Last week saw the end of one of my favorite shows in recent television memory, Chuck. If you’re into geekry, you probably haven’t missed the fact that Chuck was on and you will, like me, be sad it is over. It almost ended at the end of the second season due to network stupidity, but I’m really glad it got a chance to suceed for five full seasons (thank you Subway). Sure, I would have loved for the show to go on much longer, but I’m happy with just five. Babylon 5 was only five seasons (and a few movies) because it was written to be that long — and is arguably ranks among some of the best scifi in history.
Chuck was a funny series when it started out because it’s premise was just so strange. It was about a guy (Chuck) who worked at a Buy More (Best Buy) for the Nerd Herd (Geek Squad) with his wacky friends and he had fairly ordinary life. Then they added the spy angle to make things really fun. It was a cool premise and I would have watched the show for that alone, but there were two other major factors that helped sell it.
Yeah, Yvonne Strahovski certainly earned her silly nickname of Strahotski. Sure, she was hot right out of the gate, but as time went on she turned from hot to smokin’ hot. Strahovski was also a completely unknown name (at least to me and I presume most of the USA populous) until she showed up in Chuck. I suspect her name will go down in (geekdom) history with the likes of Carrie Fisher.
I’ll be honest though, I would have watched the show without the clever premise and hot chicks… why? Because of Adam Freaking Baldwin, also known as The Man They Call Jayne. He’s been in a lot of movies and shows in his time, some you might remember like Full Metal Jacket, and some you might not like Independence Day. Anyway, Adam Baldwin is a big favorite of mine (along with his Firefly costar Nathan Fillion) and I’d watch any show he was in even if it was a steaming turd.
At the end of the day, I’ve made a point to try and support the show where I could. I’ve even purchased each and every season’s blu-ray discs as soon as they came out — then promptly re-watched the season. It’s bittersweet to see the show end, but it went out doing what they did well, rather than dribbling on until no one could stand (let alone care) Jeff and Lester’s antics. I really look forward to seeing where each of the main actors head from here, and what new shows the producers/writers come up with next.