Casualty of Fall: Chuck

TV viewing is a weird thing, at least for me. I sit here on a Wednesday and I honestly can’t give a compelling reason as to why I’m still watching the miserable limp dog that is Heroes and yet I’m giving up Chuck. Perhaps it’s the fact that when Heroes was at its high point, it was sky fucking high, while Chuck at its best is merely solid entertainment. Either way as of today I’m saying gone to the staff at Buy More with little more then a shrug.

Chuck started out with a great premise. Nerd gets government secrets downloaded into brain and is thrust into the life of a secret agent. Good premise and for the most part good delivery. The cast has been strong over the first season and a half, and the stories have been entertaining but it just feels like they’ve played themselves out. I remember when the show launched, creator Josh Schwartz (OC, Gossip Girl) said he wanted to avoid getting bogged down in an overarching mythology. Come on Josh you gotta have some in order to keep a show like this moving forward. Without it, the show has become an action version of Everybody Loves Ray. Sure you don’t mind if it comes on at 10pm why you’re lying in bed, but episode 110 is no different then episode 510. Ray is insensitive to Debra, his parents are wacky, and Robert is depressed. With Chuck you can be sure the Buy More staff is up to something under the nose of Big Mike, Chuck is out of his comfort zone on a mission, and his CIA watchers want to kiss him or kill him. The show carries off this formula with great precision and effectiveness but it hardly makes for must see TV. The back story with former Sarah paramour and Chuck buddy Bryce Larkin had potential but was quickly snuffed out. I expect the same will occur with newly arrived Jordana Brewster as Chuck’s ex. Again I want to reiterate that this is not a bad show, it’s just not a great show and in today’s world that’s what I need from my TV. Unless you’re Heroes, then apparently I give you endless chances to disappoint me.