Timewaster's Guide Archive
Departments => Movies and TV => Topic started by: little wilson on April 21, 2009, 11:37:29 PM
-
Who watches Chuck? And who watched last night's episode? Cuz it was AWESOME! Oh my gosh. I'm not going to post any spoilers (yet) but...wow. Simply wow. Next week's will be epic, I tell you.
Also, is this the last season? It's an awesome show so I hope it's not getting canceled, but I'm not sure how it'll work plot-wise if there's another season...Anyone know?
-
I've never been a big fan, but I did catch the last two episodes. And yeah, I was pretty impressed.
-
Okay dad's cure really needs to be a temporary reprieve that isn't permanent. Otherwise that was a really weak ending. I liked the episode, but it would not suffice as the end of the series. And Chuck minus flashes is kind of sad. Hope he goes back and finishes his grad work. though in the mean time they could at least work more Geek Squad oops I mean Nerd Herd calls into the action. :)
-
Since the whole show is based on him being the intersect, I am fairly certain he won't be "free" for long. In fact, there is one more episode this year, and unless they are so sure it will be canceled that they are finishing it, Chuck will most likely get his abilities back.
-
My husband and I have been watching Chuck from the beginning, and we both loved this week's episode, even though we kept saying to each other, "Where in the world can they go from here?" It certainly did look like a wrap-up to me, although I faintly remember thinking the same thing at the end of last season, when it looked like the General was about to get the new computer intersect up and running. So I'm sure they'll think of something. I hope so anyway - I'd be sad if there were no more Chuck.
-
I would also be upset, especially if the can it to make room Jay Leno can have his primetime show. How long do you think that will last? What a terrible idea!
-
I'd hate for it to be canceled. It's a fantastic show! I'm sad that I'm going to miss the finale. Yeah, my family will DVR it, but still. I'm missing 2 finales for this trip--Chuck and Heroes....but I guess I can't really complain. I mean, I'm going to Europe. It's dumb to complain about missing a tv show in light of trip like this...::)
-
Chuck will most likely get his abilities back.
You called it, Darx! At least, I think you did. I can't be quite sure if he got the intersect back in his head, PLUS awesome new kung-fu abilities, or if he just got the kung-fu this time. But either way, it certainly looks like they left it open for another season of Chuck. Yay!
-
That was an awesome finish, but...
My only thought is, "they made Chuck too powerful." His incompetence at the physical aspect of spying was a huge part of the show. I'm thinking the Kung-Fu flashes won't be reliable or controllable.
I wish he could have gained more abilities gradually, through training and effort, but I guess this works too. :)
-
Come on! If he learned them gradually he wouldn't have been able to say the "I know Kung Fu" Matrix reference. Of course, it would be nice if he has both of his hands covered in cold packs during the next episode. sudden talent drilled into your brain doesn't give you the physical conditioning, so he should be one hurtin' unit once the adrenalin goes down.
-
I'm kind of sad that Morgan & Anna seem to be finished. And I agree with Ryos that Chuck can't suddenly be physically invincible like Casey and Sarah. It seems like the next season (if there is one) will be very different, with no Morgan, no Buy More, and no physical incompetence from Chuck. Where will they take the story next, and how can it possibly still be as good?
-
Chucks mind hasn't toughened. All the superpowered Taijuitsu in the world won't make him less of a geek. Also misfires, with him suddenly going Ninja at inappropriate movements holds loads of potential. His degree from Stanford was government jiggery pokery, he needs to do some real study to have the chops to compete with Dad's super science. Campus life, even as a TA would provide him with a great cover identity and put him in place to spot potential Baddies. Maybe a Rhodes scholarship to send him to London/Oxford. That puts Europe only a train ride away. . . Besides, then he'd have that MI-6 agent messing with his woman.
Chuck in the IT dept of a major Corp battling ignorant suits (MBAs) by day and killer suits (baddies) by night.
Lot's of potential with Chuck, that the Best Buy, Geek Squad set was holding him back from.
-
Morgan and Anna didn't break up, they are supposedly going to Hawaii together. As for his Stanford degree, he was very close to graduating when he was booted out for cheating, so he didn't have far to go. It will take a lot more than Stanford to catch up to his father anyway. I don't think the Buymore story arc is complete yet.
-
We had gotten 10 episodes behind on Chuck due to various trips, and finally watched the last two episodes last night. I loved it. The show just got better and better. If this has to be the end, I don't think it could have had any better ending.
I do think they were setting up to get rid of the Buy More in any future season. That was a big standing set and probably very expensive to keep up--plus all those cast members. Future Chuck could be more mobile, like the A-Team. Maybe it wouldn't be the same show we've come to love, but that has really run its course. It is time for Chuck to learn for real how to be a spy. I'm sure the show runners will find a way to make it just as entertaining if they're given the chance.
-
for any who dont know, this was officially renewed. one of the few times TV hasnt let me down.
-
I could never get into this show, try as I may. If they pull an Alias with the next season (i.e., a complete change of setting and focus, which Alias did every season without losing the core characters or conflict), I might give it another shot.
-
Yeah, if they don't make major changes but just go back to the status quo, I will be sorely disappointed. The show was really going somewhere at the end of this season, and I want it to keep going there, not stall out. By ordering only 13 episodes, NBC could be prompting them to keep it edgy and moving like it was when they knew it was in danger of being canceled. (I'm thinking like the end of Jericho, which was awesome compared to the soap opera stuff in the middle of the first season.)
The Buy More was part of what we grew to love about the show, but I really think it is time to move on.
Dan, did you see much of the second season? Especially toward the end it was packed with so many geek references, it really was a treat.
-
After giving up on the early stuff, I came back just long enough to watch the episode with Tricia Helfer. It was better, but still bothersome.
-
From what I have read, the Buy More will still be around to some extent. Since the show is being asked to cut some expenses, big changes in scenery may not be possible. One thing I won't like is if they keep stringing the Chuck/Sarah romance along (which I hear is going to happen). I don't care if they get together or not, just choose one or the other already!
-
i love this show, but i doubt it will last more than next season. they wont show it until March of next year, which is an absurdly long wait for a show of this nature. it feels like they felt obligated to pick it (justifiably so) due to the feedback from viewers, but they didn't want to get FULLY on board with the show. So now casual viewers will forget all about the show, and it will get canceled.
as for cutting costs, they have mentioned that most of it will have to do with the supporting characters - aka Buy More. Which is fine. Buy More was awesome, but it ran it's course.
All I ask is that when they DO finally air season 3 (only 13 episodes so ordered so far) that they give it a satisfying ending.
-
The Buy More is a huge standing set and I think it would cut tons of expenses for them to get rid of it.
-
IT probably wouldn't cost all that much, just move out the cartons and junk, move in new junk. Buy more becomes a whole new venue, like a college library, or a corporate drone cube-tract like the one in Matrix. They could auction off the V-Dubs for a pretty big chunk of change and keep the grips in donuts for a long time.
-
oh im sure getting rid of that set-piece would cut a nice chunk out of their expense. I say they should do both. cut some of the character's parts, and get rid of the buy more. I don't see why they cant have good 'ol Chuck start up a business with his buddies. He still has a cover, he sets up a future life for himself, and we get to have him and the side characters we like in one smaller setting. it also fits the Chuck character to start up his own business - the whole "take control of my own life" thing. It could be sweet, and it would let us focus more on the chuck with the new intersect.
-
Is it really not going to air until March? I thought a half-season would start after sweeps in late January. If they start in March they would have to show all 13 episodes with not weeks off in order to be done in May with everything else.
As for the set, the Buy More is already constructed and paid for, for the most part. It would be more expensive to break it down and build a new set than to leave as it is. In any case, I think they dropped the ball on this one. They should have never left it up against House. They should have reversed Chuck and Heroes, or moved it to Thursdays. It is a comedy, after all, and I'm sure Parks and Recreation will suck.
-
So. Who else is watching the premiere tonight? 'Cause I totally am going to, and the promo is making it look mighty fine. :)
-
First: YAY CHUCK! I love this show.
Second, I must admit I'm a bit puzzled by some of the decisions they made. It's almost like the writers, knowing they might get canceled, pulled out all the stops and changed everything up and made an ending that could stand on its own. Then, when they got renewed, went, "Oh crap! Now we've gotta put everything back the way it was, lest we upset the core audience by changing up the formula!" Down this road lies stagnation, people.
Sarah's reasons for why she can't be with Chuck make no sense. They're spies, not Jedi; what's to say they can't have a love life? I also wish Chuck would buckle down and learn to handle himself without the Intersect, but that may be asking a bit much.
Also: AWESOOOOOOOME! NOOO! :o
-
"Oh crap! Now we've gotta put everything back the way it was, lest we upset the core audience by changing up the formula!"
I got that feeling too. I was looking forward to things being a little different.
-
I was looking forward to them changing it up. I'm disappointed that they didn't. Almost very disappointed. They took the safe way out. They've also made Chuck's new intersect abilities different from the way they used to work. When he would flash on someone, he would KNOW that information. He wouldn't forget it some unspecified period of time later. Whereas now when he flashes a skill, he forgets it (an unspecified amount of time later) and has to re-flash when he needs the skill again. Lame. I understand why they did it—Chuck would have become too powerful—but it's inconsistent.
That said, it's still Chuck. It's fun to watch. The explanations for how things went back to status quo are plausible in the universe, though the relationship thing is, I think, an in-character misunderstanding (I think Chuck flashes better when he has someone to protect, and once they realize that they can have a normal relationship).
Karen said, before we watched it, that she would be happy if they made Chuck's skills like Ralph's in Greatest American Hero—great when they work, but something often gets screwed up. Which is basically what they did, so it's fine.
However, the run-up to the end, and the end of season two, was transcendant. Chuck became a truly great show on many many levels. If it had ended that way, I would have been truly happy. I was happy, thinking it was the ending. But the network realized it was a good show and didn't cancel it, so now there's more of Chuck to milk. Which is fine—we'll watch it and enjoy it—but it illustrates the common failure in American television storytelling.
There may never be an American television show as good as Cowboy Bebop. When you can set out to tell a story the way you want, with a beginning, middle, and end, and then do exactly what you want, the potential for greatness is higher than when you just keep making more as long as something is popular.
Heroes season 1 was great. Lost season 1 was great. The very beginning and the last half of Jericho was great. Day Break was great (though the last half of that had to be watched online). In this country, great shows either 1. get canceled before they can go anywhere or 2. get renewed after they go somewhere and then get horribly lost.
-
wow Peter..
Ditto.
Except for the Bebop stuff cause I havent seen it.
and you left off Nathan Fillion's show Drive. Which was awesome, truly original- even with a Cannonball run feel to it.
-
Drive had problems (for one, it was really obvious the highway they were driving on was in San Bernardino, not Florida or wherever else they were supposed to be that day), but it is indeed another example of the network screwing us over.
-
Lol, I guess that would be an issue, but not for those of us that havent been to Florida or San Bernadino ;)
But there was no warning, just... poof... and it was gone....
-
My hope is that "New Media" solves this. I mean, just look what it's done for comics. For decades, newspapers shrunk the size of the funny pages, placing ever-more-restrictive stipulations on the formatting of the content. Innovative new strips rarely got a foothold. Old strips that died off weren't replaced with new; old strips that stagnated weren't replaced with new; and now the newspaper funny pages are a wasteland.
Now, the Internet is the place to go for comics. There is no restriction on format, content, schedule, or even on who gets published. My RSS reader gives me a daily "funny page" far better than I ever got from any newspaper. I can only imagine what Calvin and Hobbes would have looked like as a webcomic...
Of course, video takes a lot more resources than comics. One man can't very well create an entire production, as is the case with most comics. The closest I can think of are the Chapman brothers' Homestar Runner, but voice actors that can voice a dozen characters are fairly rare.
That said, the pattern of new media has been for budgets to shrink and teams to become leaner. The fat gets cut, middlemen disappear, and the content...actually gets better. I can see nothing that suggests it can't happen for television.
-
I like this show, but I am becoming increasingly bothered by what Peter mentioned earlier:
1) not enough "flashes" on informational stuff.
2) "flashes" on physical stuff don't (thus far) have any sort of retention on Chuck's body. Just the muscle memory alone from missions and the extensive training he went through should have had an effect.
I still think they should have scrapped the Buy More and had Chuck own his own business as a front. Right now, other than Casey being awesome, Buy More is pointless.
And Brandon Roth is a terrible actor.
That is all.
-
I really liked this week's episode in an emotional way. It was gutwrenching.
Karen says she just hopes they don't play the same emotional beat over and over and over again this season like they have in times past.
-
At the end of this week's episode, Karen said (in a fake gravelly electronically distorted voice), "So now we have a mysterious Ring Tribunal, and the fact that they're not showing us their faces means that it's probably someone we know, possibly even Big Mike."
At which point we burst out into uncontrollable giggles that lasted at least five minutes.
Right now, I really hope Big Mike is on the Ring Tribunal.
-
Ha.
-
I had two eye-rolling moments in this latest episode ("Chuck vs. the Beard"), both involving unnecessarily stupid bad guys.
The first error:
Bad guy boss: Kill Colonel Casey.
Two goons: OK! *walk up behind Casey, point guns at him, do not fire. Instead, wait for him to close a distance of 5 to 10 feet and beat the snot out of you.*
The second, more grievous error:
Bad guy boss: Kill the prisoners.
Ring goons: OK! *do not take out guns and shoot the helpless prisoners handcuffed on the floor. Instead, stand them up and unlock their handcuffs so Chuck can demonstrate his Intersect powers to Morgan in a flashy kung-fu fight.*
I know that Chuck isn't really about the action, but shoot. That's just sloppy, lazy writing.
-
They made up for it by playing Duck Hunt. Seriously. It seems like they are hinting that some of the intersect IS being retained. I hope.
And really, the bad guy boss used to be on the Drew Carey Show. You can't expect him to actually be intelligent.
-
The whole thing was apparently an elaborate setup to get a ring phone into Castle so they could contact Casey, so I'm not surprised they sent morons. :)