ''Pride of Baghdad'', ''Saga'', and '' Paper Girls''. Vaughan was a ...
'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.)


Charitable Reunion

On April 17, 2020, Entertainment Weekly reunited the entire cast to do a table read via Zoom of the Season 3, Episode 9. The reunion was part of EW's #UnitedAtHome campaign. It also served as a charity drive for Feeding America's COVID-19 Response Fund.


Possible film

In March 2013, Levi told ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' that
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
' use of
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
to fund previously shut-down TV series could possibly open the door for a ''Chuck'' film. However, he cited conflicts with ''Chuck'' broadcasts in other countries, such as
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, as the main reason that a film would not be started anytime soon. In March 2017, Levi told
Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program ...
that he was "working on it" (the film) and that it was a "steady but sure process". 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 Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in '' Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, as well as in the television series ''Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 ...
.


See also

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References


External links

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