(September
24th, 2007. - Editor)
Zachery Levi, Yvonne Strzechowski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez
and Sarah
Lancaster star
in the action comedy Chuck, airing Tuesdays on NBC.
A
computer
geek is catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital
secret agent when he opens an e-mail subliminally encoded with
government secrets and unwittingly downloads an entire server of
sensitive data into his brain. Now, the fate of the world lies in the
unlikely hands of a guy who works at Buy More. Instead of fighting
computer viruses, he must fight assassins and international terrorists.
With the government's most precious secrets in Chuck's head, Major John
Casey (Baldwin) of the NSA assumes the
responsibility of protecting him. His partner is the CIA's top agent
(and Chuck's first date in years) Sarah Walker (Strzechowski). They'll keep him safe by trading in his pocket
protector for a bulletproof vest.
It would be easy to pass by this effort as another attempt by
television to do a knock-off of a feature film staple, the action
comedy. Were you might be surprised is in the quality and pure fun
that writers Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak
have
brought to the first script. Once the obvious geek jokes are delivered
and the cheap laughs collected, this one kicks it up a notch and tries
for some genuine attachment between the characters, some foreshadowing
and even a little romance. That's a tall order for a guy with a pocket
protector, but this guy just might pull it off. I am reminded of
another successful action comedy, The Greatest American Hero, as I
watch the pilot episode of this series. In the former hit series,
Robert Culp played an over the top FBI guy who was so campy, the
audience loved him. Lets hope Adam Baldwin gets that message and takes
this latest version of the gung-ho fed even higher.
Star Zachery Levi has a lovable quality that should earn him
extra points with the girls, and the white shirt and very skinny frame
will allow for some physical comedy to balance out the tech jokes.
Co-star Yvonne Strzechowski has enough good looks to keep the guys
interested and enough killing power to provide action fans with a fix.
The young teens will like the action. Parents will like that the
violence is at least non-lethal. That wide audience appeal might be
the key to success for this quirky offering that does everything
possible not to fit the usual television mold.
The light competition in the time slot might help this show find and
audience that would not be possible in the heavy show traffic later in
the week. I don't see this show as the best thing on the network for
fall, but it is a good show that should find steady ratings as long as
the writers keep the comedy in general terms and avoid moving into too
much "Geek Speak".
-- Editor --
