Chuck changes the entire game, though not in Lexington

    I won't rehash my complaints about Lexington's WLEX18 NBC.  You can read them here.  Needless to say, Lexington residents were cheated out of a truly memorable, game changing episode of NBC's Chuck.  I urge you to immediately go to hulu.com or nbc.com to catch up, as you are going to want to watch it before reading the rest of this article.

     Last night's Chuck, "Chuck vs. the Other Guy", reported to be one of the best of the series, lived up to the hype.  And that's not to be taken lightly, even though this is the third time in recent memory that I could have stated the last sentence and been right.  The show that started out only o.k., but found it's footing in season two, has somehow taken itself to yet another new level and is staying there.

     For one thing, balance has been restored.  With the gripping conclusion of Agent Shaw's (Brandon Routh, Superman Returns) plot, he is gone from Team Bartowski, and not only is Casey (Adam Baldwin) fully back, but there is a new member.  Recently brought into the the secret circle, Chuck's (Zachary Levi) best friend, Morgan (Joshua Gomez) is now in completely!  Casey coming back seemed inevitable and necessary, but the fact that he will be taking Morgan under his wing and making another geek a real spy will send shivers through every fan of the show.


     Bigger than that, though, is the coming together of Chuck and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski).  It has taken nearly three years to get them to couple status.  First, she couldn't be with him because he wasn't a spy.  Then, she thought that he was too much of a spy, believing he had killed someone.  When she found out that he hadn't, it looked like she might finally get with Chuck, but the pair would never be on equal footing.  However, by Chuck finally killing someone who was trying to kill her, she can overlook the darkness that will surely be seen in him, and be with him as an equal.  Both are spies, neither like to kill, and it will probably take a lot for Chuck to kill again.  However, in the only way it could have gone down, she loves him for taking another man's life.  Brilliant writing!

     Last night also brought back my favorite guest star, who seems to be in every great action series of the past decade, Mark Sheppard.

     Chuck is off the air for three weeks, but when it returns, we will get to see Casey training Morgan, Chuck and Sarah together, the return of Chuck's father (Scott Bakula, Men of a Certain Age), and even Anna Wu (Julia Ling) coming back for Morgan!  Chuck airs on NBC Mondays at 8pm.

Chuck vs the season premiere

    NBC's Chuck is the little show that could.  Numerous times now it has been near death, only to rise again triumphantly.  The end looked so likely early in season two that producers ramped up the juice, squeezing what was planned for several seasons into several action-packed arcs.  It shook up the show in new and awesome ways, and was rewarded with a third season this year, and six additional episodes have already been picked up on the top of the original order of thirteen.  In fact, last night's two hour premiere scored the highest ratings Chuck had seen in some time.  That, combined with an NBC primetime schedule that is about get a lot thinner because of the departure of The Jay Leno Show, suddenly has this nerd looking a lot cooler.  Chuck will air again tonight in it's normal time slot.

THE NEXT SECTION CONTAIN SPOILERS.  IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED LAST NIGHT'S SEASON PREMIERE, DO NOT CONTINUE READING UNTIL YOU DO.

     When last we saw Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, Less Than Perfect), the computer in his head had just been upgraded in such a way that gave him skills as well as knowledge, a curse as well as a blessing, as Chuck does not seem to have control of when the skills manifest.  As season three opens, six months have passed, and Chuck's world has changed dramatically.  Apparently, our hero gave up the girl of his dreams, Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski), and his tech wizard job to chase the dream of being a real, professional spy, then washed out pathetically.  Returning to his sister Ellie's (Sarah Lancaster, What About Brian?) couch, he checks in at his old job at the Buy More, only to be disgraced further.  Even Casey (Adam Baldwin, Firefly) begins to feel sorry for him.

     True, Chuck had his jobs back by the end of the first hour, but it was nothing less than thrilling.  Chief among the surprises, I am still rocked by the apparent surprise murder of Emmett (Tony Hale, Arrested Development).  Of course, that facilitated the return of several key characters to the Buy more.  Also, the second hour featured the return of Sarah's friend Carina (Mini Anden, My Boys) and a great plot for Morgan, who remembered her fondly from her first visit.

     Of course, it wasn't all shocking.  To restore status quo, and the only weak part of the episode, Chuck's best friend, Morgan (Joshua Gomez, Without a Trace) was fired from his job in Hawaii and returned, unfortunately without his girlfriend, Anna Wu (Julia Ling, who was sadly dropped from the cast this season).  That won't hold the show down, though, as there are plenty of great plots coming up.  For starters, Chuck's brother-in-law, Captain Awesome, (Ryan McPartlin) is now in on the secret that Chuck is a spy.  Chuck will slowly be getting more powerful, and his relationship with Sarah has never been more confusing.  General Beckman (Bonita Friedericy) knows more than she's saying.  And there are a bevy of big guest stars, including Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Kristin Kreuk (Smallville), and the return of Chuck's dad, played by Scott Bakula (Men of a Certain Age, Star Trek: Enterprise, Quantum Leap).  This is certainly must-see-TV.

Scrubs, Chuck & Lost: missing persons

     Three of the best shows on television will be returning soon, but this time they will be down a few cast members.  Is it the economy, scheduling conflicts, or creative decisions?  I don't know, but it certainly won't be the same without them.

     Chuck returns in January, and Anna Wu, played by Julia Ling, will no longer be at the Buy More.  This is hugely disappointing to the fans, especially those rooting for her character and Morgan to work out.  Chris Fedak, co-creator of the show, gave a glimmer of hope, however, when he mentioned to Ausiello that although she is not in the original order of thirteen episodes this year, six more were picked up and they are still being written, so there's always a chance.

     Scrubs has undergone a complete makeover, and will be missing practically the entire cast.  Only Drs. Cox (John C. McGinley) and Turk (Donald Faison) will be starring in the new year, which is moving to med school, with only an occasional visit to Sacred Heart, the hospital the show has taken place at up til now.  Judy Reyes, who played Carla, only wanted to return full time, and because of the new setting, it was decided not to honor that.  She is not currently signed to return at all.  The show will even get a new narrator, with Zach Braff being reduced to a handful of appearances.  Fear not though, most of the former cast will pop up from time to time, and there are plenty of new faces that will hopefully continue on the very funny tradition.

     The most disturbing shakeup has been for Lost.  Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet) are out, the latter currently starring in V.  They are both set to appear a little, along with former cast members Ian Somerhalder (Boone), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), and the recurring Katey Sagal (Helen), and likely more.  But Desmond was arguably the best character on the show, and he already had only limited screen time last season, being off the island but not with the Oceanic Six.  Also, he was added later in the show.  Very disappointing.  The enjoyable Jeremy Davies is also gone, and not yet signed to return at all.  The bright spot, however, is who was added.  Joining Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Locke, Sun, Jin, Hurley, Ben, Miles, and Sayid this year as full time cast members will be Jeff Fahey (Frank) and Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert).  Emilie de Ravin will also star, after taking last season off, as will Zuleikha Robinson, who played Ilana last year.  This final season is a complete mystery to fans, but it should be nothing if not interesting.