Chuck Renewed

[JD]

And remember sports fans, that timeslot for Chuck could have gone to RDM's 17th Precinct, which apparently was so incredibly bad, NBC didn't think it would have gotten SyFy level ratings on a broadcast network. Wow. Just wow.

Wait, WHAT?

Hell, I love Chuck, so happy for renewal, but what happened to 17th precinct? I wanted to watch that!

It was booted out of the running shockingly early in the pilot process. There must have been something disastrously wrong with the pilot. I heard it was "information overload" and "a mess."

RDM might have made the mistake of forgetting he was talking to broadcast execs, who loathe complication of any sort. Here's what could have killed it: trying to explain a lot of the magical backstory and rules of the universe, rather than jumping right into some exciting, dangerous scenario. You know how long Caprica took to ramp up and start to tell a story, like 14 episodes? On broadcast, you get 14 seconds.

And even though we might have heard of Jamie Bamber and Tricia Helfer, they're still nobodies in Hollywood. SyFy stardom doesn't really count. So the suits are looking at a boring, complicated show starring wrinkly old has-beens* (Stockard Channing, Esai Morales), that annoying girl from Smallville and a bunch of people from some cable show, and that doesn't impress them. I'd love to see the pilot someday. I'm really curious what went wrong.

*Has-beens is my guess how they're perceived, not my opinion of them!!! Channing and Morales were a major reason why I was interested in the show.

I didn't know Stockard Channing and Esai Morales were in it too. Now, I'm even more disappointed. I guess if it really was that bad then we should be happy it didn't get picked up, but with a cast like that I find it hard to believe it could have been that bad.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Insult to injury time: NBC just picked up Grimm, which is also a supernatural fantasy cop show.

The cast is not as luminous but the premise is more focused. The main character can see supernatural critters and battle them - much simpler to grasp than RDM's show. The elevator pitch standard of TV development is not a myth.

 

[Sheep]

I'm shocked that this little show no one thought would be renewed beyond its first season will be going on five years. I'm guessing the show must be cheap enough to produce--there's no way NBC would have greenlit another season otherwise.

Now that the writers know this will be the last season of Chuck, they can plan accordingly. As noted earlier the writers always ramp things up for their finales, so much so that Chuck already has a minimum of three existing episodes that would work as suitable finales.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'm guessing the show must be cheap enough to produce--there's no way NBC would have greenlit another season otherwise.

That might have been the philosophy in previous years - basically sheer desperation - but the new Comcast owners and the new guy from Showtime in charge are not pussyfooting around. Ordinarily, a little show with weak ratings would get kicked to the curb pretty hard, given the ambitious slate NBC just greenlighted, which don't sound "cheap" to me. NBC is adopting the "spend money to make money" philosophy to invest heavily in turning NBC around.

I suspect this is all about maintaining relationships and letting Chuck down easy. The writers and many cast members are very talented and NBC wants to keep in their good graces. We'll see them surface in other shows this time next year, count on it.

 

[RoJoHen]

We'll see them surface in other shows this time next year, count on it.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:

Farscape: The Next Generation

Zach Levi as D'Argo Crichton
Yvonne Strahovksi as his Peacekeeper love interest
Adam Baldwin as his Luxan best friend

I mean, Chuck is pretty much already Farscape. Instead of wormhole knowledge, he has the Intersect. Instead of the Peacekeepers, he has Fulcrum and The Ring. Instead of Rygel, he has Morgan.

 

[Honorable Ensign]

I like the idea of them getting 13 episodes to finish things off. While I've kept enjoying the show overall, it has been getting a bit long in the tooth. But when they know they only have so much time and so many episodes, they can plan accordingly (and awesomely) and do a nice story and sendoff.

 

[Vance]

Is it worth catching up on Chuck? I haven't watched since the midseason finale and haven't really felt compelled to go back to it yet...

It's definately picked up, but overall it's showing its age and the series is in danger of shark-jumping. I do think the 'will it be renewed/won't it be renewed' really hurt the writing this season, which peaked mid-way and then took a few more episodes to get its legs back.

What I want is one more season, complete balls-to-the-wall with the feeling that the first two seasons engendered, along with the very formal and final "this is it, people! The FINAL season" midset. Send the show off on a bang and make the DVD sales last forever...

 

[RoJoHen]

What I want is one more season, complete balls-to-the-wall with the feeling that the first two seasons engendered, along with the very formal and final "this is it, people! The FINAL season" midset. Send the show off on a bang and make the DVD sales last forever...

Completely agree. The story has been more or less wrapped up 2 or 3 times already in preparation of cancelation. They just need one truly final season with a concrete number of episodes so they can truly do the show justice with a proper finale.

 

[JD]

I'm with you two here. Chuck is definitely a show that needs to go out with a bang.

 

[Kronos]

I'm with you two here. Chuck is definitely a show that needs to go out with a bang.

Casey shooting everyone because he realizes how annoying and childish they have become?

I'm in

 

[Joe Washington]

I wonder what Big Bad the creators will come up for the final season. Maybe someone new? Or someone old coming back? Or a banding together of some of the show's past villains?

And I would like it if Season 5 had little filler or no filler like the final season of Alias.

 

[Jax]

I wonder what Big Bad the creators will come up for the final season. Maybe someone new? Or someone old coming back? Or a banding together of some of the show's past villains?

And I would like it if Season 5 had little filler or no filler like the final season of Alias.

With only 13 episodes you would expect less fillers and one concentrated arc to say goodbye to the show.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

They don't need 13 episodes to say goodbye. They could do it just fine on Monday. That's why I'm expecting 12 episodes of filler next fall but that's okay, there's going to be way way too much to watch anyway.

 

[Brolan]

Is it worth catching up on Chuck? I haven't watched since the midseason finale and haven't really felt compelled to go back to it yet...

It's definately picked up, but overall it's showing its age and the series is in danger of shark-jumping. I do think the 'will it be renewed/won't it be renewed' really hurt the writing this season, which peaked mid-way and then took a few more episodes to get its legs back.

What I want is one more season, complete balls-to-the-wall with the feeling that the first two seasons engendered, along with the very formal and final "this is it, people! The FINAL season" midset. Send the show off on a bang and make the DVD sales last forever...

I'm surprised how good it's gotten lately. I stopped watching a few weeks into this season. Then I was bored, going through the shows on my Tivo, and saw a bunch of Chucks I never watched. Started watching and couldn't stop until I watched all four. Even had a few scenes that I laughed out loud.

 

[Jax]

Knowing it will get an ending, I think I will start Chuck in the summer once I finish Smallville (on season 9 at the moment) I look forward to it.

 

[JD]

I wonder what Big Bad the creators will come up for the final season. Maybe someone new? Or someone old coming back? Or a banding together of some of the show's past villains?

And I would like it if Season 5 had little filler or no filler like the final season of Alias.

I think it would be fun, and a really great ending if they did an Injustice League type villain team.

 

[cylkoth]

I haven't seen it mentioned so if it has been elsewhere on the board, apologies...Just read NBC's fall schedule and Chuck will lead off Friday night at 8pmEST in the fall.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/nbc-announces-schedule-new-wednesday-188503

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – Chuck
9-10 p.m. – GRIMM
10-11 p.m. – Dateline NBC

 

[JD]

According to IGN, they're also saying that this will be the final season. I'm really glad to hear that they are aware of this going in and are (hopefully) going to be giving us a real ending.

 

[Kronos]

Wow, a death slot. Why even bother?

 

[Captain Craig]

^^^^^
For any other show I'd agree.
However, Chuck has been on death watch for 3yrs so this worry doesn't enter in. Heck, Chuck is on a first name basis with "death" so it's all good.