CHUCK Preview: Comic-Con Day 2

Someone please kiss Josh Schwartz for me!  He’s helped create one of the best new shows for the fall season.  As you know very well by now, CHUCK’s Pilot blew me away and I can’t express enough to you all how much you need to watch this action thriller comedy when it premieres.

The absolutely packed hall of 1000 that came out for the CHUCK Pilot and Panel honestly could have been paid to geek out, give a standing ovation, and butter the cast and crew as they/we did!  NBC couldn’t have asked for a better reception.

As soon as the pilot finished (and yes, it was still amazing after the 3rd viewing) and Zachary Levi and Co. walked out the place erupted!  Levi started jumping up and down with a smile that went from ear to ear.  Everyone from the show was genuinely surprised by the reception they received.  You could just see the excitement in their faces, this pilot struck a chord!  If this is any indication of how America will view it, NBC’s got a must see show on their hands.

Exec. Producer McG was there, and seriously could he be looking more Manorexic?  Man used to be a chub, now he’s totes looking like a stud!  Crazy.

Zachary Levi is hands down the new geek crush of guys and girls around the globe.  Not only is he adorable, he’s got incredible comedic timing, a wonderful sense of humor and there’s just something so average joe about him and that makes you not only relate to his character of Chuck but also makes you feel that much more invested in his story.  Chuck could be any one of our slacker geek friends working the Nerd Herd over at Buy More!

Also on the panel were Exec. Producer/Writer Chris Fedak, Joshua Garcia (Morgan), and the super hot Ben Stiller’s Wife look-alike Yvonne Strzechowski (Sarah from the CIA). Sadly Adam Baldwin was missing because he was shooting today.  The crowd let out a cry of disappointment when they heard that!  Everytime Baldwin came on screen during the pilot the place freaked the frak out!  The Browncoats are 100% behind this show!

So what’s the format of Chuck moving past the pilot?  It appears that there will be a mission/villian of the week mixed in with the ongoing storylines involving Chuck dealing with his new identity, his friend Morgan, his Sister and Capt. Awesome as well as the drama unfolding at Buy More with the Nerd Herd.  It should be a fun ride if they can balance it all and make all the elements come alive.

The cast wants more action, more bang for their buck as they flesh out their characters - so that means they’re all hoping for plenty of action to be mixed in with this incredibly quirky action comedy.

The Producers compared Chuck to Wargames, Goonies, any Spy movie, Die Hard, and even that stinker Blue Thunder as inspirations. Zachary Levi said it was more Bourne Identity meets Alias mixed in with a little Office and I 100% agree.

Josh Schwartz just really wanted to do a show about a 20 something discovering his true path in life but with ninjas!  So its a typical coming of age show with espionage, video games, pop culture references, and ninjas!

Oh the Ninjas… Joshua Garcia said that’s what made him sign on for the series.  Yvonne said that the action sequences were interesting as she’s an adventurous girl. Plus, she’s Polish and loves kicking ass!  Boys love a hot chick kicking ass!  Zachary Levi said that the video games drew him to the show as he’s a complete dork gamer - he could play games and work at the same time.  Sounds to me like a win-win (win) situation!

Schwartz made a funny as the panel went on and Levi revealed more and more that he is Chuck (with all his video game knowledge and inner geek) and this show is basically now a documentary!

Josh Schwartz plans on staying attached and committed to the show throughout its run (so don’t go thinking he’s sinking all his time into Gossip Girl).

The panel ended on a way inappropriate yet sadly hot note when Garcia and Levi reenacted their inverted 69 pose from a scene in the pilot.  It’s one of the funniest scenes and this was a crowing achievement in the Chuck panel’s history at Comic-Con!

Like I said, this is one of my favorite fall shows and if the 1000 in attendance today are any indication, Chuck is the next geek America falls in love with!  Fingers crossed.

CHUCK airs on NBC, Monday nights at 8pm before Heroes.

*Comic-Con pictures to come.

Don’t forget to check out my photos of the Chuck cast from TCA’s as well as Zachary Levi winning The Singing Bee!

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 28th, 2007 at 12:56 am and is filed under Zachary Levi, Comic-Con, Chuck, Josh Schwartz, TV Boyfriends, Spoilers, Ducky Does TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.