The race is on, but Chuck didn't even get out of the gate
I am a big fan of the television show Chuck. It seemed to do all things right, including some of the best writing I've seen on television in ages. Its first season was somewhat ho-hum, but oh my god, the second season was phenomenal. It's like they put the kids to bed and then brought out the real writers.
So, I've been anticipating the third season, even though the show was almost cancelled after Season 2 because of ratings. Well, sadly, the show is like we're watching Season 1 over again.
They took an innovative show about a real fish out of water, a computer tech nerd who works for the television version of Best Buy (the Buy More) as one of the Nerd Herd (Geek Squad in Best Buy), but who accidentally has a CIA database dumped into his brain so he now must be protected by secret agents and go on missions himself. They teamed him with one of the hottest actresses to ever play on a television show, and she became his unlikely girlfriend (which made the show even funnier because he had no chance whatsoever with her, yet slowly was winning her over).
Now, he's gone from being the nerd with tons of information in his head to an upgrade where he also has secret agent skills, like Kung Fu and all sorts of other abilities that flash when he needs them. Bad idea. It was cute when he was stuck in hopeless situations and trying to fend for himself (like anyone of us might do), but making him into James Bond was stupid.
And then the writing...I don't know what to say other than I've seen some of the worst plot turns I've seen in a television show yet. The infamous unwritten backstory where he chose the job for the girl (yeah, right) that slowly gets filled in so you have to somehow feel for him because he dumped her when she was giving up everything for him to help him out of this life he was trying to escape. Doesn't work. The "we're getting the band back together" plot line of the hero getting the CIA group back together so everything's just like it used to be (except he's now a superhero superspy) was the main plot behind the last few seasons for Stargate SG1. It worked for Stargate because, well, that was Stargate. But it doesn't work every time you try to pull it off. Especially when it was just done in an earlier series.
So they relied on the "let's get the geek with a supermodel and it will by funny" schtick. Yeah, that was great for Season 1, but not Season 3. It was essentially a set up for a punch line they delivered at the end of the episode (it was Chuck's best friend hooking up with a superspy supermodel). It doesn't work when you're trying to make the show seem a bit more serious, which is the direction they took in Season 2. In Season 3, it just seems like bad writing.
There was a lot of bad writing done in this show, mainly because the creators don't know what they're doing with the show. All of the Buy More scenes are jokes, which is the way the show was designed. Then they kill off a main character by having him murdered in the parking lot of the Buy More. I can see the attempt to show the "it's now going to be serious" but then goes right back to zany comedy bits at the Buy More. Either do it, or don't do it. Killing off that character was like having an episode of SAW take place on Sesame Street. It can happen, but it doesn't belong. Sure, I'd love to see Elmo chasing people with a chainsaw, but let's be serious here.
I really hope this doesn't bode badly for the future of Chuck. I want this show to succeed so much, but this first outing of two episodes in a row is scary because it shows such a bad direction for such a great show to go. It continues tomorrow, followed by another episode of Heroes, which is another one of those shows that just can never seem to figure out what kind of show it wants to be.
But that's for another entry.
Stumble It!
So, I've been anticipating the third season, even though the show was almost cancelled after Season 2 because of ratings. Well, sadly, the show is like we're watching Season 1 over again.
They took an innovative show about a real fish out of water, a computer tech nerd who works for the television version of Best Buy (the Buy More) as one of the Nerd Herd (Geek Squad in Best Buy), but who accidentally has a CIA database dumped into his brain so he now must be protected by secret agents and go on missions himself. They teamed him with one of the hottest actresses to ever play on a television show, and she became his unlikely girlfriend (which made the show even funnier because he had no chance whatsoever with her, yet slowly was winning her over).
Now, he's gone from being the nerd with tons of information in his head to an upgrade where he also has secret agent skills, like Kung Fu and all sorts of other abilities that flash when he needs them. Bad idea. It was cute when he was stuck in hopeless situations and trying to fend for himself (like anyone of us might do), but making him into James Bond was stupid.
And then the writing...I don't know what to say other than I've seen some of the worst plot turns I've seen in a television show yet. The infamous unwritten backstory where he chose the job for the girl (yeah, right) that slowly gets filled in so you have to somehow feel for him because he dumped her when she was giving up everything for him to help him out of this life he was trying to escape. Doesn't work. The "we're getting the band back together" plot line of the hero getting the CIA group back together so everything's just like it used to be (except he's now a superhero superspy) was the main plot behind the last few seasons for Stargate SG1. It worked for Stargate because, well, that was Stargate. But it doesn't work every time you try to pull it off. Especially when it was just done in an earlier series.
So they relied on the "let's get the geek with a supermodel and it will by funny" schtick. Yeah, that was great for Season 1, but not Season 3. It was essentially a set up for a punch line they delivered at the end of the episode (it was Chuck's best friend hooking up with a superspy supermodel). It doesn't work when you're trying to make the show seem a bit more serious, which is the direction they took in Season 2. In Season 3, it just seems like bad writing.
There was a lot of bad writing done in this show, mainly because the creators don't know what they're doing with the show. All of the Buy More scenes are jokes, which is the way the show was designed. Then they kill off a main character by having him murdered in the parking lot of the Buy More. I can see the attempt to show the "it's now going to be serious" but then goes right back to zany comedy bits at the Buy More. Either do it, or don't do it. Killing off that character was like having an episode of SAW take place on Sesame Street. It can happen, but it doesn't belong. Sure, I'd love to see Elmo chasing people with a chainsaw, but let's be serious here.
I really hope this doesn't bode badly for the future of Chuck. I want this show to succeed so much, but this first outing of two episodes in a row is scary because it shows such a bad direction for such a great show to go. It continues tomorrow, followed by another episode of Heroes, which is another one of those shows that just can never seem to figure out what kind of show it wants to be.
But that's for another entry.
Labels: Chuck, Television
Stumble It!
posted by Duane @ 9:15 AM
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