I read earlier this week, Josh Schwartz, one of the executive producers of Chuck, tweeted that NBC isn't running promos for Chuck anymore. It seems NBC has accepted that the Chuck audience is the Chuck audience and isn't expecting anything more.
Such a shame.
I love Chuck! I love Chuck, because I can watch it with my boys, and there is little on television nowadays I can watch with my children. I love the ability the writers have to mix humor with drama, and the formula works well for this show. I ship Chuck and Sarah! I love the ensemble cast, Chuck's relationship with not only Sarah, but also his sister, Ellie, and his best friend, Morgan, and even his co-workers at the Buy More. I think the show has a great ensemble cast. The characters are all unique, creative, and well drawn. I love all the cultural, movie, and comic references sprinkled through-out the episodes. I LOVE John Casey, he tickles my funny bone. I like a show that does not take itself too seriously; i.e. during the premiere episode from season four, Chuck said to Morgan, "This is not the opening of a TV show. This is real life." I love the whole fish out of water spy training Chuck has gone through and where he is today; he has grow as a person and a spy. I love the guest stars and am excited about who is on tap for this upcoming season.
I love this show so much I have actively participated in several save our show campaigns, including sending boxes of Nerds to NBC and eating Subway sandwiches on Monday nights, which I have NEVER done for another television series. I’m a loyal Chuck fan and according to the Neilsen Co. numbers, Chuck has an Audience Loyalty Index rating of 95.7, which means of all the people who have tuned in to see Chuck, nearly 96 percent of them have returned for every episode. Yet, why do I feel being used by NBC? I’m tired of the show always being on the bubble and them threatening not to renew, or even worse, not finishing the season.
Back in May, if I am understanding the numbers correctly, Chuck ranked in the top twenty TV shows in the SocialSenseTV ratings report of social media interactions, measuring posts and reads on forums, blogs, and other social media over a three-month period, including numbers from On Demand, iTunes downloads and streaming episodes via NBC.com or Hulu. Taking those numbers into account Chuck does very well, but all the television brass seems to care about are the Neilsen ratings, which to me is an antiquated way of counting.
To keep us rabid Chuck fans happy, NBC agreed to a fourth season, but a shorten 13-episode season, with the possibility of six, maybe nine more episodes, although with the numbers so far this season and with only an average of 3.4 rating, it does not look good. Yes, I am wringing my hands already over the fate of Chuck.
Honesty, I could live with season four being the last season, because creatively, I don’t know how much further the writers can take the characters, without changing the characters we know and love. Fine, if they are seriously thinking of canceling after this season, but please let us have a full season to tie up loose ends. I really hope Chuck does not finish the way Scarecrow and Mrs. King ended. I NEED CLOSURE!!