Chuck Versus the Intersect
Encyclopedia
"Chuck Versus the Intersect" is the pilot episode
of the American action-comedy
television series
Chuck
. The episode was directed by McG
and written by series co-creators Josh Schwartz
and Chris Fedak
. It originally aired on September 24, 2007.
The series follows the adventures of Chuck Bartowski
(Zachary Levi
), a computer geek and member of a Geek Squad
-type electronics retail chain (the Nerd Herd), who downloads the Intersect
, a top-secret government database, into his brain. Chuck soon finds himself on a date with Sarah Walker
(Yvonne Strahovski
), who is revealed to be a CIA
agent assigned, along with veteran National Security Agency (NSA)
agent Major John Casey
(Adam Baldwin
), to capture Chuck. The episode also introduces series regulars Joshua Gomez
and Sarah Lancaster
as Chuck's best friend and older sister, Morgan Grimes
and Ellie Bartowski, respectively. Guest stars include Matthew Bomer as Bryce Larkin
, Chuck's college roommate-turned-nemesis and the CIA agent who emails him the Intersect, Wendy Makkena
as the National Intelligence Director, Tony Todd
as CIA Director Langston Graham
, C.S. Lee as Harry Tang, Dale Dye
as General Stanfield, and Nickolas Pajon as Vuc Andric.
"Chuck Versus the Intersect" received mixed reviews from critics, though most writers praised the casting of the series, or at least that of Zachary Levi. According to the Nielsen ratings
system, the pilot drew 9.21 million viewers, a series high.
(Zachary Levi
) and his best friend Morgan Grimes
(Joshua Gomez
) make an unsuccessful attempt to escape Chuck's birthday party hosted by his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster
). Despite the efforts of Ellie and her boyfriend, "Captain Awesome" (Ryan McPartlin
), for Chuck to socialize with the party's female guests, Chuck dispels the women by explaining how years earlier his Stanford University
roommate, Bryce Larkin
(Matthew Bomer), had him expelled and began a relationship with Chuck's girlfriend, Jill Roberts
.
Meanwhile, Bryce, a rogue CIA
agent, is shown breaking into a top-secret government computer center and downloading a vast amount of data to his PDA before destroying the computer. As Bryce attempts to escape, he is shot dead by NSA
agent Major John Casey
(Adam Baldwin
), but not before emailing the data to Chuck and self-destructing his PDA. After viewing the rapid series of images, Chuck experiences a series of "flashes"The episode establishes that a user who has subliminally retained the Intersect data receives feedback from it in the form of what Chuck labels "flashes". Chuck has several flashes throughout the episode. of data, triggered by things he hears and sees, including a strange man (Nickolas Pajon).
In Washington, D.C.
, Casey is informed by the National Security Director (Wendy Makkena
) and CIA Director Langston Graham
(Tony Todd
) that the computer Bryce destroyed was a government database called the Intersect
, which the NSA and CIA used as a joint resource to identify threats to the government. Casey is ordered to track down the recipient of Bryce's email in California.
At work at the Buy More
, Chuck is approached at the Nerd Herd counter by Sarah Walker
(Yvonne Strahovski
). After Chuck fixes Sarah's phone, she leaves him her phone number, but he decides not to call her. He arrives home to find an intruder stealing his computer. After the computer is dropped and destroyed, the intruder escapes and is revealed to be Sarah, a CIA agent.
Sarah takes Chuck on a date to find out what he knows. Sarah spots and quickly dispatches an NSA team following but flees with Chuck when she spots Casey. Sarah leads Chuck up to the top floor of a skyscraper and attempts to call in an evacuation while Chuck explains what happened when he uploaded the Intersect. Sarah then aims her gun at Chuck when Casey arrives on the roof. Sarah warns Casey that Chuck uploaded the Intersect and tells Chuck that their mutual friend Bryce is dead. Chuck then flashes on the building where the visiting General Stanfield (Dale Dye
) is giving an address and puts together all the pieces from the flashes he had been having: the stranger in the Large Mart is a demolitions expert and has set a bomb to destroy the conference. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey locate the bomb in the conference hall and Chuck defuses the bomb by deliberately infecting the machine with a computer virus.
Sarah reassures Chuck that he will remain at the Buy More, while she and Casey watch over him. He is to work with them until they can discover a way for the Intersect to be removed from his brain. All she asks is that Chuck trust her.
was conceived by Josh Schwartz
and Chris Fedak
. NBC
initially gave the series a put pilot commitment before green lighting a pilot order in January 2007. Schwartz and Fedak both attended the University of Southern California
and the latter pitched the idea to Schwartz who agreed to develop the project with him. The hour-long, high-concept action-comedy
, described in press releases as being "in the vein of Grosse Pointe Blank
", would revolve around a man who downloads the entire CIA and NSA databases into his head. Schwartz signed a three-year, seven-figure overall deal with Warner Bros. Television
to write and executive produce the series with Fedak.
Schwartz has stated that he set the series at an electronics store to compliment Chuck:
was the first actor to be cast in the series, before any other roles had been cast. Schwartz said that casting the role of Chuck was difficult, but Levi was perfect because you "could believe he was a social outcast, but still got the girl." Adam Baldwin
was cast as John Casey shortly thereafter on February 8, 2007. Fedak always had Baldwin in mind for the role and the producers found that the actor was a "perfect fit" for the character during the first casting session. On February 12, 2007, Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski
was announced for what was then the role of Sarah Kent, joining Levi and Adam Baldwin. Prior to beginning of filming the character's name was changed to Sarah Walker. Strahovski was unable to come to the United States
for the audition, so the producers allowed her to audition via the internet.
In March, Sarah Lancaster
, Joshua Gomez
and Natalie Martinez
were cast as Ellie Bartowski (Chuck's older sister), Morgan Pace (Chuck's best friend), and Kayla Hart (Chuck's neighbor and love interest), respectively. Gomez decided he wanted to be part of the pilot after reading there was a ninja in the script. Tony Todd
and Wendy Makkena
were cast as CIA Director Graham and the National Intelligence Director, General Mary Beckman. The casting for Beckman was narrowed to Makkena and Bonita Friedericy
, with Mekenna ultimately being chosen. However, Mekenna only appeared in the pilot, and was replaced in the following episode by Friedericy as General Diane Beckman
.
Morgan's surname was changed to "Grimes" before filming, and Sarah's to "Walker". Despite Natalie Martinez appearing in promotional cast photographs, the character Kayla Hart was dropped before filming. Hart, the owner of the club where Sarah and Chuck first encounter Casey, was intended to be a rival for Chuck's affections. However, Fedak and Schwartz found it too unlikely and too complicated to the storyline that two women would be pining over Chuck. Additionally, Captain Awesome was originally planned to be an enemy agent but his portrayal by Ryan McPartlin
was so well received that this storyline was also abandoned.
McG
, Schwartz's fellow executive producer on The O.C.
, directed the pilot and consequently became an executive producer (via his production company, Wonderland Sound and Vision
), along with Fedak, Peter Johnson, Scott Rosenbaum, Matthew Miller and Allison Adler
. NBC gave the series an early pick-up and a thirteen-episode order on May 10, 2007.
McG said he felt the appeal of the series was its mix of an "Office style comedy" and an action series, and added that Chuck's work place "is designed to be as dangerous as the spy world." Although Chuck's apartment is set in Echo Park, the pilot was shot in El Cabrillo
in Hollywood. After the series was picked up, the apartment and the building's courtyard were re-created on a Warner Bros.
soundstage. The exterior shots of the Burbank Buy More where Chuck and Morgan work are of a former Mervyn's store in the Fallbrook Mall in Canoga Park. Chuck's fingers are bandaged at one point due to injuries Zachary Levi sustained while playing Call of Duty
.
and The Shins
. Journey
's song "Any Way You Want It
" is featured as Chuck's ringtone. Other songs include "Cobrastyle
" by Teddybears
, "Cellphone's Dead" by Beck
, "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
" by Jet
, "See the World" by Gomez
, "For A Fistful of Dollars" by Ennio Morricone
, and "The Missionary" by Brothers Martin.
The pilot also establishes the series' tendency to reference popular culture. Schwartz has revealed in interviews that the Buy More is based on consumer electronics stores such as Best Buy, while the Nerd Herd is inspired by the Best Buy subsidiary Geek Squad. When Sarah walks into the Buy More, Chuck and Morgan reference Prince
's song "Batdance
". Chuck and Morgan also continuously play Call of Duty. A North by Northwest
poster is shown in Chuck's room.
system, the pilot episode drew an estimated 9.21 million viewers, a series high.
"Chuck Versus the Intersect" received mostly positive reviews from critics, with several praising the casting of the series, especially that of Zachary Levi. Eric Goldman of IGN
gave the episode a rating of 9 out of 10, writing, "Schwartz and Fedak's script for the Chuck pilot is very strong, deftly mixing action and humor. Where Schwartz's other new series, Gossip Girl
, could use more of the humor he brought to The O.C., Chuck does a great job capturing the wit and self-awareness Schwartz's previous series contained." Varun Lella of AOL TV
criticized the episode's opening as being "a weak gag", though writing that "the ensuing moments were hilarious enough to almost erase the poorly executed opening moments." Stephen Lackey of Mania called the pilot better than he expected, as well as "energetic, cinematic, and quite funny." Television Without Pity gave the episode an A- on a scale of A+ to F.
The Columbus Dispatch
called the pilot "delightful", writing, "Chuck has good nerd jokes, a winning everyman who is easy to root for, a hot blonde, ninja fighting and a backward car chase." The newspaper praised the performance by the main cast, especially Zachary Levi, who it wrote "should soon be a pleasant surprise to audiences." The paper called the episode "deftly directed by" McG, who kept "things from becoming too silly or far-fetched." Robert Bianco
of USA Today
gave the episode an overwhelmingly positive review, writing, "Everyday superheroes are, of course, a recurring TV fantasy, but seldom has the genre shown as much pluck as Chuck, and seldom has it found a more agreeable hero than Zachary Levi... Levi needs only a few minutes here to convince you of his wider range and lay claim on breakout stardom."
Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club
gave the episode a negative review, rating it as a C-. Hyden criticized Levi as being "likeable but unconvincing playing a loser who hasn't had a girlfriend in five years" and Levi and Gomez as "blandly recreating Judd Apatow
's loser heroes without any of the authentic details", though calling Baldwin's performance "one of the few bright spots". Katey Rich of Television Blend wrote that the episode, like Chuck, was "gangly and awkward" and "a lot to swallow in a pilot episode, not to mention totally implausible." However, Rich concluded that the series showed comedic promise and was loved by its audience, "while not necessarily being a slam dunk."
For the pilot, editor Norman Buckley
won the Award for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial Television at the 2007 American Cinema Editors Awards
. "Chuck Versus the Intersect" was also nominated for Outstanding Main Title Design at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards
.
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
of the American action-comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Chuck
Chuck (TV series)
Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
. The episode was directed by McG
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
and written by series co-creators Josh Schwartz
Josh Schwartz
-Film school at USC:In 1995, Schwartz realized his boyhood dream of attending film school to study screen and television writing at the University of Southern California...
and Chris Fedak
Chris Fedak
Chris Fedak is a co-executive producer of Chuck. He has also co-written several episodes with Josh Schwartz.Chuck is Fedak's first television credit.Schwartz says that the idea for Chuck originally came from Fedak:-External links:*...
. It originally aired on September 24, 2007.
The series follows the adventures of Chuck Bartowski
Chuck Bartowski
Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski is the main and titular character of the American fiction television show Chuck on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi.-Character profile:...
(Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi Pugh , better known by his stage name Zachary Levi , is an American television actor, director, and singer known for the roles of Kipp Steadman in Less than Perfect, Chuck Bartowski in Chuck, and Flynn Rider in Tangled.- Early life :Zachary Levi Pugh was born in Lake Charles,...
), a computer geek and member of a Geek Squad
Geek Squad
The Geek Squad is a subsidiary of the Best Buy Company and is based in Richfield, Minnesota. It was originally founded on June 16, 1994 by Robert Stephens. The company offers various computer-related services and accessories for residential and commercial clients...
-type electronics retail chain (the Nerd Herd), who downloads the Intersect
The Intersect
The Intersect is a fictional secret technology appearing in the television series Chuck. Within the series, it is used to house and analyze large quantities of encoded data...
, a top-secret government database, into his brain. Chuck soon finds himself on a date with Sarah Walker
Sarah Walker (Chuck)
Sarah Lisa Bartowski is the alias of one of the main characters of the fictional television show Chuck on NBC. She is portrayed by Yvonne Strahovski and is one of two agents assigned by the NSA and CIA to protect Chuck Bartowski after he unwittingly downloads the secret government computer known...
(Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski is an Australian actress. Born in Australia to Polish immigrant parents, Strahovski speaks Polish and English...
), who is revealed to be a CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent assigned, along with veteran National Security Agency (NSA)
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
agent Major John Casey
John Casey (Chuck)
Colonel John Casey is portrayed by actor Adam Baldwin on the television show Chuck on NBC. Prior to the episode "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac," he was partnered with CIA agent Sarah Walker to protect Chuck Bartowski....
(Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
), to capture Chuck. The episode also introduces series regulars Joshua Gomez
Joshua Gomez
Joshua Eli Gomez is an American actor best known for his role as Morgan Grimes on Chuck. He is the younger brother of actor Rick Gomez....
and Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster is an American actress. Since the show's inception in 2007, she has co-starred in the NBC comedy-spy series Chuck, as the title character's sister, Ellie Bartowski....
as Chuck's best friend and older sister, Morgan Grimes
Morgan Grimes
Morgan Guillermo Grimes is a major character on the television series Chuck. He is portrayed by actor Joshua Gomez, and is the best friend of Chuck Bartowski....
and Ellie Bartowski, respectively. Guest stars include Matthew Bomer as Bryce Larkin
Bryce Larkin
Bryce Larkin is a recurring character on the spy comedy series Chuck on NBC. Bryce is the ex-college roommate and fraternity brother of the series' main character, Chuck Bartowski and was formerly partnered and once romantically involved with Chuck's CIA handler Sarah Walker. Bryce was responsible...
, Chuck's college roommate-turned-nemesis and the CIA agent who emails him the Intersect, Wendy Makkena
Wendy Makkena
-Career:Born in New York City, Makkena started her acting career in 1986 and appeared in the TV show Santa Barbara. She later landed her first movie role in Eight Men Out...
as the National Intelligence Director, Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
as CIA Director Langston Graham
Langston Graham
Langston Graham is a fictional recurring character in the NBC television series Chuck. Graham was the director of the CIA, and oversaw Operation Bartowski, a fictional top-secret project to guard Chuck Bartowski and the Intersect...
, C.S. Lee as Harry Tang, Dale Dye
Dale Dye
Dale Adam Dye is an American actor, presenter, businessman, and retired U.S. Marine captain who served in combat during the Vietnam War.-Early life & Marine service:...
as General Stanfield, and Nickolas Pajon as Vuc Andric.
"Chuck Versus the Intersect" received mixed reviews from critics, though most writers praised the casting of the series, or at least that of Zachary Levi. According to the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, the pilot drew 9.21 million viewers, a series high.
Plot
In Echo Park, California, Chuck BartowskiChuck Bartowski
Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski is the main and titular character of the American fiction television show Chuck on NBC. He is portrayed by Zachary Levi.-Character profile:...
(Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi Pugh , better known by his stage name Zachary Levi , is an American television actor, director, and singer known for the roles of Kipp Steadman in Less than Perfect, Chuck Bartowski in Chuck, and Flynn Rider in Tangled.- Early life :Zachary Levi Pugh was born in Lake Charles,...
) and his best friend Morgan Grimes
Morgan Grimes
Morgan Guillermo Grimes is a major character on the television series Chuck. He is portrayed by actor Joshua Gomez, and is the best friend of Chuck Bartowski....
(Joshua Gomez
Joshua Gomez
Joshua Eli Gomez is an American actor best known for his role as Morgan Grimes on Chuck. He is the younger brother of actor Rick Gomez....
) make an unsuccessful attempt to escape Chuck's birthday party hosted by his sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster is an American actress. Since the show's inception in 2007, she has co-starred in the NBC comedy-spy series Chuck, as the title character's sister, Ellie Bartowski....
). Despite the efforts of Ellie and her boyfriend, "Captain Awesome" (Ryan McPartlin
Ryan McPartlin
Ryan McPartlin is an American actor, best known for his role as Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb on NBC's Chuck.-Early life:...
), for Chuck to socialize with the party's female guests, Chuck dispels the women by explaining how years earlier his Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
roommate, Bryce Larkin
Bryce Larkin
Bryce Larkin is a recurring character on the spy comedy series Chuck on NBC. Bryce is the ex-college roommate and fraternity brother of the series' main character, Chuck Bartowski and was formerly partnered and once romantically involved with Chuck's CIA handler Sarah Walker. Bryce was responsible...
(Matthew Bomer), had him expelled and began a relationship with Chuck's girlfriend, Jill Roberts
Jill Roberts
Dr. Jill Roberts is a recurring character on the action/comedy series Chuck on NBC. She is a prominent figure in the series mythology, though did not appear until the middle of the second season. Jill is Chuck's ex-girlfriend from Stanford, and is portrayed by Jordana Brewster...
.
Meanwhile, Bryce, a rogue CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent, is shown breaking into a top-secret government computer center and downloading a vast amount of data to his PDA before destroying the computer. As Bryce attempts to escape, he is shot dead by NSA
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
agent Major John Casey
John Casey (Chuck)
Colonel John Casey is portrayed by actor Adam Baldwin on the television show Chuck on NBC. Prior to the episode "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac," he was partnered with CIA agent Sarah Walker to protect Chuck Bartowski....
(Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
), but not before emailing the data to Chuck and self-destructing his PDA. After viewing the rapid series of images, Chuck experiences a series of "flashes"The episode establishes that a user who has subliminally retained the Intersect data receives feedback from it in the form of what Chuck labels "flashes". Chuck has several flashes throughout the episode. of data, triggered by things he hears and sees, including a strange man (Nickolas Pajon).
In Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Casey is informed by the National Security Director (Wendy Makkena
Wendy Makkena
-Career:Born in New York City, Makkena started her acting career in 1986 and appeared in the TV show Santa Barbara. She later landed her first movie role in Eight Men Out...
) and CIA Director Langston Graham
Langston Graham
Langston Graham is a fictional recurring character in the NBC television series Chuck. Graham was the director of the CIA, and oversaw Operation Bartowski, a fictional top-secret project to guard Chuck Bartowski and the Intersect...
(Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
) that the computer Bryce destroyed was a government database called the Intersect
The Intersect
The Intersect is a fictional secret technology appearing in the television series Chuck. Within the series, it is used to house and analyze large quantities of encoded data...
, which the NSA and CIA used as a joint resource to identify threats to the government. Casey is ordered to track down the recipient of Bryce's email in California.
At work at the Buy More
Buy More
Buy More is a fictional big box electronics retail chain in NBC's action-comedy series Chuck. The Buy More is a parody of similar chains, particularly Best Buy....
, Chuck is approached at the Nerd Herd counter by Sarah Walker
Sarah Walker (Chuck)
Sarah Lisa Bartowski is the alias of one of the main characters of the fictional television show Chuck on NBC. She is portrayed by Yvonne Strahovski and is one of two agents assigned by the NSA and CIA to protect Chuck Bartowski after he unwittingly downloads the secret government computer known...
(Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski is an Australian actress. Born in Australia to Polish immigrant parents, Strahovski speaks Polish and English...
). After Chuck fixes Sarah's phone, she leaves him her phone number, but he decides not to call her. He arrives home to find an intruder stealing his computer. After the computer is dropped and destroyed, the intruder escapes and is revealed to be Sarah, a CIA agent.
Sarah takes Chuck on a date to find out what he knows. Sarah spots and quickly dispatches an NSA team following but flees with Chuck when she spots Casey. Sarah leads Chuck up to the top floor of a skyscraper and attempts to call in an evacuation while Chuck explains what happened when he uploaded the Intersect. Sarah then aims her gun at Chuck when Casey arrives on the roof. Sarah warns Casey that Chuck uploaded the Intersect and tells Chuck that their mutual friend Bryce is dead. Chuck then flashes on the building where the visiting General Stanfield (Dale Dye
Dale Dye
Dale Adam Dye is an American actor, presenter, businessman, and retired U.S. Marine captain who served in combat during the Vietnam War.-Early life & Marine service:...
) is giving an address and puts together all the pieces from the flashes he had been having: the stranger in the Large Mart is a demolitions expert and has set a bomb to destroy the conference. Chuck, Sarah, and Casey locate the bomb in the conference hall and Chuck defuses the bomb by deliberately infecting the machine with a computer virus.
Sarah reassures Chuck that he will remain at the Buy More, while she and Casey watch over him. He is to work with them until they can discover a way for the Intersect to be removed from his brain. All she asks is that Chuck trust her.
Conception
ChuckChuck (TV series)
Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
was conceived by Josh Schwartz
Josh Schwartz
-Film school at USC:In 1995, Schwartz realized his boyhood dream of attending film school to study screen and television writing at the University of Southern California...
and Chris Fedak
Chris Fedak
Chris Fedak is a co-executive producer of Chuck. He has also co-written several episodes with Josh Schwartz.Chuck is Fedak's first television credit.Schwartz says that the idea for Chuck originally came from Fedak:-External links:*...
. NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
initially gave the series a put pilot commitment before green lighting a pilot order in January 2007. Schwartz and Fedak both attended the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
and the latter pitched the idea to Schwartz who agreed to develop the project with him. The hour-long, high-concept action-comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
, described in press releases as being "in the vein of Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American Black comedy film, directed by George Armitage, and starring John Cusack and Minnie Driver.In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Grosse Pointe Blank the 21st greatest comedy film of all time. The film's soundtrack features mainly independent music hits...
", would revolve around a man who downloads the entire CIA and NSA databases into his head. Schwartz signed a three-year, seven-figure overall deal with Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
to write and executive produce the series with Fedak.
Schwartz has stated that he set the series at an electronics store to compliment Chuck:
Casting
Zachary LeviZachary Levi
Zachary Levi Pugh , better known by his stage name Zachary Levi , is an American television actor, director, and singer known for the roles of Kipp Steadman in Less than Perfect, Chuck Bartowski in Chuck, and Flynn Rider in Tangled.- Early life :Zachary Levi Pugh was born in Lake Charles,...
was the first actor to be cast in the series, before any other roles had been cast. Schwartz said that casting the role of Chuck was difficult, but Levi was perfect because you "could believe he was a social outcast, but still got the girl." Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin is an American actor, known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel...
was cast as John Casey shortly thereafter on February 8, 2007. Fedak always had Baldwin in mind for the role and the producers found that the actor was a "perfect fit" for the character during the first casting session. On February 12, 2007, Australian actress Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Strahovski is an Australian actress. Born in Australia to Polish immigrant parents, Strahovski speaks Polish and English...
was announced for what was then the role of Sarah Kent, joining Levi and Adam Baldwin. Prior to beginning of filming the character's name was changed to Sarah Walker. Strahovski was unable to come to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the audition, so the producers allowed her to audition via the internet.
In March, Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster
Sarah Lancaster is an American actress. Since the show's inception in 2007, she has co-starred in the NBC comedy-spy series Chuck, as the title character's sister, Ellie Bartowski....
, Joshua Gomez
Joshua Gomez
Joshua Eli Gomez is an American actor best known for his role as Morgan Grimes on Chuck. He is the younger brother of actor Rick Gomez....
and Natalie Martinez
Natalie Martinez
Natalie Martinez is an American model and actress. Martinez is known as the spokesmodel for JLO by Jennifer Lopez, and for her supporting role in the 2008 feature film Death Race. She did a music video titled "Rain Over Me" by Pitbull featuring Mark Anthony. She has also appeared in several music...
were cast as Ellie Bartowski (Chuck's older sister), Morgan Pace (Chuck's best friend), and Kayla Hart (Chuck's neighbor and love interest), respectively. Gomez decided he wanted to be part of the pilot after reading there was a ninja in the script. Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
and Wendy Makkena
Wendy Makkena
-Career:Born in New York City, Makkena started her acting career in 1986 and appeared in the TV show Santa Barbara. She later landed her first movie role in Eight Men Out...
were cast as CIA Director Graham and the National Intelligence Director, General Mary Beckman. The casting for Beckman was narrowed to Makkena and Bonita Friedericy
Bonita Friedericy
Bonita Friedericy is an American actress. She currently can be seen in the television series Chuck as NSA Director Diane Beckman. She has also appeared on Malcolm in the Middle, Veronica Mars, Star Trek: Enterprise, Bones, The Nine, The West Wing, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and in the film...
, with Mekenna ultimately being chosen. However, Mekenna only appeared in the pilot, and was replaced in the following episode by Friedericy as General Diane Beckman
Diane Beckman
Brigadier General M. Diane Beckman, USAF is a fictional character in the NBC television series Chuck. Beckman is a senior official of the National Security Agency, working within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. She holds her rank of brigadier general in the United States Air...
.
Morgan's surname was changed to "Grimes" before filming, and Sarah's to "Walker". Despite Natalie Martinez appearing in promotional cast photographs, the character Kayla Hart was dropped before filming. Hart, the owner of the club where Sarah and Chuck first encounter Casey, was intended to be a rival for Chuck's affections. However, Fedak and Schwartz found it too unlikely and too complicated to the storyline that two women would be pining over Chuck. Additionally, Captain Awesome was originally planned to be an enemy agent but his portrayal by Ryan McPartlin
Ryan McPartlin
Ryan McPartlin is an American actor, best known for his role as Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb on NBC's Chuck.-Early life:...
was so well received that this storyline was also abandoned.
Filming
McG
Joseph McGinty Nichol , better known as McG, is an American director and producer of film and television, as well as a former record producer....
, Schwartz's fellow executive producer on The O.C.
The O.C.
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the Fox television network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 21, 2007, running a total of four seasons...
, directed the pilot and consequently became an executive producer (via his production company, Wonderland Sound and Vision
Wonderland Sound and Vision
Wonderland Sound and Vision is the production company of producers McG and Stephanie Savage. They are responsible for producing The O.C. and Supernatural as well as Chuck. Wonderland also co-produced all of McG's films since Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle.-History:McG and Stephanie Savage formed...
), along with Fedak, Peter Johnson, Scott Rosenbaum, Matthew Miller and Allison Adler
Allison Adler
Allison Beth Adler is an American producer and writer for television. She is from California.-Career:Adler has worked on television series including Still Standing and Family Guy. She worked on the TV series Chuck, but she left in May 2010 to work on the ABC series No Ordinary Family...
. NBC gave the series an early pick-up and a thirteen-episode order on May 10, 2007.
McG said he felt the appeal of the series was its mix of an "Office style comedy" and an action series, and added that Chuck's work place "is designed to be as dangerous as the spy world." Although Chuck's apartment is set in Echo Park, the pilot was shot in El Cabrillo
El Cabrillo
El Cabrillo is a two-story, ten-unit Spanish-style courtyard apartment house located at the southeast corner of Franklin Avenue and Grace Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The Spanish Colonial Revival style building was designed by noted architects Arthur and Nina Zwebell and built in...
in Hollywood. After the series was picked up, the apartment and the building's courtyard were re-created on a Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
soundstage. The exterior shots of the Burbank Buy More where Chuck and Morgan work are of a former Mervyn's store in the Fallbrook Mall in Canoga Park. Chuck's fingers are bandaged at one point due to injuries Zachary Levi sustained while playing Call of Duty
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...
.
Music and cultural references
The music of Chuck has been described as "a blending of generic action soundtracks with Schwartz's penchant for good, pretty obscure bands" such as Foreign BornForeign Born
Foreign Born is an American folk rock band. They began in San Francisco during the late summer months of 2003, but soon relocated to Los Angeles. They self-released their first 12" single , and then their debut EP "In the Remote Woods" via StarTime International Records...
and The Shins
The Shins
The Shins are an American indie rock band comprising singer, songwriter, and guitarist James Mercer, guitarist/bassist Dave Hernandez, Eric Johnson of Fruit Bats, drummer Joe Plummer and bassist Ron Lewis. Their sound draws on several musical genres, including pop, alternative rock, indie rock,...
. Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
's song "Any Way You Want It
Any Way You Want It
"Any Way You Want It" is a popular song performed by Journey released on the album Departure as the opening track, as a single in 1980 and was rerecorded with Arnel Pineda and Deen Castronovo for their 2008 album Revelation. The song was written by frontman Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon....
" is featured as Chuck's ringtone. Other songs include "Cobrastyle
Cobrastyle
"Cobrastyle" is a single performed by Teddybears featuring Mad Cobra from two of their albums, Fresh, and Soft Machine. Cobrastyle uses the piano riff from "Good Thing" by Fine Young Cannibals, and uses elements from Erick Sermon's "Bomdigi" and Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight"...
" by Teddybears
Teddybears
Teddybears is a Swedish band formed in 1991, known for mixing pop, rock, hip-hop, electronica, reggae, punk and many other genres.-History:...
, "Cellphone's Dead" by Beck
Beck
Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
, "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
"Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" is a song by Australian rock band Jet, and is the third track on their second album Shine On. It was released 18 September 2006 as the lead single from that album in the UK, peaking at #23 in the UK Singles Chart . The song was released to American radio outlets...
" by Jet
Jet (band)
Jet are an Australian rock band formed in 2001 while attending St Bede's College Mentone in Melbourne, . The band consists of lead guitarist Cameron Muncey, bassist Mark Wilson, and brothers Nic and Chris Cester on vocals/rhythm guitar and drums respectively...
, "See the World" by Gomez
Gomez (band)
Gomez are an English indie rock band from Southport, comprising Ian Ball , Paul "Blackie" Blackburn , Tom Gray , Ben Ottewell and Olly Peacock . The band is distinguished for having three singers and four songwriters, employing traditional and electronic instruments...
, "For A Fistful of Dollars" by Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
, and "The Missionary" by Brothers Martin.
The pilot also establishes the series' tendency to reference popular culture. Schwartz has revealed in interviews that the Buy More is based on consumer electronics stores such as Best Buy, while the Nerd Herd is inspired by the Best Buy subsidiary Geek Squad. When Sarah walks into the Buy More, Chuck and Morgan reference Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's song "Batdance
Batdance
"Batdance" is a song by Prince, from the 1989 Batman soundtrack. Helped by the film's popularity, the song reached number one in the U.S., becoming Prince's fourth number-one single, and first since 1986's "Kiss".-Song development:...
". Chuck and Morgan also continuously play Call of Duty. A North by Northwest
North by Northwest
North by Northwest is a 1959 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason, and featuring Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau...
poster is shown in Chuck's room.
Reception
The series premiered on broadcast television at 8pm EST on September 24, 2007, after having been screened to overwhelmingly positive reception at the San Diego Comic-Con International. According to the Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
system, the pilot episode drew an estimated 9.21 million viewers, a series high.
"Chuck Versus the Intersect" received mostly positive reviews from critics, with several praising the casting of the series, especially that of Zachary Levi. Eric Goldman of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a rating of 9 out of 10, writing, "Schwartz and Fedak's script for the Chuck pilot is very strong, deftly mixing action and humor. Where Schwartz's other new series, Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
, could use more of the humor he brought to The O.C., Chuck does a great job capturing the wit and self-awareness Schwartz's previous series contained." Varun Lella of AOL TV
AOL TV
AOL TV was the name of both a thin client which uses a television for display , and the online service that supports it, both of which were launched in June 2000 to compete with WebTV....
criticized the episode's opening as being "a weak gag", though writing that "the ensuing moments were hilarious enough to almost erase the poorly executed opening moments." Stephen Lackey of Mania called the pilot better than he expected, as well as "energetic, cinematic, and quite funny." Television Without Pity gave the episode an A- on a scale of A+ to F.
The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since The Columbus Citizen-Journal stopped printing in 1985....
called the pilot "delightful", writing, "Chuck has good nerd jokes, a winning everyman who is easy to root for, a hot blonde, ninja fighting and a backward car chase." The newspaper praised the performance by the main cast, especially Zachary Levi, who it wrote "should soon be a pleasant surprise to audiences." The paper called the episode "deftly directed by" McG, who kept "things from becoming too silly or far-fetched." Robert Bianco
Robert Bianco
Robert Bianco is an American television critic. He currently works for USA Today and has an online column. He began his career as a restaurant critic in Pittsburgh and eventually became a television critic at the Pittsburgh Press.-References:...
of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave the episode an overwhelmingly positive review, writing, "Everyday superheroes are, of course, a recurring TV fantasy, but seldom has the genre shown as much pluck as Chuck, and seldom has it found a more agreeable hero than Zachary Levi... Levi needs only a few minutes here to convince you of his wider range and lay claim on breakout stardom."
Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave the episode a negative review, rating it as a C-. Hyden criticized Levi as being "likeable but unconvincing playing a loser who hasn't had a girlfriend in five years" and Levi and Gomez as "blandly recreating Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is well known for his work in comedy films, especially for films he has been involved with throughout the latter half of the 2000s. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, a film production company that also developed the...
's loser heroes without any of the authentic details", though calling Baldwin's performance "one of the few bright spots". Katey Rich of Television Blend wrote that the episode, like Chuck, was "gangly and awkward" and "a lot to swallow in a pilot episode, not to mention totally implausible." However, Rich concluded that the series showed comedic promise and was loved by its audience, "while not necessarily being a slam dunk."
For the pilot, editor Norman Buckley
Norman Buckley
Norman L. Buckley is an American television director and editor best known for his work on The O.C., Chuck, Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.-Early life:...
won the Award for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Commercial Television at the 2007 American Cinema Editors Awards
American Cinema Editors Awards 2007
The 58th ACE Eddie Awards were held on 17 February 2008 in the International Ballroom, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, California, USA; the nominees and winners are listed below.-Film: Best Edited Film - Dramatic:...
. "Chuck Versus the Intersect" was also nominated for Outstanding Main Title Design at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards
60th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards was held on Sunday, September 21, 2008, at the newly opened Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst, and Ryan Seacrest and televised in the United States on ABC.The Creative Arts Awards...
.