First, let me say this - Chuck has officially become my new favorite comedy on television. This show crams great actors, kick-ass action scenes, explosions and nerd/geek/gamer culture and comedy all together to create a really innovative and fun show. Chuck (Zachary Levi) is a regular guy. He's part of the Nerd Herd at the Buy More computer megastore, he loves Call of Duty 4 (who doesn't?) and he hangs out with his best friend, Morgan (Joshua Gomez) all the time, both at work and home. He lives with his sister, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and her boyfriend, Devon (Ryan McPartlin) or "Captain Awesome" as Chuck calls him and his life seems pretty dull. Then, out of the blue he receives an email from his old college roommate and nemesis, Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), the guy that got him kicked out for cheating at Stanford - wrongly accused, mind you. Upon opening the e-mail, millions of images fill the screen and encoded in each image is a CIA/NSA government secret. Since Bryce stole the secrets and sent them to Chuck, then destroyed the computer, it seems Chuck is now a living version of the Intersect, a computer containing all of the secrets of the world.
Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) is CIA and formerly Bryce's partner and lover (although she keeps this on the down-low for a while) and John Casey (Adam Baldwin) is the NSA agent who shot Bryce right as he sent the email to Chuck. They both must join forces to protect Chuck at all costs, at least until a new Intersect computer is up and running.
What I love about this show is the way the characters had instant chemistry with one another. Most series seem to take at least a few episodes to fall into step, but these actors were perfect from day one. Sarah (Strahovski) is not only beautiful, looking a lot like Carrie Underwood but prettier, but she is great in the action sequences. Think Charlie's Angels and you'll get a good feel for a lot of the action-packed parts of the series. It makes sense since McG is the executive producer for Chuck as he was also for the Charlie's Angels movies, which I loved. Casey (Baldwin) is absolutely hysterical because he is forever the straight man. He loves violence, but he is so matter-of-fact about it. Best of all and completely lovable and adorable is Chuck (Zach Levi), himself. He is the everyman; at least, the everynerd. He is funny, sweet, cute, good-hearted and completely approachable in his role. But wait, there's more. You also have Tony Todd (yes, the Candyman!) as the head guy at the NSA, plus Buy More co-workers of all kinds. There's sexy tech Anna (Julia Ling), alcoholic letch Jeff (Scott Krinsky), skeezy Lester (Vic Sahay), who is priceless by the way, and last but not least, there's Chuck's Buy More arch-rival, Harry Tang (C.S. Lee). Some of you may know C.S. Lee as Matsuka on Dexter and he is fantastic in that role as well, but he is far more of an ass as Harry Tang, stealing every scene he is in. Rachel Bilson (The O.C.) even makes a few appearances as Lou, a possible love interest for Chuck. This makes sense since Josh Schwartz (The O.C. and Gossip Girl) is one of the writers for the series.
Every episode is so funny and enjoyable and also contains a really terrific selection of tunes. Let me put it to you this way. I was trying to hold off and wait for Geck0 and J.R. Nip to watch it with me, but then I went on ahead with the show myself. When I got to Episode 8, Geck0 was ready to watch, so I re-watched the first 8 episodes with him over the course of a weekend and loved every minute of it, even though I had just seen the episodes the week before. There is also a nice selection of Special Features, such as a run-down on each cast member, Declassified (Deleted) Scenes, a gag reel which is pretty damned funny, original casting sessions, plus a discussion with writers Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, and Zach Levi and Josh Gomez where they discuss their favorite scenes. Finally, there's Chuck's Online World, which is where I found my one and only problem with Chuck: The Complete First Season. Among these web-originated mini-featurettes is one called Morgan's Vlog - Movie Villains. Upon trying to view it, I found it had been replaced with the same meet the cast info on Morgan (Josh Gomez), so that was disappointing. However, I'll provide the link to Morgan's Vlog in the links section below. Aside from that, Chuck's Online World contains some funny stuff like a video where you can get to know Jeff better and also some videos showing Anna doing some sweet martial arts and sword moves. As if she wasn't already the hottest chick at Buy More, add swords to the mix!
If you like geek humor and you enjoy a good action flick, check out Chuck and I don't think you'll be disappointed. But hurry! The new season starts in a few weeks and you need to be ready.
