Alan Sepinwall has a post up singing the praises of Chuck. Although Alan complains early, and often when it comes to the whole “will they or won’t they” nature of Chuck and Sarah’s relationship (and I completely agree with him!), a dose of Chevy Chase and Scott Bakula and tonight’s episode seems to have reenergized Mr. Sepinwall (and hopefully, the show, too!). I’m certainly looking forward to tonight’s episode. Here are some of the very nice things Alan had to say about Chuck:
1. “Chuck” is the most purely entertaining show currently on television, whether you’re talking network or cable.
2. Tonight’s episode features both Chase and Scott Bakula, and you don’t need me to tell you how awesome they can be in the right context — which this decidedly is.
3. Television in general and NBC in particular would be a much sorrier place if “Chuck” isn’t around next season.
4. If you’ve ever trusted me blindly on a TV recommendation and been rewarded, or if you simply agree with some of my takes but suspect that “Chuck” isn’t quite for you, give it a shot tonight. The episode’s a little heavy on the show’s mythology, but there’s also a lot of strong self-contained comedy and action and drama — all the things that make “Chuck” so terrific.
you can read Alan’s full post now, and look for his full review of tonight’s episode later.
o boy, i hear the rumble of fanboys running to this post…
Jared – I understand that some people may push this show on the boards more than is needed or more than is appropriate, but if you’re going make snide comments like that, than don’t be surprised when you get hit by the flood. And please, don’t complain either.
On another note, nice article. I’m still hoping we get a renewal.
does anybody expect a bump tonight because there’s no HIMYM/BBT?
I could actually see a drop because of the NCAA finals. A bit depressing because, even if you’re not a Chuck fan, Chevy Chase is always entertaining as is Scott Bakula.
People can also go here to discuss/praise/save the show:
http://www.givememyremote.com/remote/chuck-vs-the-network-pick-up-its-chuck-week-on-gmmr/
I don’t know about entertaining, but Chevy Chase is always Chevy Chase and you’re not!
“does anybody expect a bump tonight because there’s no HIMYM/BBT?”
Its never happened before why would it this week?
@David
Chuck is going up against pre-game. The game itself doesn’t start until after 9PM. Heroes would take the brunt of the hit, not Chuck.
Honestly, I’ll be happy if Chuck matches its average numbers tonight (6mil or so). Hopefully Bakula and Chase will draw some viewers who will stick around for the rest of the season.
It amazes me how many guest stars Chuck and 30 Rock parade around every season. It’s becoming more and more like an annoying gimmick to me…
On the East Coast Chuck is on before the NCAA Finals.
The West coast will have the game on during Chuck.
@ vader
what you can’t have famous bad guys?
save chuck!!
I just wanted to let you guys know that Chuck just had it best episode ever!!!
chuck = life
I don’t watch the show because dramedy isn’t my thing (except for Leverage).
I DO however download video clips of Yvonne Strahovski! If I ever get motivated to watch Chuck, THAT will be the reason. Although I have a soft spot for Jayne…
The star of the show, however, might as well be Dick Cheney for all I care.
“I DO however download video clips of Yvonne Strahovski!”
LOL thats how I got into this show in the first place. Nothing like watching Yvonne beat the snot out of someone every episode.
The fact that, at least as far as the clips and pics I’ve seen, she does the beating in her underwear, is the real kick!
Sarah Connor should try that…Or Cameron, at least…
Don’t forget about the low-cut dresses, Escort get-ups, and “shower fights”
I could see Cameron doing that (accidently, of course) but Connor’s a bit iffy… Actually, I can’t even picture her without her biker leather and a 12-gauge lol
I really wish they’d let Lena wear dresses more – she has FINE legs. One of the few times they did, back in season one when she was going into the LA jail to see Derek, they panned up from her feet just to show them. That was the about the first and only time in the whole series.
They’ve done at least four rear shots of Summer in tight jeans or miniskirts. The one of her entering the homeless shelter in “Allison” was almost an upskirt. Clips of that were all over the place.
And then of course there were the two totally egregious shots of Summer in (mismatched) bra and panties. Friedman actually joked on the DVD to Lena and Tom that the first shot of that first scene she was wearing some sort of lingerie and “it wasn’t exploitative enough!”
IF NBC really cancel Chuck, do you think that there is any chance of Chuck move to another TV Station, like what I’ve already read of My Name is Earl, going to Fox, or if canceled by NBC, WB just cancel the show?… I want a Third Season… No matter where…
Chuck is one of those fanboy cult shows – like Moonlight and Jericho. The only advantage it has is that its on NBC – which has a far lower standard than other networks since it has almost nothing that has more than 10 million people are watching – other than sports.
Chuck went into a whole new area of television greatness last night. Too bad less than 6 million people know it.
CHUCK is one of the extremely few shows that is actually original in concept, as well as entertaining, fun & has a very hot co-star!
It deserves more viewers, and to be renewed. I can’t understand why America isn’t watching that show more.
Is America becoming the country of the status quo in TV? Love the junk (most reality shows, which aren’t reality, anyway), and skip the original & worthwhile shows?
CHUCK & REAPER (on the CW) are great shows! Two of my favorite shows!
Watch them & invite others to do the same, please!
Last night on CHUCK was awesome! It is NOT your average show- neither of them! They are both great dramedies!
It’s about time some shows actually ghave us some real originality!
I thought last night show was excellent, I thought that Dr. Sam Becket was awesome, did anyone catch the “O Boy” from Scott Bukula. People should watch Chuck because its a show that has everything. NBC should renew Chuck and move the show to Weds. at 8pm next year. Give the show a chance to shine on its own. Its funny, NBC is only showing previews of P&R and Southland. I remember when Kings came out NBC promoted the hell out that show, look how that turned out. NBC SHOULD STAND BEHIND CHUCK AND PROMOTE THE SHOW! Chuck got 8.5 million people when NBC promoted the show during the super bowl.
Can I just point something out about the Super Bowl promotion, when promoted to more than 90 million people Chuck got an increase of 2 million viewers for a special 3D episode, those viewers promptly left the show two weeks later when half of Chuck’s supposed competition was in repeats and the 3D gimmick was gone.
I’m not entirely sure what about that scenario screams promote the final handful of Chuck episodes, especially when you consider that even with the increase in viewers brought about by the Super Bowl promotion Chuck was still in last place for its timeslot (by some distance). Realistically I’m not sure why NBC throws money at promoting Chuck at this point in the season it just seems like a waste of time and I don’t think it makes the renewal or cancellation of the show any more or less likely – although if you pushed me on it I’d say less likely.
If the only way NBC is going to get a decent number out of Chuck at this point is through a huge promotional push (and the Super Bowl is about as big as it gets) then what’s the advantage to keeping it vs. a new show, which would need the same promotional push to get off the ground? And lets face it, it would have to be a big promotional push becase a small one on NBC isn’t really going to change much is it?
The sad thing about the above post is NBC doesn’t promote it. I rarely if ever see a promotion about the show unless it is directly after the new episode. Even with the NBC “Promotional Push” half assed attempt by NBC during the Super Bowl, they still botched it by not showing Chuck after the Super Bowl.
Chuck is a fun show to watch. Heroes, I just recently stopped watching because it just isn’t good.
Jeff am I reading your post right, did you just suggest that NBC screwed up by not giving Chuck the post-Super Bowl slot?
I agree in a “big promotional push” but common, you had Chevy Chase and Scott Bakula and theres no commercials promoting it? How does that make sense?
Lets just say NBC has already made their decision and they are going to renew it…why wouldn’t you try to get more viewers? Wouldn’t that help next season? Promoting doesn’t hurt at all….
Alex says:
April 6th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
“does anybody expect a bump tonight because there’s no HIMYM/BBT?”
-Its never happened before why would it this week?
See, here’s the fun part. I got the numbers to prove you’re wrong.
March 31st numbers (new episodes for both)
CBS The Big Bang Theory 3.8/11 2.8/9 9,765
NBC Chuck 2.1/6 1.5/4 5,625
March 24th numbers (HIMYM is new, no BBT)
CBS How I Met Your Mother 2.9/8 2.6/8 7.40
NBC Chuck 2.1/6 1.6/5 6.05
March 10th numbers
CBS The Big Bang Theory 3.6/10 2.4/8 9.46
NBC Chuck 2.0/5 1.6/5 5.69
February 23rd numbers (last time-before last night-with a BBT repeat and new Chuck)
CBS The Big Bang Theory (R) 2.7/7 1.8/6 8.40
NBC Chuck 2.2/6 1.8/5 6.47
It’s not much of a boost in the demos, granted. But it IS an increase.
Yes, Alex, that is exactly it. You have this big 3D thing the entire super bowl. And while everyone is in 3D mode with the glasses out in huge flocks, they instead put on The Office. So the next day, 24 hours later, people if they remember have to find their glasses if they saved them or not.
It was poorly executed.
Agreed.
Jared says:
April 6th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
o boy, i hear the rumble of fanboys running to this post…
I’m afraid you can blame NBC for that. Like Tom Petty said, “the waiting is the hardest part.” If Chuck’s fate was decided one way or the other, the commentary would die down. But it’s like an election campaign, only this one is very very close. The closer it gets, the more people yell, whether it’s for or against the show. Granted, the yea’s outweigh the nay’s by a landslide, but that doesn’t mean the nay’s aren’t making themselves heard.
It was done so NBC could earn the most amount of ad dollars post Super Bowl possible. Putting Chuck on would have been a huge mistake for NBC.
The fact that so many people talk about…good or bad is a plus. Wheres the My Name is Earl talk or Medium…
ET10, Where indeed?
My Name Is Earl & Medium Are In As Much Danger As Chuck, But Where Are Their Fans?
i’m sorry but everyone talking about the huge guest star Scott Bakula, since when exactly did Scott Bakula become a guest star that would pull in ratings? Even Chuck credited him as a special guest star while Chevy Chase was just a guest star. I’m sorry but if you ask 100 people, 99 of them will not have a clue who Bakula is while they will know who Chase is.
Kudos to you Patrick on your selective use of numbers.
The reality is this, the February 23 ‘increase’ isn’t really an increase at all. The previous week (also against CBS repeats) Chuck did the exact same 18-49 although I will admit the 18-34 was up slightly. However the episode before that on February 2 (against original CBS line-up) did a 3.0 18-49 and a 2.6 18-34 so in reality Chuck DROPPPED against CBS repeats not increased.
Your March numbers are interesting if only because you’re touting a tenth of an increase in the 18-34 and no increase in the 18-49 on a night CBS lost a point in the 18-49 and House was in repeat mode on Fox. You really should have looked at the March 8 Chuck (March 16 was a Chuck repeat) because that did a 2.0 and a 1.6 against an original CBS line-up and the Dancing with the Stars premiere. In that situation the 18-49 goes up by a tenth and the 18-34 stays as it was.
Here’s something you might want to consider though – House seems to have a bigger effect on Chuck’s numbers than anything else. On March 2 House was bumped for a two-hour block of 24 and Chuck went up to a 2.4 and 1.8 against a CBS original line-up (the previous week was a 2.2 and 1.8). It dropped back down the next week against House and Dancing with the Stars though. The fact it didn’t do anything noteworthy when House repeated a couple of weeks later is interesting though.
For those that care all of Chucks numbers vs. CBS comedies since Chuck came back in February.
February 2 (the day after the Super Bowl)
Chuck: 3.0 – 2.6
Big Bang Theory: 4.1 – 3.0
How I Met Your Mother: 4.2 – 3.4
February 16 (Obama pre-emption the previous week)
Chuck: 2.2 – 1.5
Big Bang Theory [R]: 3.0 – 2.0
How I Met Your Mother [R]: 2.6 – 1.8
February 23
Chuck: 2.2 – 1.8
Big Bang Theory [R]: 2.7 – 1.8
How I Met Your Mother [R] – 2.8 – 2.2
March 2 (House replaced by 24)
Chuck: 2.4 – 1.8
Big Bang Theory: 3.9 – 2.9
How I Met Your Mother: 4.2 – 3.3
March 8 (Dancing Premiere)
Chuck: 2.0 – 1.6
Big Bang Theory: 3.6 – 2.4
How I Met Your Mother: 3.5 – 2.9
March 16
Chuck [R]: 1.3 – 0.8
Big Bang Theory: 3.7 – 2.7
How I Met Your Mother – 3.8 – 3.7
March 23 (House repeat/CBS crazy schedule)
Chuck: 2.1 – 1.6
How I Met Your Mother: 2.9 – 2.6
How I Met Your Mother [R] – 2.6 – 2.2
March 30
Chuck: 2.1 – 1.5
Big Bang Theory: 3.8 – 2.8
How I Met Your Mother: 3.9 – 3.4
“Yes, Alex, that is exactly it. You have this big 3D thing the entire super bowl. And while everyone is in 3D mode with the glasses out in huge flocks, they instead put on The Office. So the next day, 24 hours later, people if they remember have to find their glasses if they saved them or not.”
Are you seriously suggesting that NBC should have put a show that struggles to maintain six million viewers and a 2.1 in the demo on after the Super Bowl? I get that fans want to give Chuck every chance but seriously at some point reality has to kick in, right?
Alex, it should also be noted that at the time 2.3 tied for Chuck’s lowest rated episode of the season (series?)
Alex, where did the Super Bowl promotional boost for Office go? They aired new episodes for most of January, getting 8.5 million viewers (down a million from the premeire). Then they aired right after the Super Bowl, getting 22 million viewers. And then that week they aired another new episode, getting…8.5 million viewers. Where did that retention go?
“Are you seriously suggesting that NBC should have put a show that struggles to maintain six million viewers and a 2.1 in the demo on after the Super Bowl?”
That’s not what Chuck was getting in the ratings when that decision was made. They were basing their decision off of Season 1 numbers and possibly the beginning of Season 2.
Alex says:
April 7th, 2009 at 8:26 am Your March numbers are interesting if only because you’re touting a tenth of an increase in the 18-34 and no increase in the 18-49 on a night CBS lost a point in the 18-49 and House was in repeat mode on Fox. You really should have looked at the March 8 Chuck (March 16 was a Chuck repeat) because that did a 2.0 and a 1.6 against an original CBS line-up and the Dancing with the Stars premiere. In that situation the 18-49 goes up by a tenth and the 18-34 stays as it was.
To repeat your prior quote…
-Its never happened before why would it this week?
You said there was no boost, and the numbers say that there was an increase. See, that’s the difference between saying something and writing it down. If you say something, it might be possible to interpret it different ways. When it’s merely text, you take the quote as it is.
If you think I’m in denial that Chuck’s numbers have gone down since the Super Bowl, you’re crazy. I know they’ve gone down. If they were still at their Super Bowl levels, NBC would have renewed the show a long time ago. The point I made with the numbers (that you seemed to deny) is that there is a correlation between Chuck’s numbers and whether CBS’s lineup is first-run or repeat.
I didn’t use the March 16th numbers because Chuck was in a repeat, and the March 2nd numbers was new vs. new, and I was trying to find a new vs. repeat to prove my point. But here are the March 2nd numbers in the interest of full disclosure.
CBS The Big Bang Theory 10.94 3.9/10 2.9/8
FOX 24 10.41 3.1/8 2.6/7
NBC Chuck 6.59 2.4/6 1.8/5
CBS How I Met Your Mother 11.08 4.2/10 3.3/9
Actually, I should have posted those because they also prove something that you already said: House pulls from Chuck viewers as well, as evidenced the fact that Chuck did better vs. 24 than it did vs. House. Of course, this proves the theory that NBC should first try Chuck/Heroes on Wednesdays before pulling the plug.
Frank no has suggested that The Office has retained the audience from its post-Super Bowl slot but at the same time very few shows do and I don’t think anyone seriously expected The Office to buck that trend. NBC put the show there because it is its more successful scripted show and the show advertisers would be most happy to pay premium spots for. The Super Bowl is all about the network airing it making as much money as they can.
The question here though is what makes you think Chuck would have been able to retain the audience from a post-Super Bowl slot? It went from a 3.0 for the Super Bowl promoted episode to a 2.2, where’s the audience retention there? Also to put the Super Bowl promoted episode (and the episodes that followed) into context, before Chuck went on hiatus in December its final episode did a 2.6 in the 18-49 and a 2.2 in the 18-34 so the increase from the Super Bowl promotion was a 0.4 in both demos and the drop for the next original episode was below what it did before it went on hiatus in December. And that for the record are the kind of numbers Chuck pulls against weak competition.
I agree, some one interviewed Josh Schwatz when they moved House to Mondays night. He said he was more worrried about House numbers than DWTS numbers. You can tell for the most part Robert and Bill enjoy Chuck would like NBC to renew the show.
I have always worried about House being up against Chuck. House is a great and very popular show and I do believe it takes away from Chuck’s audience. But hey…what do I know?
“The point I made with the numbers (that you seemed to deny) is that there is a correlation between Chuck’s numbers and whether CBS’s lineup is first-run or repeat.”
No there isn’t and my original quote was that Chuck hasn’t posted increases against repeats of the CBS comedies and you’ve provided no numbers that show that because it doesn’t happen. The February numbers are both DOWN on what Chuck did against an original CBS line-up both after the Super Bowl and the previous year. Chuck’s numbers have only increased when House has been taken out of the equation and even then you have to fully remove House to see anything more than a tenth of an increase. On top of that even with House out of the picture it only rises to a 2.4.
“Actually, I should have posted those because they also prove something that you already said: House pulls from Chuck viewers as well, as evidenced the fact that Chuck did better vs. 24 than it did vs. House. Of course, this proves the theory that NBC should first try Chuck/Heroes on Wednesdays before pulling the plug.”
Again kudos on the selective numbers.
As you can see from the full nuumbers I posted previously when Chuck was facing a House repeat on March 23 its numbers were the same as the previous week against original House and original CBS line-up – minus a tenth drop in the 18-34. So you’re argument is that between them Fox and CBS are ’stealing’ a tenth of Chuck’s 18-34.
EDIT – I meant next week not previous.
saying chuck faces weak competition is just flat out wrong
Wow for someone who claims he doesn’t watch the show Alex sure does talk about it a lot… A LOT.
Alex, is audience retention important or not? Here’s what you said in your initial comment:
“Can I just point something out about the Super Bowl promotion, when promoted to more than 90 million people Chuck got an increase of 2 million viewers for a special 3D episode, those viewers promptly left the show two weeks later when half of Chuck’s supposed competition was in repeats and the 3D gimmick was gone.”
I then pointed out that Office, which did get the spot, did not retain any of its 22 million viewers (over double its regular audience) either, and it aired a new episode that week and the week after. To which you promptly said audience retention didn’t matter and was never expected, it was all about ads. Okay, fair enough, and if that’s your point as to why Chuck did not get the post Super Bowl spot then I agree. Office is a stronger show and NBC definitely could make more money for ads. However, in the next paragraph you say:
“The question here though is what makes you think Chuck would have been able to retain the audience from a post-Super Bowl slot? It went from a 3.0 for the Super Bowl promoted episode to a 2.2, where’s the audience retention there?”
If the promotion was about gaining viewers for shows, then NBC should pick the show it wants to build, or that it knows can retain viewers. My only point was even a show like Office, which is possibly the premiere show of the network, could not retain any Super Bowl viewers. If THAT show can’t do it, to me that points to a problem with NBC vs. the strength of the other networks, not just with Chuck.
HAHA I know Clay! It’s crazy!
Clay, for someone who doesn’t seem to like Alex, you sure do talk about him a lot. I don’t think you’ve ever commented on anything else that I can recall.
I don’t think anyone buys his whole “I have nothing against the show I just like talking numbers” BS anymore, He obviously has some vendetta against the show or it’s fans and is rooting for it to get canned.
I’m hoping the show gets renewed just to spite him… then again he’ll just be on here obsessing over it again next year if it comes back.
I am reading all these posts between Alex and Patrick who are both spouting numbers and demo for shows, but the thing to remember is that you are comparing a comedy to a drama, so it is highly feasible that the demo numbers and the ratings are going to be totally skewed. And truly it is unfair to compare comedies to dramas to tell truly how the numbers fair. If you want to make it fair, compare Chuck’s numbers to other dramas and compare HIMYM/BBT numbers to other comedies.
“Clay, for someone who doesn’t seem to like Alex, you sure do talk about him a lot. I don’t think you’ve ever commented on anything else that I can recall”.
I’ve made about 3 Alex posts since I’ve been here. And I don’t like him/her or dislike him… I’ve never met the guy/gal. He’s talking about a show that i watch, not insulting my religion or family.
I’m with Clay on this one. Alex makes more Chuck related posts than all the Chuck fanatics combined. That being said if the ratings don’t pick up the show is as good as gone.
Yeah, Alex is really starting to get annoying. I know he is just trying to talk some sense into the rabid Chuck fans but at some point he needs to just call it quits. They’re not going to listen to Alex no matter how logical or rational he sounds.
As for last night’s episode, I thought it was a solid episode–not great as everyone else seems to be thinking. I know is Chuck is suppose to be a fun show but the glaring plot holes is really diminishing my enjoyment of the show.
Clay, you made three alone TODAY.
Julie you sure seem to love to back up Alex whenever someone calls him out. I think someone’s got a little crush on Alex.
Pearl, Talk some sense ??? Chuck fans will root for the show to get renewed. What you are saying is like saying that if your team is predicted to lose by 20 points than you should not even bother rooting for them.
Frank you’ve misinterpreted the point I was trying to make regarding the Super Bowl retention and that’s partly my fault in terms of explaining and at the same time we’re trying to compare apples and oranges. Trying to compare The Office Super Bowl retention with Chuck’s Super Bowl retention is backwards thinking.
The key thing to remember when you look at The Office is that its numbers going into the Super Bowl and its numbers coming out of the Super Bowl are pretty much the same. It didn’t pick up any noticeable audience numbers after its Super Bowl show but at the same time it hasn’t lost any. As is often the case more than half the people who watched the post-Super Bowl shot weren’t especially keen on what they saw and didn’t opt to check out the next original episode. It happens.
In contrast to that after its Super Bowl promotion Chuck did pick up. It went up to a 3.0, which is higher than its seen since and higher than where it was when it went on hiatus in December. The problem is that none of that audience stuck around and worse than that part of the audience that was there before the show went on hiatus left as well. When Chuck went off the air in December it went off with a 2.6, the Super Bowl promoted 3D episode scored a 3.0 and then the next original episode scored a 2.2. Not only did Chuck lose viewers coming off the 3D episode (and those are viewers who actually tuned in specially for the episode) it lost it from where it before the Super Bowl promotion to the tune of nearly half a demo point.
“I don’t think anyone buys his whole “I have nothing against the show I just like talking numbers” BS anymore, He obviously has some vendetta against the show or it’s fans and is rooting for it to get canned.”
I have in fact said on several occasions (as several others have) that the Chuck fans are becoming a reason for me not wanting the show to come back. None the less as I’ve said previously I don’t think NBC should bring Chuck back because its not performing well and is a sure sign that they’re just going to settle for fourth place. There’s no indication that with weaker competition Chuck will improve because its had weaker competition and not improved and there’s no indication that promotion is really going to help the show since people tuned in after the Super Bowl promotion and then tuned right back out.
For the record I’ve said similar things about Heroes (a show I actually watch and will be happy to see back next year) – NBC probably shouldn’t have picked it up because I think its incredibly unlikely the show does anything better than modest ratings vs. how much it costs and its just more status quo programming from them rather than aggressively trying to turn things around. Similar things were also said about the FNL deal.
In the grand scheme of things whether Chuck is on the air next year or not makes no real difference to me. I won’t watch it then just like I’m not watching it now. The only way it effects me is that if it weren’t on air a show I might have watched won’t be and I can live with that since there’s nothing on the NBC pilot slate that jumps out at me. I will however continue to point out when the Chuck fans are just plain wrong in some of the things they say – like CBS comedies are killing Chuck for example.
Well if you don’t watch it than why do you rant about it so much ? Anyway it’s your right. I prefer to talk about shows that I actually watch.
Because whilst I have no interest in the show its predicament is interesting to me.