Sneaks and Geeks

The writer strike carried out by the Writers Guild of America last winter affected the entire film and television business, but nowhere was its effects felt more than broadcast television. With no writers to make new episodes for shows, series were abbreviated by anywhere from a few episodes to, in cases like “24,” entire seasons. While this merely threw established shows off their game, it virtually suffocated any chance new fall series’ had of gaining a footing into the crowded TV landscape and having a “normal” length season.

When it came to fall 2008, most of the major networks decided to essentially force a redo of last fall. Many series survived to see another day, and were re-launched this season. One of the better shows from last season getting a second chance at an audience is NBC’s “Chuck.”

For those of you who haven’t seen the show, here’s the gist: Computer geek-for-life Chuck Bartowski, seemingly stuck for life as an employee of Buy More, a big-box electronics store, comes home from work one day to find an e-mail from his old college buddy. Chuck opens it and proceeds to get an abundance of government intelligence information downloaded into his brain. Now the sole holder of these top-secret files, the NSA and CIA send their two operatives to watch after our accidental hero. The CIA sends an attractive agent, Sarah Walker, to pose as Chuck’s girlfriend, and the NSA sends tough guy John Casey (played superbly by “Firefly’s” Adam Baldwin) to protect Chuck.

Still with me? Yes, the premise sounds goofy and pretty flimsy, but that’s kind of the point.

Over a shortened debut season, Chuck took hold of its premise and created a show with a lot of heart, humor and hijinx. What could have easily devolved into a shallow, “baddie of the week”-fueled riff of the tired spy genre and nerd culture is instead a smart, “baddie of the week”-fueled blend of action, comedy and romance. Each of the main characters has been developed so that you care for them. Chuck and Sarah’s “will they or won’t they” relationship is paced well enough that it doesn’t get annoying.

Over the course of this new season, Chuck has grown into his role as hapless agent and saved the day more than his spy handlers by now. Casey has grown to care about Chuck. A recent episode delved into developing a compelling back-story for Sarah, in one of the better episodes so far this year. Even the archetypal dorks running the Buy More store are more often than not amusing, with a healthy dose of jokes for gamers and those who work retail thrown in. Everything is combined into an engaging show with more strength than you would think, given the show’s individual parts.

Part of this strength has to do with the fact that there’s a little something for everyone. Those who want action get Bond-lite: tense, if not exactly realistic, spy missions and beatdowns. Those who prefer the more romantic aspects of Chuck and Sarah’s burgeoning “relationship” get that. Those who just want to laugh can take solace in the fact that, for all its CIA operatives and killer mob members, the show takes itself about as seriously as “The Office” takes paper sales. The show’s writers know that a lot of “Chuck’s” charm is in the characters and humor, and never have any illusions about gravitas. (The show casts guest stars like Nicole Richie and Arrested Development’s Tony Hale, for crying out loud!)

That’s not to say that there aren’t some serious moments peppered in, but there’s just something incredibly satisfying about a lovable geek outsmarting mobsters with “Call of Duty” tactics. Even if that last sentence doesn’t sound like the best comeuppance ever, check this show out. There’s a lot to like.