So the summer before the beginning of the second season, I found the episodes on-line, watched them, and immediately fell in love with the show. Now, I’m a faithful Chuckaholic.
Chuck is an action/comedy/romance hybrid television show, a lighthearted spy drama, mixed with comedy and romance. The show is witty, full of action, with a spark of romance. . . in lots of ways like Scarecrow and Mrs. King, but in reverse. You know, danger, excitement. . . intrigue. You have an average, ordinary civilian, dragged into the world of espionage by extraordinary circumstances, but instead of a package passed to him at a train station, he is passed government secrets via an opened email.
The first season of Chuck was a lot like Scarecrow and Mrs. King. Chuck’s partnered with a beautiful spy, whose cover is his new girlfriend. Initially, they clashed, but there is sexual tension, mutual attractiveness, awkwardness, and over time, they fall in love, although they're reluctant to admit it, and, of course, work gets in the way. At first Chuck just wants to get back to his normal life, but eventually he realizes that he is good at what he does, and it gives him a sense of purpose. He decides he can make a difference in the world if he sticks with it. His ways are different than what Sarah and Casey would prefer, but he surprises them, and manages to get the job done. His unique perspective often proves to be what is needed in their missions, just like Amanda's own style helped Lee on his assignments. Then there’s Chuck's unwillingness to use a gun and finding more creative ways to take out the bad guys, like Amanda using a lamp or her purse to take down the baddies. In addition, Chuck like Amanda, often finds himself in the middle of a spy mission without even trying. Finally, Chuck is trusting, and wants to believe the good in people. He's so much like Amanda that way.
On Chuck there are what my friends and I like to call SMK moments. Casey telling Chuck to stay in the car, and, of course, Chuck never stays in the car, because it’s “Never safe in the car.” Amanda could never stay in the car either. In "Chuck vs The Tango," Chuck asks Casey if he shouldn't learn how to hit. Amanda asked Mr. Melrose the same thing in "Always Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth." The episode "Chuck vs The Suburbs" was very similar to "There Goes The Neighborhood." Lee and Amanda had to play a normal married couple living in the suburbs, and so did Chuck and Sarah. At then at the end of the episode Sarah brings out the "speech," the same speech Lee always delivered to Amanda about it just being business. "Nothing more to it."
There is also the family dynamics, Chuck living with his sister and her boyfriend, while Amanda lived with her two sons and her mother. And to preserve the safety of his family and friends, Chuck must keep his new profession a secret, just like Amanda did. Then there's the whole business of keeping his double life secret from his family, friends, and co-workers, so he has to make up all these excuses about where he's been and what he's been doing. Like Amanda telling her mother she’s going to a last minute party with her college friend Chuck (ha-ha-ha), or having to take care of a friends’s sick St. Bernard (who had a hangover). Another similarity is the amazing ensemble cast from both shows. The formula would not have worked without the talents of Beverly Garland, Martha Smith, and Mel Stewart, the same goes for the entire cast of Chuck.
Finally, the chemistry between Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski is very similar to Bruce Boxleitner and Kate Jackson. Similar, but different, I like to say. They are very believable as a couple, and you want to see them get together, and the first time I heard them say “I love you,” I squealed! And then, you have the romance. Poor Lee and Amanda were always interrupted, and so was Chuck and Sarah, but instead of Lee locking the door when he was ready to kiss Amanda, Sarah closed the computer screen. Now a couple, Chuck and Sarah, changed and progressed throughout the series, just like Lee and Amanda. Chuck was the only one who was able to break down the walls Sarah had built up around her, and got to know the real woman behind the hard-edged spy, just like Amanda was able to get past the Scarecrow persona and find Lee Stetson, the man, who she later fell in love with and married.
As an extra bonus, Bruce Boxleitner, one half of Scarecrow and Mrs. King, was cast as "Captain Awesome’s" dad, Dr. Woody Woodcomb. I’m really hoping he's back for another episode or two. Hint-hint. And now the show is focusing on the return of Chuck and Ellie’s mom. Wouldn’t it be great if they cast Kate Jackson as Mama Bartowski?