Chuck Me

Thank you, NBC, for renewing Chuck. My Monday nights would not be the same without Chuck and Morgan and the rest of the Nerd Herd, Sarah, Casey, Devon, and Ellie. Pathetic, I know, but true.

Here's the deal: Everyone has a guilty pleasure, something they do in private or the privacy of their own home that only close family or close friends know about. My guilty pleasure? The television show Chuck on NBC.

I. LOVE. CHUCK. It is the only primetime network or cable show (yes, even including American Idol) that I go out of my way to watch. Every week. No matter where I am. Even the spouse and kid know not to disturb me (except during commercials) between 8 and 9 p.m. Monday nights, when Chuck airs on NBC. I love the humor and the pathos and the writing. I love the chemistry between the cast members. I love Adam Baldwin as Major (now Colonel) John Casey. It's as if I know these people. And after two seasons, I feel like I do.

That's why, when I heard that NBC might not renew Chuck for a third season, I despaired. WHAT DO YOU MEAN NBC MIGHT NOT RENEW CHUCK?! I wailed to anyone who would listen (i.e., the cats and the spouse, even though NONE of them cared).

It's bad enough that I am going to have to get through an entire summer without an exciting new episode of my favorite nerdy spy (i.e., Chuck), his handlers, Sarah and Casey, and the Buy More crew saving the world, but a lifetime?! Say it isn't so, NBC! (In terms of TV travesties, this was right up there with ABC axing Monday Night Football -- a fact I still mourn come football season. And do NOT tell me Sunday Night Football on NBC or Monday Night Football on ESPN is the same thing. They are not)

Indeed, I was so frantic about the possibility of a Chuck-less Monday (even though I like the Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother), I, like thousands of other (mostly male, teen or twentysomething) fans, begged NBC execs to renew Chuck online. And it worked! Albeit with a catch. Apparently, per published reports, NBC has only asked for 13 episodes (as opposed to 22 or 26), and there are to be two fewer writers (no, not the writers!) and other budget cuts. And there are going to be way more Subway references. But still, Chuck has been saved -- to once again save the world for $11/hour on Monday nights. PHEW.

Though I am pissed that I have to wait until after the Winter Olympics in February to catch the first episode of Season Three.

Still, thank you, NBC.

And thank you, cast and crew of Chuck, for bringing us great scenes like this one from the Season Two finale:



Best version of "Mr. Roboto" EVER.