Chuck 2x01 - Chuck vs. The First Date

[the Dagman]

I was surprised not to see a thread on last nights second season premiere of Chuck. So I made one myself. I posted here in the Sci Fi & Fantasy forum because, well, the blatant nerd gratification contained in this series is pure fantasy.

Seeing this episode was like seeing an old friend again after a long absence. I kinda missed the guy. The show opened with a quick reestablishing of their status quo while Chuck was being held out of an open window by his ankles by actor Michael Clarke Duncan of movies The Green Mile, Armageddon, and Daredevil. After a little bit of spy stuff the opening credits rolled with a notable change from last season: the cast members that play Chuck's fellow BuyMore employees have been added, including their own animations. I won't go into more for fear of spoiling the episode for those that missed it. If you did miss it, you can still watch it here: http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/

I will say this though: Morgan's solution to the task Chuck set for him this episode had me laughing so hard I nearly shit myself. That one bit alone is worth the 42 minutes of watching the episode.

I rated this episode an Awesome. Great way to open the season running, picking right up from last season's strike shortened run. I will be watching this week after week.

Thoughts?

 

[RoJoHen]

Awesome: I was very impressed with this episode.

I loved last season. It's such a fun show, and it has so much heart, and I'm glad that they didn't lose any of that with this season's premiere.

I do miss the Weinerlicious, but Sarah's frozen yogurt slow-motion intro was awesome.

Also, between Chuck and Firefly, I have developed a heterosexual man-crush on Adam Baldwin.

 

[Othello]

Above average. I really enjoyed this show. Looks like the ratings weren't very good though.

 

[Roshi]

Foux du Fafa by Flight of the Conchords made me laugh out loud!

 

[Obiwanshinobi]

hate to correct you, but its actually Michael Clark Duncan, not Robert.

 

[the Dagman]

hate to correct you, but its actually Michael Clark Duncan, not Robert.

D'oh! Post corrected. Somehow I was crossing his name with that of the actor who played Tom Paris. How, I don't know. Brain fart?

It looks like NBC is trying to give this show a real push. They are rerunning the episode on both Saturday AND Sunday this weekend (9PM Sat on NBC, 5PM Sunday on Bravo).

 

[RoJoHen]

^Well, Robert Duncan McNeil (Tom Paris) is the producer of Chuck.

 

[davejames]

Yeah I was kinda worried NBC would make a bunch of changes to it (like ditching the other BuyMore employees or making it more of a serious action show), but thankfully everything seemed exactly the same.

My favorite part was seeing Chuck wake up to the BTTF song.

 

[RoJoHen]

^I was watching it with 2 of my friends, and we all laughed so hard when that happened.

 

[Cain]

I really love this show. It's just a great popcorn TV show. The premise is still stupid and Morgan is still annoying. But, the execution is just fantastic. I really like the trio of Casey, Sarah, and Chuck. Loved Casey's fireplace shooting gallery. Chuck and his sister's relationship do a good job of grounding the show.

It just goes to show that you can take a dippy premise and make a great show out of it if you have great characters and fun with it. Some shows just can't pull that off. <cough> Knight Rider <cough>

 

[davejames]

^ Ha ha, no kidding. A consistent tone and witty writing helps a lot too.

 

[Sheep]

I gave it an "Above Average".

The show's never going to win any awards but it's an extremely fun 42 minutes of television which is more than I'd say for most of the dreck typically found on the boob tube.

 

[the Dagman]

You guys had to love the Thunderdome battle for the assistant manager's job. IMO, that just edged out the BTTF moment of waking up to "Power Of Love".

 

[RoJoHen]

Absolutely. It was damn hilarious.

 

[Dale]

I love Chuck. It's fun.

 

[Skywalker]

God, I love this show. I so wish they'd been able to do a full season last year. Now I'm worried we won't get one this year, either, after seeing the ratings.

 

[ancientone51]

Loved it. I know there must be a dozen jokes I missed, being an ol' codger, but man it's FUN!! anyway.

Love Adam Baldwin as well.

Just a fun time all around. And since we are getting a DVR system I won't have to miss it because of Monday night rehersals!!!

 

[witchie]

Above Average.

So many good things.

1) Nuts and More: Capt Awesome is awesome.

2) Casey's pinwheel bulls' eye

3) Morgan and Call to Duty

4) No more Weinerlicious.

5) The interviews.

6) Welcome to the Thunderdome!

7) Colt..."I was going for intimidating."

8) "Is that a Crown Vic?"

So much fun.

Although, the ratings weren't stellar. Chuck won the key demographics. It's not going anywhere.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I didn't get into Chuck in S1 but I caught most of the episodes on DVD and it grew on me - the BuyMore antics didn't seem so grating after a while, and Zachary Levi is perfectly cast in the lead role and his performance alone makes this show worthwhile.

This episode was above average, but I can't really give a series this episodic the highest marks because that dang reset button is always so frustrating and hackneyed. Granted, it would have been hard to plausibly stretch out the plotline whereby Casey is trying to whack Chuck, but it wouldn't have been bad to see them try, for two-three episodes?

Now that Chuck and Sarah are clearly in loooove, what's keeping them from having sex? The CIA wouldn't care about that, just about the problem of emotional entangelments, but that horse is out of the barn. They should lose the idiotic UST angle, which was one of the elements I found underwhelming when I originally tried watching the show - Sarah's an ice princess, poor Chuck, ho hum. Well at least that nonsense is history. The real point here is for them to keep their emotional connection secret so Sarah isn't summarily re-assigned.

I will say this though: Morgan's solution to the task Chuck set for him this episode had me laughing so hard I nearly shit myself.

Weird, I found it incredibly annoying - the BuyMore stuff is just too goofy. Over-the-top spyjinks are tolerable by comparison.

 

[Kelso]

Awesome!

So, the wiener-chick is no longer the wiener-chick. That sucks... but the tank top makes up for it. Gawd, that woman is hot.

I love Chuck's boss. That guy is a riot. Hell, I love the entire Buy-More crew.

I never would have believed it... but Chuck has become one of my favorite (current) shows. It's just so much fun.