Buy More-related stories
Zachary Levi previews the new season of Chuck (and thanks fans)
If you haven't heard, Chuck returns on January 10! For a while it looked like it wouldn't come back at all and then it looked like it might be a late spring return or even a - gasp! - summer run, but it's back in January (and with more eps than originally thought). Here's a sneak peek of season three featuring Zachary Levi.
New Chuck poster unveiled
I haven't watched the season finale of Chuck since it aired, but didn't both Chuck and Morgan quit the Buy More? I was wondering that as I looked at this new poster for the new season. It shows Chuck in his shirt and name tag and Morgan standing in his outfit with the Buy More gang. It's a cool poster though (here's a giant version of the pic). Looks a lot like a poster for a 70s movie. NBC has renewed the series for 13 episodes.
Chuck: Chuck Versus the Colonel
(S02E21) If you were waiting all season long for an episode this power-packed, you finally got your heart's desire. You wanted action; you got it. Story line development? Check. More about Sarah and Chuck? Casey in the middle of everything? Guest stars? References to pop culture and old movies? Morgan's deepest dreams revealed? Yep. This was the episode for you. The penultimate Chuck for season two -- and hopefully not the next to last of all time -- was perhaps the best episode of the year.For sheer dynamics, the team was not working together. Casey, who was promoted and thus became the colonel of the title, was put in the tough position of having to apprehend Chuck and Sarah. Since they all know each other so well, there was no advantage on either side, and Chuck's emotional appeal about finding his father seemed to have little effect on Casey.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the First Kill
(S02E20) Trust. Five little letters that represent so, so much. For Chuck, trust has been key to his agreeing to be the American government's good little intersect. He's gone along with all the dangerous assignments, put his life on the line, lied to his friends and family, and every step of the way, he's trusted that Casey and Sarah and the General are working for the country's best interest, and by extension, his best interest.
After convincing the General that the only way to keep Fulcrum from getting their own intersect, the one not in Chuck's head, was to steal back Orion before he succeeds in building another unit. The fact that Orion was also Steve Bartowski -- Chuck's primary objective, i.e. "get back dad" -- was evident. However, for appearances, he let the team believe that he believed saving the interset was the most important thing.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the Dream Job
(S02E19) Chuck, Chuck, Chuck. Just when you think you're on the verge of getting answers, you wind up with a lot more questions. We knew going in that Chuck had finally tracked down his father, ostensibly to fulfill Ellie's dream of having her dad walk her down the aisle at her wedding.
On the most superficial level, Chuck achieved his goal. He did find his father, Steven J. Bartowski, but he also found all the craziness that sent him off in the first place. Only it wasn't really, really craziness. It was something far more nefarious.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the Broken Heart
(S02E18) It's time for Chuck to assert some authority. It's time to go over General Beckman's head and turn to the Commander in Chief. "Dear Mr. President: You probably don't know me, but let me start by saying I love America and I've been happy to be of service to the NSA. However, recently, I've had some questions about my place. My rights, actually. Sir, you're a lawyer. Do I have any rights at all, like privacy? Like the ability to keep my family out of my work? Not that I'm complaining, but..."
Yes, I think Chuck is in a tough spot. Things have become too close for comfort, mixing up Chuck's spy biz with his family life.
Continue reading Chuck: Chuck Versus the Broken Heart
Chuck: Chuck Versus the Predator
(S02E17) Oh my my. It seems that things are really starting to shift on Chuck. Relationships are being reassessed, Chuck is being forced into certain directions, and before this season (and hopefully not the series) ends, I expect Charles to be forever altered by the events that occur. And I think Big Mike and Morgan have bonded like father and son, which may or may not be such a good thing. More on all the developments on Chuck after the jump -- just in case you haven't watch yet.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the Beefcake
(S02E15) Chuck was in a weird place last night. The character, that is, not the show. The show picked up on a storyline from a few weeks back and set up a future episode with a new character that seemed to me a nice contrast to the Casey-Sarah-Chuck triple play. Remember "Chuck Versus the Suburbs," when Andy Richter's corpse was dragged away in a body bag? Well, he wasn't resurrected on Fringe, like one commenter suggested. No, he's dead and his body included a belt that contained some top-secret data, most importantly, the identity of the Intersect, i.e. Chuck.
The timing of the discovery couldn't be worse, though, because Chuck had just decided to "dump" Sarah as a fake girlfriend, feeling that they had no fake/real future. Of course, be careful what you wish for, Charles. More after the jump.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the Best Friend
(S02E14) Twosomes were very much the theme in this episode, not just Chuck and Morgan, but Devon and Ellie, Jeff and Lester, Morgan and Anna, and -- naturally -- Chuck and Sarah as well as Chuck and Casey. There were scenes that dealt with all these pairs and their dynamics.The case involved Anna's new boyfriend, car dealer extraordinaire Jason Wang, who caused Chuck's intersect to go off and he was involved with an Asian group of baddies called the Triad. To uncover what they were up to, the General -- whom I'm starting to really detest -- ordered Chuck to get close to Anna's boyfriend, which meant betraying Morgan.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the Suburbs
(S02E13) Memo to NBC: Idea for product placement on Chuck. All the computers and cell phones are great, but what about Excedrin, Tylenol or Advil? In this episode alone, Chuck's brain activated the Intersect so many times that he should have needed something extra strength to deal with the killer headache he had to have had when he finally got out of the top secret Fulcrum initiation lab. I was ready to reach for two tablets myself, what with all the flashing and colors and weird old stock footage. Anyway, this was the Happy Valentine's Day show, which is why last week's pre-empted episode was re-slotted so this one could land in closer proximity to the holiday. It made sense, then, for there to be some good Chuck and Sarah flirting. Not flirting with each other, just flirting with the idea of them flirting with a real relationship. It looked good there for a while. More after the jump.
Continue reading Chuck: Chuck Versus the Suburbs
Chuck: Chuck Versus Santa Claus
(S02E11) "This store has a very strict 'no bravery' policy." Chuck to Ned, gun-toting lunaticWere you expecting a cameo by Bruce Willis on Chuck tonight? I was. The moment I saw Reginald VelJohnson in cop blues as Al, I just expected that John McClane might turn up at the Buy More looking to buy an iPod for his daughter or maybe a toaster for ex-wife Holly.
Yes, the connection to Die Hard was a major theme, especially with the Buy More staff (and Chuck's family) being held hostage by Ned, a supposed down-on-his-luck schlub who ends a high speed chase through L.A. by driving his compact through the entrance of the store.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the Sensei
(S02E09) This season we've met Sarah's high school nemesis, who turned out to be a rogue spy, Chuck's ex-girlfriend, who turned out to be a rogue spy, and we had a return of Bryce, who was a spy from an opposing agency. This week, we met John Casey's former sensei, who is now a rogue spy. This brings me to a few conclusions...
First, the CIA really has a horrible retention program for its employees (most likely due to the pudding cups being eliminated from the cafeteria). Second, other than Chuck, his immediate family, and the employees at Buy More, everyone else is a rogue agent. Therefore, this little trio of agents will be eliminating the bad seeds from California for the next 22 seasons. Well, at least there's the job security.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the Gravitron
(S02E08) "You already broke my heart, is it necessary to shoot it as well?" - Chuck to JillIt must be a Thanksgiving thing because Monday night TV was tremendous. And as I mentioned in my post of thanks, I'm grateful to my DVR because in addition to enjoying this Chuck episode, I also gorged myself on How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Samantha Who, all of them excellent installments. How lucky can you get?
Well, if you're Chuck, you only get so much luck. Of all the girls in all the world, why did his first love, the lovely Jill, have to turn out to be a spy? Make that a bad girl spy.
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Chuck: Chuck Versus the Ex
(S02E06) "I'm putting my foot down...gingerly." -- ChuckI'm now officially worried about Chuck Bartowski. It wasn't the injection of poison to create the antidote to the chemical agent in the hotel conference room that frightened me this week, or the previous episodes when he faced nefarious gunmen with evil intent. The fear is emotional. The return of Jill Roberts should be signaling DefCon 4.
This was one of my favorite Chuck episodes thus far this season. It's the way all the parts fell together. There was great balance between the character development and the action, as well as the funny stuff and the serious scenes. Also, I can't help but notice that Chuck is getting a lot better at handling his CIA chores.
But I'm still worried. More about that after the jump.
Continue reading Chuck: Chuck Versus the Ex
NBC really, really believes in Chuck - in 3-D
Here at TV Squad, we often bemoan the quick cancellation of a show that deserves a chance to evolve. We've chronicled the demise of a fan favorite like Moonlight, and empathized with our readers. There have been times when we've agreed that networks spend so much time and talent developing a show that it seems a down-right shame when the plug is pulled after a half-dozen episodes. So, knowing all that, we have to acknowledge when a network does something right. NBC is bending over backwards to see to it that Chuck becomes a ratings hit, to go along with its already established and growing fan base. Creator Josh Schwartz expressed his thanks to NBC for the post- Super Bowl Chuck episode. The Super Bowl is Sunday, February 1.
"They were doing this big promotion inside of the Super Bowl and handing out 150 million 3-D glasses, so we are the beneficiaries of that. ...Chuck seemed like the best fit for that type of thing."
Continue reading NBC really, really believes in Chuck - in 3-D
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
