Chuck

[Spacejunkminer]

Technically it is more romance, character driven, and spy gadgetry than Science fiction. But there is the "intercept" which was downloaded into Chuck's head. I bought Chuck series one and two while it was on sale. It is a show that is close to cancellation like all good sci fi shows but the difference is that Chuck might not be a great show. I like the idea of computer's downloading into people's heads without invasive surgery (then my spanish class would be a breeze). I have been watching this show now for the past couple days and I am enjoying this show to a certain extent. Out of a ten i would give this show a 6.5. It could get better but this show seems to thrive off of awkward moments.

 

[SexyDexy]

Yeah, Season Three is a Thumbs Down for me

Well, it depends on what you're interested in. The humor and fun of the show is what sold it to me when I started watching it. I liked the first 2 seasons a lot. But, the third season is where it had some problems for me. I won't go into it since you're watching it now so as not to give off spoilers.

I really enjoyed the action comedy of seasons one and two. I was really disappointed with most of season three. There were only a few episodes that I liked. The others were slow, whiny, and all focused on the "relationships." Maybe the creator that also works for Gossip Girl got too much influence?? Dunno. I will give it a chance for season 4, but I really got quite fed up with season three.

 

[SexyDexy]

Yeah...Josh Schwartz has a bunch of Gossip Girl and The OC under his belt...as executive producer and writer...so I have a strong feeling that all the mushy romance manufactured "drama" is his fault :puke:

A4L you hit the nail on the head with the issues with season three. Those are pretty much the exact problems I had with the season. A few more thoughts:

Spoiler: Chuck Season 3 Problems

This was tacky. Now Morgan of all people is a sidekick in the spy program? Why not round it out and bring in Big Mike, Jeff, and Lester too?

That is hilarious. The worst part is I could totally see them making Jeffster a rocking spy duo...

The Sarah/Chuck will they - won't they was the worst part, I think. There is a belief among most TV writers it seems that once you let the leads be romantic, that your show is doomed. Like Mulder/Scully, Bones/Booth, etc. So in the end they draw things out soooooo long that it is ridiculous, and only in the series finale do the leads normally get together. At least Chuck and Sarah are together now, but how long will the writers let it last before they think it needs "conflict"? I thought the will they/won't they shenanigans were even dumber in this case, because Chuck as a show has so much else going for it besides the Chuck/Sarah romance, so the entire manufactured drama was completely unnecessary. And it made season 3 less funny. In seasons one and two, I laughed out loud several times each episode. In season 3, I only laughed out loud in maybe five episodes - maybe fewer.

Another thing related to the above was Chuck's treatment of Lana from Smallville. I mean, that made me really upset with Chuck, to the point I almost didn't want to watch anymore. That was really low that he slept with her and then dumped her, in front of her parents too...just, really sleazy and it wasn't "excusable" in my book, like the writers seemed to think. It really eroded Chuck's image I thought.

Another big thing that annoyed me was the unrealistic-ness getting out of hand. I know that it is a spy show, with the "intersect" and so of course it isn't "realistic" - but still, the fact the characters can keep going AWOL every few episode and then get barely a slap on the wrist is getting pretty darn ridiculous. And the entire "reboot" thing in the finale just didn't make any sense at all.

Anyways, like I said they built up enough goodwill with me in seasons one and two, and there were still enough glimmers of goodness in season three, that I will give it a shot for season four, but if it the first three episodes or so aren't good, I'm giving up on it I am a little worried that the writers have run out of comedic ideas, and now that Ellie knows, there is really no "keeping the secret" tension anymore...so I have a bad feeling. But, I'll give it a shot.

 

[Spacejunkminer]

I decided to read the spoilers and have decided that I'll buy the seasons when they get down to 20 bucks then buy the dvd set. I liked the first two seasons and am glad I have them because it is entertaining, but if the series is starting to slow down when it has already been in jeopardy of being cancelled then it is not a good sign.

 

[SexyDexy]

Season 4 Premiere

Okay so I won't give any heavy-duty spoilers, but I will say:

Spoiler: Spoiler

My overall impression of Season 4, Episode 1 was "meh" with a side of "yawn," plus a few eye-rolls and groans at the forced attempts at humor. It just felt very stale, cheesy, and not fresh or creative anymore. I think there were five or so minutes that I enjoyed, but the rest was just "blah." I was really hoping for the show to bounce back from the lackluster season 3, but unfortunately if the season premiere is what we can expect the rest of the season to be like, I will most likely be tuning out.

 

[SexyDexy]

Ah yes, the Buy More

Spoiler: More Spoilers

I actually hate that they are keeping the Buy More. It is like they are afraid to "spread their wings" and let go of the Buy More. Just drop it already! Finding some other cover job for Chuck would have been very easy. I guess financially, they spent a lot of money building the Buy More set or something, but, it is just a stretch, imo. I suppose that if they are forced to keep it, making it a spy base is the way to go, but with all those spy gadgets like that big red button and the slide, it is starting to feel very juvevile to me, like, as if the target audience is eight-year olds. Before I felt like the show was smarter than that, and whenever it was over-the-top it was done in a kind of self-aware, funny way - but now I'm not so sure.

The points you make about the dad story line point to another wider-spread problem I found w/ season 3 - which is not fully exploring the potential of the plots. The fights with the major villains resolve too quickly, and I think they are writing themselves out of fresh ideas fast that way. They could have milked the Ring and Chuck's dad and Shaw & wife story line so much more. I mean, we barely grazed the surface of what the Ring was supposed to be, before it was gone.

I agree, Morgan as Chuck's side kick is really stretching my ability to suspend disbelief. If Chuck needed a sidekick, they should have gone with Awesome! Because, he's well, Awesome Morgan tagging along is already getting old.

Sigh...anyways I'm just disappointed because I loved seasons 1 and 2, and I participated in the campaign to save Chuck and everything, and then it just let the fans down (imo). But all good things must come to an end I will give it one more episode...but if it doesn't blow me away then I give up.

P.S.

You are right, there is way too much good TV on these days - but you should definitely make room on your list for True Blood, it is great! Although, if you are at all squeamish I should warn you they do not hold back on the gore. I have to cover my eyes sometimes! I saw the premiere of the Event - I was kind of underwhelmed, honestly, so unless the second episode is awesome then that show isn't going to make my list.

 

[SexyDexy]

I've given up too

I watched the episodes on Hulu the day after, up until today. I just can't bring myself to watch yesterday's episode. My brother watched it live and he told me that it was "extra cheesy." :puke: I can only imagine the cheese factor, based on the previous episode's groaner of an ending... So, I think I will just spare myself the pain.

Another thing besides the cheesiness that is really pushing me over the line to quit the show: parts of it are starting to offend me - namely, the gratuitous body-shots of Sarah and the other girl characters. I'm not against eye-candy, and they always had "eye-candy" shots before, like in seasons 1 and 2, but they weren't done in a way that offended me (although parts of season 3 they started to offend me at times). And while they've always been more focused on the girl eye-candy, they did seem to have a lot more of awesome walking around in his tight biker shorts to balance it out (so, it didn't seem quite so sexist). But so far this season they've gone overboard, and without much connection to the plot, just zooming in on girl's legs, up skirts, etc, and it feels cheap, demeaning to women, and sexist, imo.

 

[I Miss Fri Night SCIFI]

UPDATE:

Okay, I'm still on this because I just thought of this. This whole show is just, and I mean just, about relationship drama now. Awesome and Ellie's "babymoon." Chuck and Sarah figuring out how to live together and if the "spy" in her can commit to the kind of relationship Chuck wants from her. Big Mike asking Morgan if he can marry his mother. Morgan needing to hear "soft jazz" or whatever when he kisses Casey's daughter to know if she's "the one." Chuck looking for long lost mama. Generalissimo needs Chuck and Sarah to "mediate" his marital problems with the wife. Somehow the Buy More is having a book signing for some guy that sells books about 101 ways to propose or whatever??? WTF??? It's like that Gossip Girl person took over!!! Oh geez.

This is exactly what I was thinking and it's what tore it with me last night. Every episode with season has been, in some way, about somebody's relationship. Enough already. And I have to lie to my sister to protect her. Uggghhh. Again? Ever heard of been there, done that? That should have clued me into what was going to happen this season, but I still kept with it. Chuck used to be live TV for me, but sadly, that was my last live night. I'll wait and stock up on a few Hulu episodes when I've got nothing else to do, cuz I'm done.

And it's such a shame because I LOVE Chuck and it has so much potential (as in past seasons), to be such a funny and witty show. But I just cannot stomach another relationship themed episode. What in the hell were the writers thinking when they came up with this?

 

[SexyDexy]

Gossip Girl won

I'm trying to watch Undercovers and that's something that I don't like that much about that show as well. Okay, they're married. We get it. Does each episode really have to start off with them in bed and end that way too? It's a good show, but it has a few problems. Right now it's still good enough for me to watch and see if it picks up.

Funny you should mention this in your detour, because it's exactly what I've been thinking about Undercovers! Besides the bedroom scenes, there is just something not coming together right with the show for me. Can't quite put my finger on it - perhaps a combination of the actors not all having the right chemistry with each other, and also the writing being extremely predictable, and not that original so far. A spy show I really like right now is Covert Affairs - great cast and some smart writing - with some relationship stuff but not too much.

Another thing about the women on Chuck is that one thing that I notice about TV shows is that when they've struggled for renewal (like Chuck has a bit) they tend to do things to grab viewers and those things usually don't help the show. One of the things I've noticed is women wearing tighter outfits or there being more "money shots" if you will. Perhaps that's it.

Interesting, I hadn't thought of that. That could very well be the reason behind them ramping up with more and more "money shots." Whatever the reason, the way they are handling it now as opposed to the early seasons has alienated at least one female viewer, and I wouldn't be surprised if it has alienated a lot more.

This whole show is just, and I mean just, about relationship drama now. Awesome and Ellie's "babymoon." Chuck and Sarah figuring out how to live together and if the "spy" in her can commit to the kind of relationship Chuck wants from her. Big Mike asking Morgan if he can marry his mother. Morgan needing to hear "soft jazz" or whatever when he kisses Casey's daughter to know if she's "the one." Chuck looking for long lost mama. Generalissimo needs Chuck and Sarah to "mediate" his marital problems with the wife. Somehow the Buy More is having a book signing for some guy that sells books about 101 ways to propose or whatever??? WTF??? It's like that Gossip Girl person took over!!! Oh geez.

You hit the nail on the head. Oh my, that part with Morgan must be in the latest episode...now I'm really glad I didn't watch it! And Generalissimo needs Chuck and Sarah to mediate his marital problems? :icon_eek: A BOOK SIGNING at the Buy More about 101 ways to propose? WTF? It's a Buy More, not a Barnes & Noble.

And it's such a shame because I LOVE Chuck and it has so much potential (as in past seasons), to be such a funny and witty show. But I just cannot stomach another relationship themed episode. What in the hell were the writers thinking when they came up with this?

Agreed. It is a terrible shame As to what the writers were thinking, I know that's likely a rhetorical question, but to speculate my feeling is that when the show was in danger of cancellation at the end of season two, they decided they needed "changes" to keep the show afloat. One such change may have been to give more creative control to Josh Schwartz, who if IMDB can be trusted looks to be the more established of the two show creators (having been writer/executive producer on shows like Gossip Girl and the OC). Maybe the network execs thought - let's "mainstream" the show more with drama instead of a keeping it as a "geek" show? That way they thought they could get more viewers? Also I think they knew the viewers wanted Chuck and Sarah to get together, so they tried to capitalize on that - maybe they misunderstood and thought we wanted the show to be ABOUT Chuck and Sarah's relationship. But that's not what we wanted. We wanted them to be together, but we wanted the show to still be ABOUT Chuck as the intersect fighting interesting baddies and going on exciting missions full of action and comedy. Seasons 1 and 2 had a really good balance of the relationships/action/comedy, but now they've shifted the scales and it's unbalanced.

I don't know - maybe to a degree the writers just ran out of ideas too - I mean, like you pointed out, lying to Ellie AGAIN? Uh, sorry writers, but, it's just not the same this time around. And putting everybody back at the BuyMore, and re-hiring all the same workers - it's like they are stuck in a rut. Not that there is anything wrong with BuyMore, per say, it is just that it feels like the writers are moving "backwards" instead of "forwards" - and they are turning Chuck into a soap opera :puke: