DVD Review: Chuck

From executive producer, Josh Schwartz (“The O.C.”) and executive producer-director McG (“Charlie’s Angels,” “We Are Marshall”) comes a one-hour, action-comedy series about Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, “Less Than Perfect”) — a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government’s most vital secret agent. When Chuck opens an e-mail subliminally encoded with government secrets, he unwittingly downloads an entire server of sensitive data into his brain. Now, the fate of the world lies in the unlikely hands of a guy who works at a Buy More Electronics store. Instead of fighting computer viruses, he must now confront assassins and international terrorists.

With the government’s most precious secrets in Chuck’s head, Major John Casey of the National Security Agency (Adam Baldwin, “My Bodyguard”) assumes the responsibility of protecting him. His partner is the CIA’s top agent (and Chuck’s first date in years), Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski, “Gone”). They’ll try to keep him safe by trading in his pocket protector for a bulletproof vest. Also starring are Joshua Gomez (“Without a Trace”) as Morgan Grimes, Chuck’s best buddy, and Sarah Lancaster (“What About Brian?”) as Chuck’s ever-supportive sister, Ellie. Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak wrote, “Chuck,” which is produced by College Hill Pictures, Wonderland Sound and Vision, in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Review:
This is the series that will make being a nerd cool, or at least cooler! Fitting into the category of dramedy, this is one of the favorite new series of the season. It’s got the comedy, the suspense, and it even has the action-packed fight seasons and a thrilling car chase. The series comes from television mastermind Josh Schwartz, the man responsible for giving us The O.C. and this season’s Gossip Girl. While Chuck has a different audience than those shows, we can still see the wittiness in the clever dialogue that we loved so much with The O.C. Chuck is more grown up though, we for see those college-aged guys that can’t stop watching Scrubs to really take to this series, as they will appreciate the humor, the hot girls, the nerdy gadgets, and the feeling that they’re watching an action movie. This series truly does pack everything into one show, and we have to give props to Mr. Schwartz on that one.

Chuck is up against some stiff competition in the Monday night 8pm time slot, but hopefully being on the same night with Heroes will help give it a little extra boost! Be sure to check it out Monday nights on NBC, and in the mean time check out the awesome interactive web hub at www.chuckssecret.com.

Review by Emma Loggins

Grade: A-
Official site: http://www.chuckssecret.com
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