Happy pre-Thanksgiving! Before you dive into the feast and football, dig in for some Chuck talk first. Vik Sahay, who plays Lester Patel on the NBC geek hit, joins me, Jason Hughes and Kona Gallagher to talk about the show's new season, which starts on January 10. Here's a hint about the season: Jeffster is mentioned a few times during the interview.
Before and after the interview, the three of us talk about:
Why Mondays, especially at 8, is such a brutal timeslot,
Oprah's "retirement" and if she'll ever have that same kind of platform again,
If you haven't heard, Chuck returns on January 10! For a while it looked like it wouldn't come back at all and then it looked like it might be a late spring return or even a - gasp! - summer run, but it's back in January (and with more eps than originally thought). Here's a sneak peek of season three featuring Zachary Levi.
On Tuesday, we're going to be recording our weekly podcast. In honor of the return of NBC's Chuck on January 10, we're going to have Vik Sahay, who plays Buy More cog Lester Patel, on board to talk about the show's return and what fans can expect.
Last season ended with a bang, as most fans already know. Not to spoil anything, but the finale ended with Chuck saying the famous line from The Matrix, "I know kung fu." And, boy, does he ever. Sahay will be able to give us some insight into what's in store for the Buy More crew now that Chuck is going in a new and even more adventurous direction.
Have questions about for Vik about Chuck or anything else? Leave them in the comments and we'll relay them to Sahay during the podcast. We'll even give you credit for any question we use. So, ask away below. Any question we get in before we record the podcast tomorrow (time TBD right now) will be eligible.
Chuck will be returning to the airwaves on NBC on Sunday January 10th at 8 PM. The third season will start with a two-hour premiere and then the show will be on again the following night in its regular timeslot right after Heroes. This is three hours of Chuck over two days.
The pity is that Chuck is actually a good show and Heroes hasn't been as such since the first season. Perhaps Heroes should be the lead-in for Chuck? With the boost in the number of episodes and the guest-stars galore slated for the coming season, it's a very exciting time to be a Chuckaholic like me. This could also be a sign that NBC is giving more support for Chuck and less for the dying Heroes.
Zachary Levi is great in his role and Yvonne Strahovski is much fun to look at, but what really makes the show is Adam Baldwin. Perhaps John Casey should get his own show? Nah. He's better as a foil for Chuck Bartowski.
The "Ask TV Squad" column, published every Wednesday, answers your questions about current and past TV shows, as well as about the celebrities appearing on TV. Every week, I will pick a question (or more) sent to us and provide answers in the column. If your question is not picked for a column, it may be answered in a subsequent column or in TV Squad's APB Podcast.
To submit questions to the "Ask TV Squad" column, you can post them below in comments or email them to asktvsquad@gmail.com.
This week, I answer questions about Chuck, Katherine Heigl, and where to legally watch shows online for the U.S. and Canada.
We really don't know much about what's going on with NBC's Chuck, plot-wise. We don't even know when it's coming back.
Televisionary has an interview with Yvonne Strahovski. She talks about how she's a little surprised the show is even coming back and reveals a little bit about where the show will be going after the last season finale (seems like so long ago...) where Chuck got his powers.
[Watch clips and episodes of Chuck and other shows at SlashControl.]
Michael Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly is reporting that NBC has upped the episode order from 13 to 19. Not sure why they didn't just make it 22 (a full season), but regardless, this must mean that NBC really wants to get behind the show. Or they realized they really don't have anything else in the wings and want to please the fans they do have.
When NBC did its upfront -- it wasn't really like the other networks, because they had leaked so much information -- one of the things the powers that be decided to do was split the season into two sections. Or two official seasons. It all seemed a bit strange, and now that NBC has gotten off to such a dreadful start, things are changing. One change seems to be that Chuck may be back before March.
When I first started exploring this project, there were a few shows that I knew were going to be important to hit. This is the first of those. Firefly was Joss Whedon's sci-fi western series. The show mustered disappointing ratings in its short eleven-episode run on FOX.
Since then it's gone on to near mythic cult status. There was such an outcry of support from its loyalists, the Browncoats, over its cancellation that the producers made a feature film sequel. That movie,Serenity, answered a lot of questions about the future fate of the cast. Unfortunately, like the television series, it couldn't find quite enough people to show up and tune in to warrant a sequel. Nevertheless, the few morsels of Firefly we did get are enough to prove that this is one of the most innovative and enjoyable series ever to hit the airwaves.
Ever since Women's Murder Club ended last year -- after a way too short run, in my opinion -- I've been looking for appearances by Angie Harmon. Her own series would be great, but if not, I'll settle for whatever I can get. She's just signed to guest star in episode four of the upcoming season of Chuck.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Harmon will play a character named Sydney, a spy for the Ring who's looking to kill Ryan McPartlin's Captain Awesome alter ego.
Her character of Lindsay Boxer on Women's Murder Club was a badass detective who could beat the heck out of a perp while ordering pizza on her cell phone. I've been intermittent with my Chuck viewing, but I'll definitely be checking out this episode and hoping to see more of Harmon.
Other recent additions to the NBC show include Smallville's Kristin Kreuk and Superman's Brandon Routh. Any thoughts on this latest addition? And wouldn't you like to see Harmon in her own series again?
Former Lana Lang Kristen Kreuk will be heading over to NBC to play a love interest for Chuck on the series of the same name. This is right on the heels of the announcement that Brandon Routh will be playing a romantic interest for Sarah. To put it in perspective, Chuck will be dating Lana Lang and Sarah will be dating Superman.
Hopefully, her character Hannah will be a little less whiny than Lana (the two names rhyme. Coincidence?). I did like when Lana become more self-confident and assertive this past season of Smallvile. It's a pity that only lasted for about an episode and a half. Whatever happens, her Chuck episodes will undoubtedly get more viewers than Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.
Has anybody else noticed that all these geek-appeal shows have been getting guest stars that are specifically known to geeks? It's like they don't even want to bother with mainstream guest stars anymore. It's probably cheaper that way.
It's not a permanent gig, but it seems like he might wish it is. According to Michael Ausiello, Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) has signed to appear on Chuckas the new leader of Operation Bartowski. This puts him in the role of mentor to Chuck, which is the good news. The bad news is he'll also be a rival for Sarah's affection.
But what does this mean for Casey? Where will he be during all of this? Why do I have to wait until March for the new season of Chuck, NBC? Hey, make me a deal. If one of your new shows tanks, or if The Jay Leno Show fails to deliver, bring back Chuck earlier. How about October. That works for me.
Why intentionally put a show on the shelf for that long, anyway? Especially if that show is still trying to grow its audience. Would it hurt you to put on some Chuck reruns once in awhile? Don't you get tired of all those Law & Order repeats all over the schedule? People love lighter fare in the summertime.
We just got done with the NBC executive session, where primetime entertainment head Angela Bromstad and alternative programming (read: reality) chief Paul Telegdy took the reporters questions.
Of course, many of the questions had to do with The Jay Leno Show and Ben Silverman's departure. What the gathered reporters got out of the two executives was evasiveness, referrals to other executives, and a general sense that the two of them either don't know or don't want to provide answers about their own network.
When the question of Leno and CBS's Nina Tassler's assertion that NBC would declare victory no matter what numbers they got, Bromstad tried to pass us to the session for Leno's show later in the day. Telegdy did the same. But we wouldn't let them off the hook. An example exchange, for instance, went like this:
The biggest question I had after that awesome season two finale of Chuck was how much hotter can Yvonne Strahovski get? After that, I wondered how these new "kung fu" powers of Chuck's would impact the show. Half of its charm was in Chuck's almost incompetence as a spy.
Thankfully, the creators know their show. So while they won't be retconning their hero's new abilities, his powers come with a glitch in the third season of Chuck. Apparently, when they're on they're amazing, but they don't last. Otherwise, why do we need Sara and Casey (and we do need them).
They only let slip a few other tidbits of the new season. Chuck and Sarah will have "something very emotional and traumatic" happen, but it's "really-really good," according to co-creator Josh Schwartz. Even better, Captain Awesome is in on the secret now. Which means he'll be in the action, too from time to time, which is great for the funny.
I haven't watched the season finale ofChuck since it aired, but didn't both Chuck and Morgan quit the Buy More? I was wondering that as I looked at this new poster for the new season. It shows Chuck in his shirt and name tag and Morgan standing in his outfit with the Buy More gang.
It's a cool poster though (here's a giant version of the pic). Looks a lot like a poster for a 70s movie. NBC has renewed the series for 13 episodes.
Happy pre-Thanksgiving! Before you dive into the feast and football, dig in for some Chuck talk first. Vik Sahay, who plays Lester Patel on the NBC geek hit, joins me, Jason Hughes and Kona Gallagher to talk about the show's new season, which starts on January 10. Here's a hint about the season: Jeffster is mentioned a few times during the interview.
Chuck will be 
The "
Hey Southland fans: sorry about 
Ever since 
Former Lana Lang Kristen Kreuk 
It's not a permanent gig, but it seems like he might wish it is. According to Michael Ausiello, 
We just got done with the NBC executive session, where primetime entertainment head Angela Bromstad and alternative programming (read: reality) chief Paul Telegdy took the reporters questions. 
The biggest question I had after that awesome season two finale of Chuck was how much hotter can Yvonne Strahovski get? After that, I wondered how these new "kung fu" powers of Chuck's would impact the show. Half of its charm was in Chuck's almost incompetence as a spy.
I haven't watched the season finale of 
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
