SERIES PREMIERE, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 @ 8PM ON NBC
For my first review I want everyone to know that I'm going to keep it short and to the point. So many blogs are pages and pages and pages long and most of us really don't have the time to sit there reading 22 pages. So I'm going to start with shorter posts and if you would like more just let me know.
Through a friend I am generally able to get an opportunity to watch the new shows on NBC about 2 months before they air on tv. This year is no exception although I am a bit behind.
Last night I sat down and popped "Chuck" into my DVD player. Usually I know all about a show before I watch it but this time I heard absolutely nothing about this show. I went in blind, only knowing that it was a 1-hour drama I was about to watch.
As it turns out, the show was decent. Now I've watched enough shows over the years to know that it's never really possibly to peg exactly how a show will fare when everyone else watches it but I think NBC has a decent shot of a moderately rated show with this one.
Pilots are never perfect and this one certainly wasn't. It's basically a story about a geek who works at "Buy More" for the "Nerd Herd," a help desk that runs out of the store helping customers with electronics problems (Sound familiar to anyone? Possibly remind you of any store we all know and love?). Well, it turns out that our main character Chuck is an engineering genius who never got along with his college roommate. His college roommate was not only an engineering genius also (and smarter than Chuck) but had the looks and the physical traits that unfortunately every woman wants. Chuck has no idea but his college roommate is now a spy for the CIA. Just after stealing all the U.S. governments secrets he emails them to Chuck just before he's killed. Unknowingly, Chuck opens his former roommates email (Chuck hadn't heard from or spoken to him since college) and somehow downloads all the information into his brain. The governments goes after Chuck to find out where he has this information but in the end Chuck ends up working for the government when they find out he can access all the information in his head and find patterns that can be used to stop terrorists. And so we have our show...
The pilot suffers from many problems. First, it never ever addresses how in the world Chuck downloaded ALL of the U.S. governments secrets into his head just by looking at them and in only a matter of hours. Second, although the show does have comedic moments (which I think separates it from other cheesy drama's), it turns some of the dialogue into boring, pathetic, "I can't believe they actually wrote those words for the actors to say" statements. Now I don't know about you but when I hear characters talk like they're coming straight out of a cartoon for 3 year olds I can't stand it.
But in the end the show does have some redeeming qualities. The show actually has potential in the storyline if they can straighten out some of the dialogue and get rid of some of the ridiculous and cheesy, action shots they use here and there. Also, they cast Sarah Lancaster as Chuck's sister Ellie. I'm a big fan of Sarah's and any show with her in the cast will at least get a chance from me. Further, this isn't just a straight up drama; there actually a few funny moments. If this was just a plain-old drama I wouldn't even think about checking out episode #2. Lastly, Yvonne Strahovski as Chuck's possible love interest and CIA agent Sarah Walker, is gorgeous, very sexy, and brings some excitement to the show. Her chemistry with Zachary Levi (a.k.a. Chuck) is instantaneous and makes you want to see more.
For now, I say watch. Give it a chance and keep an open mind. The writing should come around as the episodes progress.
Through a friend I am generally able to get an opportunity to watch the new shows on NBC about 2 months before they air on tv. This year is no exception although I am a bit behind.
Last night I sat down and popped "Chuck" into my DVD player. Usually I know all about a show before I watch it but this time I heard absolutely nothing about this show. I went in blind, only knowing that it was a 1-hour drama I was about to watch.
As it turns out, the show was decent. Now I've watched enough shows over the years to know that it's never really possibly to peg exactly how a show will fare when everyone else watches it but I think NBC has a decent shot of a moderately rated show with this one.
Pilots are never perfect and this one certainly wasn't. It's basically a story about a geek who works at "Buy More" for the "Nerd Herd," a help desk that runs out of the store helping customers with electronics problems (Sound familiar to anyone? Possibly remind you of any store we all know and love?). Well, it turns out that our main character Chuck is an engineering genius who never got along with his college roommate. His college roommate was not only an engineering genius also (and smarter than Chuck) but had the looks and the physical traits that unfortunately every woman wants. Chuck has no idea but his college roommate is now a spy for the CIA. Just after stealing all the U.S. governments secrets he emails them to Chuck just before he's killed. Unknowingly, Chuck opens his former roommates email (Chuck hadn't heard from or spoken to him since college) and somehow downloads all the information into his brain. The governments goes after Chuck to find out where he has this information but in the end Chuck ends up working for the government when they find out he can access all the information in his head and find patterns that can be used to stop terrorists. And so we have our show...
The pilot suffers from many problems. First, it never ever addresses how in the world Chuck downloaded ALL of the U.S. governments secrets into his head just by looking at them and in only a matter of hours. Second, although the show does have comedic moments (which I think separates it from other cheesy drama's), it turns some of the dialogue into boring, pathetic, "I can't believe they actually wrote those words for the actors to say" statements. Now I don't know about you but when I hear characters talk like they're coming straight out of a cartoon for 3 year olds I can't stand it.
But in the end the show does have some redeeming qualities. The show actually has potential in the storyline if they can straighten out some of the dialogue and get rid of some of the ridiculous and cheesy, action shots they use here and there. Also, they cast Sarah Lancaster as Chuck's sister Ellie. I'm a big fan of Sarah's and any show with her in the cast will at least get a chance from me. Further, this isn't just a straight up drama; there actually a few funny moments. If this was just a plain-old drama I wouldn't even think about checking out episode #2. Lastly, Yvonne Strahovski as Chuck's possible love interest and CIA agent Sarah Walker, is gorgeous, very sexy, and brings some excitement to the show. Her chemistry with Zachary Levi (a.k.a. Chuck) is instantaneous and makes you want to see more.
For now, I say watch. Give it a chance and keep an open mind. The writing should come around as the episodes progress.
No comments:
Post a Comment