Chuck, Season 3

[TinkTanker]

Did anyone else find the first episode very disjointed and hard to follow? "Six Months Ago", "Six Months Earlier", jumping back and forth.

I did find the show to have 'grown up' a bit. Previous seasons had treated violence kind of like the way GIJoe cartoons had... implied but nothing really shown. Last night, Emmit takes one in the eye. There were more people getting shot and killed (and it was shown onscreen) than all the previous episodes combined. At least it seemed that way to me. Not a complaint, just a comment.

[Pearl@32]

Did anyone else find the first episode very disjointed and hard to follow? "Six Months Ago", "Six Months Earlier", jumping back and forth.

I did find the show to have 'grown up' a bit. Previous seasons had treated violence kind of like the way GIJoe cartoons had... implied but nuthin' really shown. Last night, Emmit takes one in the eye. There were more people getting shot and killed (and it was shown onscreen) than all the previous episodes combined. At least it seemed that way to me. Not a complaint, just a comment.

Yes the first episode was confusing. I understand why they did it that way, for the big reveal about Chuck's decision about his future.

The show's turned a bit Mission Impossible, more guns, but that's spy.

I don't like the pushing and pulling they're doing with Chuck and Sarah. I don't think they'll keep doing that. We've had enough of that for the past two seasons. I'll be disappointed if they keep dragging it out.

Can't wait to see him punch out Superman.

Go Morgan and    Julia Ling.

[TinkTanker]

Chuck premieres strong

The first hour of the season 3 premiere of Chuck averaged  3.0 rating with adults 18-49 and 7.7  million viewers and the second hour averaged 2.9 rating with adults 18-49 and 7.2 million.

These were the best numbers since last year's 3D episode the Monday after last year's Super Bowl.  Definitely a strong premiere for a scripted show by this year's standards on NBC.

Now of course, the focus shifts to how much of those #s Chuck can hold on to tonight.

Here are the blurbs on Chuck from NBC PR:

    * From 9-11 p.m., a special two-hour Sunday third-season debut of "Chuck" (2.9/7 in 18-49, 7.4 million viewers overall) captured the show's highest 18-49 and total-viewer results since February 2, 2009, the night of a special 3-D episode aired one day after the Super Bowl.  In key male demos, "Chuck" delivered its highest ratings since December 3, 2007.  In the time period, "Chuck" ranked #2 among the major networks in all key adults-male demos — men 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54 — and #1 in those male categories from 10-11 p.m.

    * Versus its "live plus same day" average for originals last season, "Chuck" was up last night by 21 percent in 18-49 (2.9 vs. 2.4) and up 12 percent in total viewers (7.442 million vs. 6.624 million).

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/01/11/chuck-season-3-premiere-ratings-yay/38337

[Spooky]

I agree with y'all's sentiment  on the first ep. And the whole Chuck/Sarah thing is going to get real tired if they keep trying to play the same game all season long. I understand that they don't want to commit, the writers that is, but the back and forth can get downright painful (as in cringe worthy) at times. I had the same problem with Smallville and the whole Clark/Lana dynamic. I suffered through it, but I think it took away from the show. I believe Smallville would have been better severed had Clark and Lana had longer stretches of  being together/apart. It would have made the breakups have more of an emotional impact. I think the same is true for Chuck. If you keep yanking that Chuck/Sarah chain over and over and over, eventually I am going to get irritated.

[TinkTanker]

The only show that handled the will they/won't they dealio was News Radio. The two leads did it right away (like the second episode) and it was a riot.

[Pearl@32]

I agree with y'all's sentiment  on the first ep. And the whole Chuck/Sarah thing is going to get real tired if they keep trying to play the same game all season long. I understand that they don't want to commit, the writers that is, but the back and forth can get downright painful (as in cringe worthy) at times. I had the same problem with Smallville and the whole Clark/Lana dynamic. I suffered through it, but I think it took away from the show. I believe Smallville would have been better severed had Clark and Lana had longer stretches of  being together/apart. It would have made the breakups have more of an emotional impact. I think the same is true for Chuck. If you keep yanking that Chuck/Sarah chain over and over and over, eventually I am going to get irritated.

It was pretty cringeworthy. Contrast Chuck and Sarah with Castle and Beckett: I don't feel the same heartbreak. There's definitely a difference between the two. The romance is very subtle on Castle, but on Chuck it is full-on. (romance is in the sense of falling in love, not sexual tension) Chuck is not a scoundrel like Castle who can get away with being annoying to Beckett but stupid enough not to sense Beckett has some feelings for him. Chuck is the "too-nice geek." He's not enough of a bad boy or has a confident swagger; he's just charming and real. What you see is what you get with Chuck, which is totally opposite to the fake world of spies.

The sexual/romantic tension is a delicate balance between fun and heartbreak. The great thing about Castle is that even if Beckett and Castle don't get together it won't be the end of the world. The Chuck/Sarah pairing is pretty integral to the story and they have to be careful on they handle it. Doesn't mean we won't get frustrated and want them to just do it already.

I think Chuck's emotions fooling with his Intersect is an interesting way to force him to deal with his quirkiness and self confidence.

[Consigliere5]

I don't like the pushing and pulling they're doing with Chuck and Sarah. I don't think they'll keep doing that. We've had enough of that for the past two seasons. I'll be disappointed if they keep dragging it out.

agreed...

[Phyll33]

I don't like the pushing and pulling they're doing with Chuck and Sarah. I don't think they'll keep doing that. We've had enough of that for the past two seasons. I'll be disappointed if they keep dragging it out.

agreed...

  They will lose something if they get rid of that tension so they will definitely keep it going as
long as they can. They should have started off a little slower with the romance and done
a more gradual build up but I guess they didn't know how long they would be around so
it kind of messes with the storylines. This is a big downside of the way they do programming
anymore. This constant playing with how long they will be on and how many episodes they
can have a season shoots the story all to hell.  It's different with stand alone shows but a
show like Chuck with an ongoing underlying story gets ruined in the process.

[Pearl@32]

Tonight's episode was a hoot: el angel de la muerta!

Eric commented that a.b. must have fun channeling all that Poli frustration into Casey's storylines. I loved his look when they were discussing the Premier's blood type.

[Spooky]

Alright ladies, I'm talking to you too Bartowski.