Chuck
My friend Jon is always trying to get me to watch TV shows. Now by-and-large the shows I have watched as a result of this have been good (Firefly, Doctor Who, Politically Incorrect, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) with the odd exception (Dead like Me). It’s not that I don’t want to give Jon’s shows a chance; it’s just that I have other things I like to do. For example I enjoy shows he has yet to fully discover like Dragon’s Den, Chef!, and The Sarah Jane Adventures. But every now and then I find myself with the opportunity to check out one of his shows. In the past he has had to almost literally tie me down and force me to watch pilots like Firefly and Doctor Who but others I get around to on my own like Dead Like Me, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, and Politically Incorrect although Jon’s growing queue of things he thinks I need to watch is so large he often forgets that I do on occasion go into this willingly. Just the other day I tried giving a couple more episodes of Battlestar Galactica a try – it didn’t really gel with me.
Enter Chuck. A show I recently became somewhat curious about once the commercials actually started explaining the premise of the show. It’s been on since 2007 but I swear I only just got an inkling as to what it was about 6 months ago. I suppose Jon saw an opportunity to strike – he had the first season of Chuck on Blu-ray and I got an HD setup on Boxing Day which he knew I’d be itching to use to death. Jon also had a huge ally in Chuck as its regular cast includes Adam Baldwin (Firefly), is produced and frequently directed by Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris), and has several guest stars I enjoy like Tony Todd (TNG, DS9, 24), John Fleck (Enterprise, DS9, TNG), James Hong (Seinfeld, The Big Bang Theory, The King Of Queens, The West Wing), Rachel Bilson (The O.C.), Julia Ling (Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip), and Rick Hoffman (Knight Rider).
“The O.C.?” I know you’re thinking it so I better address it now before you get distracted and leave snarky (but not entirely undeserved) comments – get out in front of it sort of thing. Yes, I was a confused bachelor with limited television channels for a year…I don’t want to talk about it. I even watched most of The Princes of Malibu but that was largely because I saw it as a parody of reality TV since it was pretty much totally staged. You can’t begin to plumb the complexities of me.
Anyways, back to Chuck. Yesterday we sat down and watched the first 10 episodes straight, with only a pause to make dinner and another to put the kid to bed – we didn’t even stop when Jon himself called. I must say I like living in the 24-era of television where movie-level production values from writing to special effects to acting can be seen on broadcast TV. Even the title sequence is great – we giggle a little when that little guy falls out of Chuck’s nose and when he rides the bullet. One thing I really appreciate is that the characters don’t really stay static – there’s evolution and arcs that make them three dimensional. Overall I am very pleased and impressed with this show. I highly recommend it, you know, if you have the time.
Jon will likely be insufferably pleased with himself now. That’s okay, just so long as he doesn’t think he’s on a roll or anything and tries to force more stuff on me anytime soon – I have lots of Chuck and Knight Rider to catch up on at the moment.
As for Battlestar Galactica I think reading the Wikipedia page will be enough to satisfy my curiosity – the few episodes I caught the other day were laboriously slow paced for my tastes.
And don’t think this relationship goes entirely in one direction – I got this kid hooked on 24 and Lie To Me.
