Which things would you change and which things would remain the same for you?
If you were in charge of Chuck from the beginning...
- Thread starter Joe Washington
- Start date
I thought the Vulcan seem curious and introspective. He doesn't seem pissed off to me.
I would have done pretty much what they did: do a couple seasons with the original premise, which was about all the good years the premise had in it, and then try to hang onto my job with my finger and toe nails by stretching the premise till it squeaked. 
It's nobody's fault that the premise wasn't infinitely stretchable. It doesn't make it a bad premise. But who willingly decides to hit the unemployment line in a business as fickle as entertainment? Of course they kept the show going as long as they could.
However! If I were a bold risk-taker, not only on my own behalf but on behalf of dozens of hard-working people with families to support who might not appreciate me playing fast and loose with their livelihoods (well screw them, no guts, no glory and I don't care if Suzy needs braces), I would have had the series continue along the lines implied by the Xmas episode where Chuck sees Sarah commit cold-blooded murder, and rather than just sweep it under the rug the next episode, I would have taken that idea where it naturally leads, namely out of the comfort zone of a cute, fantasy-based show where things never get too emotionally real. Given the sketchy ratings the show has always had, that decision would be, oh, 85% likely to result in cancellation sooner than if I had taken the orthodontist-friendly route.
So it all depends on whether I'm willing to be an utter bastard for Art.
Someday, I hope to be in that position so I can see what choice I make.
He seems to be incredulous about something, such as, "Did you really say that? I can't believe my ears!"
It's nobody's fault that the premise wasn't infinitely stretchable. It doesn't make it a bad premise. But who willingly decides to hit the unemployment line in a business as fickle as entertainment? Of course they kept the show going as long as they could.
However! If I were a bold risk-taker, not only on my own behalf but on behalf of dozens of hard-working people with families to support who might not appreciate me playing fast and loose with their livelihoods (well screw them, no guts, no glory and I don't care if Suzy needs braces), I would have had the series continue along the lines implied by the Xmas episode where Chuck sees Sarah commit cold-blooded murder, and rather than just sweep it under the rug the next episode, I would have taken that idea where it naturally leads, namely out of the comfort zone of a cute, fantasy-based show where things never get too emotionally real. Given the sketchy ratings the show has always had, that decision would be, oh, 85% likely to result in cancellation sooner than if I had taken the orthodontist-friendly route.
So it all depends on whether I'm willing to be an utter bastard for Art.
Someday, I hope to be in that position so I can see what choice I make.He seems to be incredulous about something, such as, "Did you really say that? I can't believe my ears!"
I would give Sarah more character and more storylines that didn't revolve around Chuck. I would have Chuck call Sarah "Sam" as a way of showing that Sarah is allowing Chuck to know the real her instead of the person she's formed herself to be.
I would have Sarah and Ellie develop more of a friendship that exist beyond Chuck and Awesome. Have them spend time together, do favors for each other, and get to know each other more.
I would have Chuck actually kill someone, for that person to stay dead, and for Chuck to deal with the lasting consequences of it. I won't have him always kill people on the job. Just as a last resort.
I would have the new Intersect Chuck downloaded at the end of Season 2 have more of a variety of skills for Chuck to use than the often-used kung-fu. But by the end of the series, I would Chuck sacrifice the Intersect after learning how to be a fully capable spy without it and accepting it.
I would have Chuck be more of a hardcore badass like Angel's Wesley and finding normal life increasingly dull which would create drama on the show as he throws himself more into his spy work affecting his emotional bonds with the people outside of it. And I would have him have more of an equal team dynamic with Sarah like Farscape's John/Aeryn which won't always result in them talking about their personal problems when they are on the job.
And I would have the themes of episodes be more subtle than often spoken in dialogue.
I would have Sarah and Ellie develop more of a friendship that exist beyond Chuck and Awesome. Have them spend time together, do favors for each other, and get to know each other more.
I would have Chuck actually kill someone, for that person to stay dead, and for Chuck to deal with the lasting consequences of it. I won't have him always kill people on the job. Just as a last resort.
I would have the new Intersect Chuck downloaded at the end of Season 2 have more of a variety of skills for Chuck to use than the often-used kung-fu. But by the end of the series, I would Chuck sacrifice the Intersect after learning how to be a fully capable spy without it and accepting it.
I would have Chuck be more of a hardcore badass like Angel's Wesley and finding normal life increasingly dull which would create drama on the show as he throws himself more into his spy work affecting his emotional bonds with the people outside of it. And I would have him have more of an equal team dynamic with Sarah like Farscape's John/Aeryn which won't always result in them talking about their personal problems when they are on the job.
And I would have the themes of episodes be more subtle than often spoken in dialogue.
Most of those changes would destroy the tone of the series, namely a fun, breezy fantasy. That tone is responsible for some percentage of the ratings, and changing it would lose those ratings without gaining others (once shows get launched, they get no further publicity so new audiences that might like the changes don't know to find the show) and the show was teetering on the ratings abyss the whole time, so your changes would get the show cancelled.
A number of these changes need to happen for the characters to develop and for the show to evolve beyond its premise of being a "fun, breezy fantasy." A number of good and great shows (Angel, Farscape, Six Feet Under, The Shield) are rarely the same they were in the beginning because they needed to mature. They couldn't be the TV babies they were when they started.
There's the rub... you can sometimes get away with a wholesale revamp of a series, but it's the kind of thing that has to be applied carefully, and at the right point... Joss Whedon shows are a bad comparative example, as they are all designed with the intention of darkening and 'maturing', whereas, as stated, Chuck was designed with a more fantastical approach, which, while said premise has admittedly run out of gas, isn't something that would be improved with a darker or edgier tone.... in my opinion, anyway...
They could carefully change the show's tone to a darker, edgier one back when Sarah shot that Fulcrum agent. They could shown have the consequences of that and the show's tone would continue to change slowly from there.
Instead of just flashing Kungfu and other martial arts all the time, I'ld let Chuck flash on a much wider variety of more "interesting" skills.
"Guys, I know how to wire the Buymore PS3s into a supercomputer"
"Guys, isn't that an Apache helicopter? I think I know how to fly us out of here."
"Guys, I know how to wire the Buymore PS3s into a supercomputer"
"Guys, isn't that an Apache helicopter? I think I know how to fly us out of here."
Oh, you mean like Joss Whedon? (At least according to some rather bitter comments James Marsters made at last year's Phoenix ComicCon.)
I think the gulf between Chuck the cute fantasy comedy and Chuck the gritty spy drama is simply too wide, given the sketchy ratings. Jumping a gulf with an audience in tow means some viewers fall into the gulf, so you better have a lot to spare. I'd rather see someone just make a gritty spy drama from scratch. Chaos might be just that show. It debuts April 1 so I guess it must have comedy elements too. 
Jake 2.0 is an example of how Chuck could balance comedy with gritty drama and both shows feature a protagonist who is suddenly given special enhancements and becomes a spy as a result of those enhancements.
And for those of you who don't know the show Jake 2.0, here's a Youtube video on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqgyb2g-KnY
And for those of you who don't know the show Jake 2.0, here's a Youtube video on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqgyb2g-KnY
About the only thing i'd like to change is the will they/won't they of season 2 and 3.. after the first season we got it. Chuck has fallen in love with Sarah and she was secretly in love too but they dragged it out for so long and made it so obvious for both characters at some point that it just became ridiculous.
Besides that, and this is only a nitpick, i'd not have people perform martial arts who have no athletic skill or talent for it. Sorry Zach Levi but you doing acrobatic martial arts just looks ridiculous and very fake.. switch over to Krav Maga or something like that which anyone can do convincingly and is far more effective than Kung Fu (or what Hollywood thinks is Kung Fu).
Besides that, and this is only a nitpick, i'd not have people perform martial arts who have no athletic skill or talent for it. Sorry Zach Levi but you doing acrobatic martial arts just looks ridiculous and very fake.. switch over to Krav Maga or something like that which anyone can do convincingly and is far more effective than Kung Fu (or what Hollywood thinks is Kung Fu).
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