Monday, 28 July 2008

Chuck vs. The Second Season

Monday, 28 July 2008


The web is alive with Comic-Con footage filmed on camera-phones just now -- in all their herky-jerky, audience whooping glory. I wish all the trailers would be released officially a day after they debut at the San Diego event, don't you? Anyway, here's another one: a massive 6-minute preview of Chuck's second season...

Now, I had issues with the first season, which improved after the first half-dozen episodes, but for a comedy-drama it wasn't a notable success at either. For me, I kept watching mainly because of the performances; with Zachary Levi, Adam Baldwin and Yvonne Strahovski all doing excellent work, despite often shaky material.

Thankfully, this preview for season 2 looks bigger and better. The sound quality's quite poor, so I didn't catch all the jokes, but it looks more confident and twice as funny. I assume NBC have increased Chuck's budget (based on the stunts shown here) and the various guest stars look fun -- especially Michael Clarke Duncan. And, yes, gorgeous Yvonne Strahovski has quite a few leggy/cleavage/lingerie shots to send her fans into meltdown.

I'm more excited about Chuck's return than I was yesterday, so this preview did its job. We have Chuck's long-lost love Jill played by Jordana Brewster (making everyone wonder what this geek's secret is with the ladies), the arrival of Captain Awesome's parents "The Awesomes", Nicole Richie vs. Yvonne Strahovski in a shower fight, Buy More boss Big Mike falling in love with Chuck's mother... and much more.

So, has Chuck evolved into the show it should have been from the start? I really hope so. There was always a lot of potential in the premise. Or have the producers just thrown together EVERY decent bit of footage from ALL the episodes they've filmed? I guess we'll find out when Chuck returns for more missions on NBC, starting 29 September.