Message: This article is written from outside the fictional Chuck universe
| Chuck | |
| Season 1-5, Episode 1-91 | |
 | |
| Air Date | 2007 - 2012 |
| Writer | Chris Fedak et al |
| Director | various |
| Previous | {{{pre}}} |
| Next | {{{next}}} |
Chuck was a fictional multi-genre television program from the United States, created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak which aired on NBC.
The series focused on Chuck Bartowski, the "incredibly intelligent computer-whiz-next-door" underachiever working well below his potential in an electronics retailer, the Buy More. The series began when Chuck was thrown headfirst and unprepared into the world of espionage when an old friend arranged for him to be able to access a top secret government database; the Intersect.
Eventually he evolved into a skilled spy, and with his partners, CIA Agent Sarah Walker, NSA agent Colonel John Casey, and his best friend, Morgan Grimes, the group makes up Team Bartowski, one of the government's best.
By the final season, the team went independent, and opened their own spy for hire firm, Carmichael Industries.
Season One[]
See Also: Season One
Chuck Bartowski is a twenty-something underachiever in Burbank, CA who works as a computer tech for the Nerd Herd at his local Buy More (a parody of Best Buy and their Geek Squad), a large retail electronics chain, with his best friend, Morgan Grimes.
Chuck's sister, Ellie, is a doctor who is constantly encouraging him to move forward in his professional and romantic life. Ellie's boyfriend, Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb, also a doctor, helps look out for Chuck's social life. On the night of his 26th birthday party, Chuck receives an e-mail from Bryce Larkin, his former Stanford University roommate. Unbeknownst to Chuck, Bryce is now considered a "rogue" Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent. When Chuck opens it, the entire database a secret neural supercomputer called The Intersect is embedded into his brain. Both the National Security Agency (NSA) and the CIA want the intelligence returned to them, and dispatch agents. Major John Casey and Agent Sarah Walker are sent to retrieve the data and assess Bartowski's threat potential.
Chuck Season One
The Intersect is stolen by Larkin, and the government's copy was destroyed in his attempted escape. Chuck experiences "flashes" of information from the database activated by certain triggers around him, such as faces, voices, in-context keywords, and visual cues, he must now function as The Intersect, using the knowledge he now possesses to help the government thwart assassins and international terrorists, upending his previously uneventful life. In order to preserve their safety, Chuck must keep his new-found position as intelligence asset a secret from his family and friends, forcing Casey and Walker to establish an uneasy alliance as they are teamed up to protect the asset; Walker poses as Chuck's new girlfriend and takes a cover job at a local restaurant, the Weinerlicious, across from the Buy More, while Casey gets a job at the Buy More, with the shared goal of protecting Chuck and the Intersect at all costs.
In the meantime, the government attempts to rebuild the Intersect computer. As it nears completion, Casey is ordered to kill Chuck as soon as the new Intersect is ready, in order to keep the intelligence he possesses out of enemy hands.
Season Two[]
See Also: Season Two
During the premiere of Season Two, the new Intersect is sabotaged by the rogue organization; Fulcrum, leaving Chuck as the only Intersect, and sparing his life.
As the series progresses, it is revealed that Bryce is still alive and that Fulcrum, is searching for the Intersect, which they believe to still be in the possession of Bryce Larkin. Several Fulcrum agents independently discovered that Chuck is the human Intersect, but all were apprehended or killed before they could pass the information on.
It is revealed that Fulcrum is attempting to build its own Intersect. In Chuck Versus the Suburbs, the secrets from Fulcrum's own Intersect test project are uploaded into Chuck's brain. Eventually, all of the Intersect information is removed by Chuck's father who is also the Intersect's chief designer, Stephen Bartowski a.k.a. "Orion" (Scott Bakula). In the Season Two finale, Chuck Versus the Ring (April 27, 2009), however, Chuck voluntarily uploads the newest version of the Intersect (Intersect 2.0) to save his friends, which allows him to flash on many new skills, rather than just the file information and computation of previous Intersects.
Season Three[]
See Also: Season Three
As of Season Three, Chuck becomes a CIA agent, as he successfully completes his spy training. The team is taken over by Agent Daniel Shaw, the agency's Ring expert.
Chuck Season Three
Team Bartowski begins targeting the hostile organization called, the Ring, the parent group of Fulcrum. The organization was revealed in the season two finale by Bryce, shortly before the activation of the Intersect 2.0. Throughout the third season, Chuck faces his spy training and meets CIA agent, Daniel Shaw, who is on a Ring hit list. The Ring attempts to force Devon to act as their assassin, whom the Ring believes to be a CIA agent rather than Chuck.
In Chuck Versus the Final Exam, Sarah reveals she was once assigned by the CIA to kill a woman for her red test. As it transpires, Sarah's target was Shaw's wife, and her death was his motivation in hunting the Ring whom he had long held responsible. In Chuck Versus the Other Guy, Shaw has joined the Ring for revenge after the Ring Director shows him a video of his wife, Evelyn Shaw, as the woman Sarah had killed five years prior. Chuck manages to save a nearly unconscious Sarah from Shaw by shooting Shaw, a significant moment for Chuck.
Shaw returns just before the season finale, when he works to discredit Team Bartowski and General Beckman. He brings the Ring's directors; the Five Elders to a conference and Team Bartowski manages to identify the Ring leaders and proves to the entire CIA and NSA Daniel Shaw's allegiance to the Ring. Shaw escapes and returns to the Buy More where he plants explosives. Chuck engages in martial arts battle against Shaw, who is using the Ring version of the Intersect 2.0. After Chuck defeats him, Morgan accidentally blows up the Buy More.
Chuck then resigns from the CIA at Ellie's request, after she finds out about Chuck's secret spy life.
The season also introduces Casey's daughter, Alex McHugh (Mekenna Melvin).
Season Four[]
See Also: Season Four
In Season Four, Chuck begins his search for his mother, Mary Bartowski (Linda Hamilton) who had left the family when he was in the fifth grade. Chuck later discovers that Mary is the right hand of international arms dealer Alexei Volkoff (Timothy Dalton). General Beckman forces Chuck to rejoin the agency.
Chuck Season Four
Mary Bartowski manipulates Chuck into a search for her supposed MI6 handler, Gregory Tuttle, to help prove to the CIA that she is a double agent working against Volkoff. When Chuck successfully brings the two together, they lead him to the intelligence mnipulate him into bringing them to his dad's secret base, where Stephen kept all the intelligence involving Fulcrum, Volkoff Industries, and much more, in an effort to find Mary. Mary apparently betrays Chuck, as she flashes him with a portable device which suppresses the Intersect in him. Sarah who was accompanying Chuck, was knocked unconscious by Tuttle, who then reveals himself to be Alexei Volkoff. Volkoff then places detonators around the base. Mary prevents Chuck from revealing Stephen was his father, and Volkoff is ignorant that Chuck is her son. Before departing, Mary gives Sarah a means of escaping the base. The base is then completely destroyed.
Later in the season, Mary explains to Chuck that she was not assigned to take down just Volkoff, but his network. Volkoff finally finds out that Chuck is Mary and Stephen's son. He then forces Chuck into inviting him to the Bartowski family Thanksgiving dinner, in an effort to get along with Mary's family to impress her. After they finish their dinner, Volkoff deduces that Chuck and Sarah had activated a silent alarm to the nearest CIA base. Volkoff has his men surround the courtyard, however, Mary prevents a massacre of her family by holding Volokoff at gunpoint as well. Volkoff lowers his gun when Mary tells him that she could not love a man who would threaten her son. They then leave Chuck and Sarah unharmed as Volkoff pulls out of Burbank with his operatives.
In Chuck Versus the Gobbler, Sarah takes dangerous measures in helping Chuck get his mom back, and she joins Volkoff's organization, quickly earning the same respect Volkoff has for Mary. When working for Volkoff, Mary and Sarah find Volkoff's network, the Hydra Network, the reason of Mary being in deep cover for 20 years. They then find out that the Hydra's database is on a ship called The Contessa.
Chuck and Morgan, on a rogue mission to help his mom and Sarah, team up with them. The Hydra network was then uploaded onto Stephen's computer at Orion's secret Twin Pines cabin, as Volkoff comes to the cabin thinking Orion was alive, later revealed to be Chuck's clever manipulation. Volkoff is then arrested and the Hydra network finally in the hands of the CIA.
Chuck and Mary then rush to Ellie's hospital in time to be there for the birth of baby Clara. Chuck proposes to Sarah in the hospital corridor, just after Ellie gives birth.
After Volkoff's fall, Chuck and Sarah juggle preparing for their wedding with a series of missions, one of which introduces Vivian Volkoff, and new editions of the Intersect (Chuck Versus the A Team), until it becomes apparent that Chuck is the best Intersect. The season wraps with Sarah near death, and Chuck working to save her. Enemy CIA factions in the form of Clyde Decker try to block his every move, and even abduct him in order to remove the Intersect from his brain. Chuck and his friends prevail, however, and Sarah is saved. They then leave government service. The season closes with their wedding, their windfall, and talks for the establishment of Carmichael Industries.
Season Five[]
The team begins season 5 trying to establish their credentials as a private spies for hire firm and must adjust to their new secret weapon - Morgan as the human Intersect. With their new-found wealth, Chuck and Sarah have purchased the Buy More and are using Castle as Carmichael Industries base of operations.
Eventually, Casey and Sarah ask Chuck to act as Morgan's handler in the same way that Sarah and Casey were Chuck's. It is revealed, however, that the Intersect installed in Morgan is corrupted, and is quashing his memory and altering his personality. Clyde Decker had left the Intersect glasses for Chuck, and he and his shadowy team had been hired to destroy Chuck, Sarah, and everything they had worked so hard for.
Cast[]
See Also: A full list of characters
See Also: A full list of Actors
- Charles "Chuck" Bartowski played by Zachary Levi
- Agent Sarah Walker played by Yvonne Strahovski
- Colonel John Casey played by Adam Baldwin
- Agent Morgan Grimes played by Joshua Gomez
- Eleanor "Ellie" Bartowski-Woodcomb played by Sarah Lancaster
- Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb played by Ryan McPartlin
- General Diane Beckmans played by Bonita Friedericy
- Michael "Big Mike" Tucker played by Mark Christopher Lawrence
- Lester Patels played by Vik Sahay
- Jeffrey "Jeff" Barnes played by Scott Krinsky
Save Chuck Campaign[]
For more information: Save Chuck
Save Chuck was the 2009 fan Campaign to save the television show Chuck from being canceled at the end of season two, and for NBC to renew Chuck for a third season.
Changes[]
In early drafts of the Chuck Versus the Intersect pilot episode of Chuck, several changes were made to the script before the episode aired, such as:
- Kayla Hart was Chuck’s next door neighbor. Single, twenty-five and heavily into the indie music scene. Kayla was a potential love interest for Chuck. The character was deleted completely, but not until publicity photos including her were made.
- The scene where Bryce Larkin escapes from after stealing and blowing up the intersect computer that housed the First Intersect was extended.
- The Nerd Herd was initially to be called the Geek Force.
- Chuck and Morgan were seen playing Xbox to avoid the birthday party rather than escaping it.
- General Diane Beckman was originally named as General Mary Beckman when she was originally portrayed by Wendy Makkena.
Quotes[]
See: Chuck Quotes
Spy Gadgets[]
Chuck features quite a number of gadgets, for a full list see: Category:Gadgets
Locations and Setting[]
There are many different locations frequently used in Chuck, for a full list see: Category:Locations
Episodes[]
See Also: Full Episode Guide
Chuck aired for five seasons. The first season of Chuck was originally aired in 2007–2008, a total of 13 episodes. After the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, NBC renewed Chuck for a second season instead of extending the first to a full season.
Chuck: Other Media[]
Link: Chuck Spin-off Media
A number of other media spin offs from the Chuck television series have been created. The main ones are listed below:
Chuck Graphic Novels[]
For full information: Graphic Novel
Wildstorm, a DC Comics imprint, produced a six-issue mini-series written by Peter Johnson and Zev Borow, with art by Jeremy Haun and Phil Noto. It started in June 2008. A trade paperback collection was published in July of 2009. It also includes a public service announcement on brushing one's teeth from Captain Awesome and two gag adventures with Morgan based on film noir and The Odyssey. (WildStorm also releases Brian K. Vaughan's Ex Machina, a series that sees its main character fused with a technological structure, issue #39 of which is used within Chuck to conceal the Intersect operating manual from General Beckman, Casey, and Sarah for Chuck's studies from Season 2, episode #17 onward.)
Music[]
For a full list of music that's been used in Chuck, visit: Music Used in Chuck
Like any television show, Chuck contains music or songs within its episodes. The main example of this would be the show's title sequence (or theme tune) which is sample of "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by Cake, which first appeared in Chuck Versus the Tango.
Trivia & Pop Culture References[]
See: Trivia, Nerd Notes, Pop Culture References
Podcast[]
Chuck Versus the Podcast. For more information see, Gray Jones
Tie in Websites[]
A tie in website are websites created by the produces of a show which create real on the web sites to promote and give further information about the show to fans. Chuck has the following websites:
NBC Chuck:
Fictional sites:
Myspace:
- Chuck Bartowski on Myspace (Archived)
- Morgan on Myspace (defunct)
- Ellie on Myspace (Archived)