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Chuck
Chuck (Zachary Levi) is a twenty-something in Burbank, CA who works as a computer expert at the Nerd Herd at his local Buy More, a large retail consumer-electronics chain, with his best friend, Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez). Chuck's sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) is a doctor who is constantly encouraging him to make progress in his professional and romantic life. Also joining the cast is Ellie's now-husband, Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb (Ryan McPartlin), also a doctor looking out for Chuck's social life. On the night of his birthday party, Chuck receives an e-mail from Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), his former Stanford University roommate, who is now a "rogue" Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent. When he opens it, the entire database of all the US government's secret information--a neural supercomputer called The Intersect--is subliminally embedded into his brain. Both the National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA want the intelligence returned to them and dispatch agents of their own--Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski)--to retrieve the data. Since the information was stolen by Bryce and the government's copy destroyed in his attempted escape, and since Chuck experiences "flashes" of information from the database activated by certain triggers around him (such as faces, voices, in-context keywords, and various objects), he must use the knowledge he now possesses to help the government thwart assassins and international terrorists -- upending his previously uneventful life. In order to preserve their safety, Chuck must keep his newfound occupation a secret from his family and friends, forcing Casey and Walker to establish an uneasy alliance and secret identities; Walker poses as Chuck's girlfriend and takes a cover job at the local restaurant next to the Buy More (formerly Wienerlicious, currently Orange Orange) while Casey gets a job at the Buy More, with the shared goal of protecting Chuck at all costs. In the meantime, the government attempts to rebuild the Intersect computer. As it nears completion, Casey is ordered to kill Chuck as soon as the new Intersect is ready. However, in the premiere of season 2, it is sabotaged, keeping Chuck alive. As the series progresses, it is revealed that Bryce is still alive and that a rogue spy agency called "Fulcrum" is searching for the Intersect, which they believe to still be in the possession of Bryce, not Chuck. Several Fulcrum agents have independently discovered that Chuck actually is the Intersect, but all have been apprehended or killed before they could pass the information on. It is also revealed that Fulcrum is attempting to build its own Intersect, and that Fulcrum believes the CIA has stopped trying to rebuild its own. In the episode "Chuck Versus the Suburbs" (February 16, 2009), the collection of all secrets from Fulcrum's own Intersect testbed project was implanted into Chuck's head. Eventually, (presumably) all of the Intersect information is removed by Chuck's father and the Intersect's chief inventor, Steven Bartowski (a.k.a. "Orion"); however, in the second season finale "Chuck Versus the Ring" (April 27, 2009), Chuck voluntarily uploads the newest version of the Intersect into himself which allows him to flash on other skills à la The Matrix, rather than just the raw information and computation of the earlier Intersect. Chuck was created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series premiered on September 24, 2007, on NBC, airing on Monday nights at 8:00 pm ET leading into Heroes. Despite receiving a full season pickup, the first season contained only thirteen episodes; production was stalled due to the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The second season started on September 29, 2008, with a full 22-episode season order. NBC released the first episode of season two a week before its air date via multiple online distribution methods, and cable on demand.
Season one originally aired between September 24, 2007 and January 24, 2008. The season, cut short by the Writers' Strike, contains thirteen episodes. It introduced the series' main characters and established the general plot of the title character, Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), having to adapt to his new life as a spy after the only remaining copy of the U.S. government's spy secrets are embedded into his brain. He is forced to juggle his responsibilities as a spy and the supervisor of a technical support team (called the "Nerd Herd") at his local Buy More store (a parody of Best Buy). Having become the most important asset of the U.S. government, Chuck is under the constant surveillance of his CIA handler, Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), and NSA agent John Casey (Adam Baldwin), who remind him that he cannot reveal his spy life to his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster), nor his best friend Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez). Recurring characters introduced are: Ellie's boyfriend Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb (Ryan McPartlin), Chuck's college roommate Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), Director of National Intelligence General Diane Beckman (Bonita Friedericy), CIA Director Langston Graham (Tony Todd), and Buy More employees Michael "Big Mike" Tucker (Mark Christopher Lawrence), Lester Patel (Vik Sahay), Jeff Barnes (Scott Krinsky), Anna Wu (Julia Ling) and Harry Tang (C. S. Lee).
Season two contains 22 episodes and was originally aired from September 29, 2008 to April 27, 2009. The season continues to focus on Chuck's constant struggle to keep his spy life and real life apart as he becomes more accustomed to being a spy. More background on the Intersect project is revealed. Fulcrum, a hostile espionage organization that covets the Intersect, is featured more heavily as the season's main antagonist. Chuck and Sarah continue to grow closer, complicating their asset-handler relationship. Mark Christopher Lawrence, Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky, Julia Ling and Ryan McPartlin join the regular cast as their respective characters Big Mike, Lester, Jeff, Anna and Devon are further developed. Recurring minor characters Emmett Milbarge (Tony Hale), Jill Roberts (Jordana Brewster) and Steve Bartowski (Scott Bakula) are introduced as the new assistant manager at Buy More, Chuck's ex-girlfriend, and Chuck and Ellie's father.
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