Well it looks like buying all of those $5 footlongs really paid off: Chuck has officially been renewed for a third season. The spy comedy hasn't always gotten the greatest ratings, in no small part because its highly-competitive Monday night timeslot, but fans all over the internet have been pushing hard for its renewal. There has been a huge outpouring of support on Twitter, where #savechuck has often been a trending topic. Even the show's star, Zachary Levi, has done his part to get Chuck back for another season. In addition to taking to his official blog to plead his case, he even showed up at a Subway (one of Chuck's biggest sponsors) to make sandwiches for fans.
There is a slight downside to the good news, however. The deal that NBC came to with Warner Brothers, who owns the series, includes budget concessions and a shortened order: 13 episodes instead of the standard 22 or so. Michael Ausiello is even reporting that the budget cuts mean we could possibly lose a cast member. Regardless, it would have been easy for Chuck to fall into the same pit that scores of other series that debuted during the Writers' strike did, and not live to see a third season at all.
Even as a fan of the show, I'll admit that Chuck wasn't always at 100%. However, the last several episodes of the season, and especially the season finale, were some of the strongest of the series' two-year history. While the finale would have been an adequate series finale, I'm much more excited to see what Chuck has in store for us this year. After all, Chuck knows Kung-Fu!
I know we have a lot of Chuck fans out there, so is this decision enough to redeem NBC, or has it made too many stupid decision lately (*cough* canceling Life *cough*) for you to forgive them? Post your thoughts below.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-17-2009 @ 9:36PM
Pinwiz said...
Chuck only was renewed for 13 episodes this season, and it was expanded to 22 before it even started airing.
I expect the same this year.
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5-17-2009 @ 10:03PM
Wii60 said...
With Medium and Law and order getting pickups though, there simply may not be enough time in the schedule to get more in thanks to Leno.
5-17-2009 @ 11:21PM
WhoElseButME said...
I really hope so. It would help to know that there are 22 eps to effect a good story line rather than 2 arcs to be built after a mid season renewal.
Also, YEAH!!!! My favorite show is back! NBC - I'll start watching Leno again ;-)
5-18-2009 @ 3:32PM
stu said...
NBC thanks for renewing Chuck. Its about the only thing youve done right the season. come on Leno at 10. canceling Life. the board at nbc must be the people on the J walking segment
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5-17-2009 @ 10:11PM
Michael said...
Maybe another show will get a third season cough Jericho cough
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5-17-2009 @ 10:28PM
bruce said...
What's with all these shows getting renewed for only 13 episodes? Do they mean an initial run of 13 to see how the ratings are, at which point they may give it an order for a full season? Or will these shows (now Chuck) only have a 13 episode season no matter how well they do?
Of course this is great news. I'm so happy that Chuck was on NBC instead of Fox, because Fox would have axed it halfway through season 1 for not bringing in American Idol numbers.
Since it will be a shorter season, and since the best Chuck episodes were the ones dealing with Fulcrum, I hope they stick with dealing with Fulcrum and the Intersect, rather than just a random bad guy of the week - those were always the weakest episodes of Chuck. Who cares if a drug dealer is in town or the Chinese triad kidnapped someone? I'd still watch it, but that's b/c I like "Chuck." I'd rather have a more interesting, substantive episode dealing with the overall premise of the show/canon, whatever you want to call it. That's particularly true with a shortened season.
If budget cuts are going to harm the show I'd just as well see it cancelled. If they decide to just focus on Chuck and no longer show what's going on with Morgan, Jeffster, et al. at the Buy More, I think that would be the end of "Chuck" for me. A few less realistic-looking helicopter crashes - okay fine. But don't lose any of the characters. My big fear is that Adam Baldwin will be away on a "secret mission" for half of the 13 episodes. Lame.
But I won't complain until I see a screwed up season 3. And right now I'm just happy that there's going to be a season 3 for them to potentially screw up. Especially with how great season 2 ended.
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5-17-2009 @ 10:39PM
Brian said...
I like shorter seasons. The UK does that, and Doctor Who's been around for like, forever!
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5-17-2009 @ 10:43PM
StillBash said...
Gawd... more of this crap... "Guys, I'm suddenly in the Matrix"
The A-Team of today is saved. Yay... *gah*
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5-17-2009 @ 11:04PM
Steve said...
Chuck Yeah!
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5-17-2009 @ 11:46PM
Susan said...
13 eps is better than none at all. I'll take it. HOORAY!!!!!
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5-18-2009 @ 1:24AM
Ravi said...
Chuck Me!I'm happy that it got renewed for a 3rd season..also,i'd really like to see Adam,Buy More & Co to come back! Something on the lines of Big Mike getting his job back?
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5-18-2009 @ 8:52AM
Josh said...
Not that I wouldn't want 22 episodes, but perhaps having a 13 episode season will allow for a tighter season arc with greater focus on overall narrative. Character disappearances, while annoying to fans, could at least be written in some cohesive fashion to the plot. I hope the writers collaborate on making the 13 episodes a strong seasonal arc for Chuck and company. Less filler is also an ancillary effect of the shorter season order. Awesome news for Chuck and its hordes of fans.
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5-18-2009 @ 9:51AM
LutherMac said...
Glad to see Chuck has survived - I will be watching NBC after all! As for the shortened seasons, I think I actually prefer having 13 episode seasons. It keeps things nice and tight without having to have tons of filler added in just to drag out the episode count. The only thing that worries me in the article is the potential cast reductions, though I'm guessing some of the Buy More staff might be cut, or at least reduced to "guest" roles...
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5-18-2009 @ 9:52AM
Argus said...
In case anyone is wondering, buzz says that the deal is officially a 13+9 deal, meaning that if it does well or remains profitable they'll pick up a back 9 episodes...
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5-18-2009 @ 10:04AM
Bill said...
I have to give credit to NBC for getting creative with the schedule. With the whole Leno thing, the network decided to bring shows back for half seasons instead of cancelling them. That gives 2 shows a spot that one show would have occupied. Glad to see Chuck returning, but does it run in the fall? Or will it return in January?
http://tvnewsandnotes.blogspot.com/
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5-18-2009 @ 10:26AM
Ian said...
I read that part of the negotiations involved deciding on whether NBC had room in the fall for Chuck. If they held it back for spring, it would lose whatever viral momentum it had.
I also heard that the shortened season of Heroes will play in the fall, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them paired again, even if its not on Monday.
5-18-2009 @ 10:23AM
Urkel said...
Dollhouse and (to a lesser extent) Chuck are shows that got saved due to the internet. A bunch of vocal people pushing for a show to get renewed despite the fact that they don't even watch it.
I guess it's good they're renewed but I don't see their ratings going any higher. I know I won't be watching either overhyped show.
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5-18-2009 @ 1:09PM
Dan said...
Chuck is NOT overhyped, it's underhyped. Hence its low ratings. It's one of the best shows on TV right now and I'm glad its been renewed. 13 episodes isn't great, but it's better than none...
Each season of The Sopranos was 13 episodes...
5-18-2009 @ 1:02PM
bkdealer said...
Yay!!!
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5-18-2009 @ 1:30PM
Walt said...
Time will tell if the reduction in costs will keep the show at the same level it's at now.
By all means, however, feel free to have some blatant product placements, and I'm not being facetious. I would even go for rival products on the same show -- impossible to do, but fun as hell if they did it.
I think Leno being on five days a week permanently is a 50-50 shot right now. The possibility of Leno skipping out on Friday nights is pretty high, but that's only after the ratings are in.
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