Chuck! Chuck Chuck Chuck! That’s been my internal monologue since I heard the news last night that my beloved spy comedy would be back. So that’s the good news. The slight harsh on that buzz, though, is that the show has to scale its budget way back, and part of that is trimming the number of episodes each supporting cast member appears in — and, according to EW’s own scooptastic Michael Ausiello, maybe cutting one cast member completely.
I think we can come up with some ways for the Chuck folk to save money. I, for one, would not object to fewer action sequences. GASP. The chases, the fighting, the explosions — they’re awesome sometimes, and they certainly flesh out what kind of world Chuck and his spybuddies live in, one where helicopters just randomly show up, or there’s a threat of gunplay at a moment’s notice, etc. But we get it now, and I’d rather see just a few Very Special Action Sequences sprinkled here and there. This bit from "Chuck vs. The Best Friend" fills my monthly quota for adrenaline:
And even though one of the show’s calling cards is its strange list of highish profile guest stars, I’d be totally fine with never seeing another random formerly famous actor trot through the show. Morgan Fairchild, Scott Bakula, Chevy Chase, and Bruce Boxleitner were great, their characters were great, insert lovefest here, but I’d rather have more Lester and Jeff than more of their ilk.
I obviously like the emotional side of Chuck more than the "stuff blows up" side, but I’m a softie like that. How would you trim the Chuck budget, PopWatchers?
For the latest renewal and pickup news, check out The Ausiello Files and Ausiello’s Fall TV cheat sheet.
Get rid of Ana, make Big Mike manager again and get rid of that stupid new guy – Emmett. I need some action, so use diff camera angles, smoke and firecrakers to make it look like the budget is millions. Whoohoo..
Surely they could save money by eliminating the Buy More and all cast associated with it. Keep Morgan, and give Awesome and Chuck’s sister actual stuff to do.
I like Jeff, Lester and the rest of the Buy More bunch, but toward the end of last season it seemed pretty obvious that they were just shoehorning those stories in. I think they could save a lot of money by eliminating the Buy More aspect of the show altogether and focusing simply on the challenges of Chuck maintaining both a spy life (Sarah and Casey) and a personal life (Ellie and Awesome). It would be sad to see the Buy More characters go, but it might help the show grow too.
As much as I love the Buy More characters, in this last season especially, they were a subplot that had little, if nothing to do with Chuck or the main story. At least in the first season, Chuck spent a good amount of time at work and so the subplots fit in nicely. This past season, not so much… It was almost like watching two different shows.
While I would like to see the Buy More people from time to time, I think everyone but Morgan should probably have their screentime cut back if it means keeping this show on the air.
The budget cuts would probably mean less “Special guests” too, right? Anyways, it’s good to see it back, although it will be interesting to see what day it ends up.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009-2010-season-preview/
I wouldn’t want to see the Buy More crew get eliminated, but they could trim down the number of episodes that they appear in. Maybe Chuck could have a new cover job that has to do with computers that requires him to go to the Buy More for marketing purposes or something like that.
If they were going to cut a cast member – and this breaks my Arrested Development Heart into a thousand pieces – I think it should be Emmett. Tony Hale is very talented, he’ll find something else. Emmett is just not a very important character overall. I would way rather see him go than Ellie & Awesome, or any of the other Buy More staff members.
I would also agree that we don’t need “name” guest stars, unless those “names” are willing to work for scale to keep the budget down!
I think Adam is right about the Special guests; there will probably be much fewer. Maybe they could get some great horror genre people in.
Cult Status – check
Lost of free internet publicity – check
It would be a win win.
ps: brains!… http://theunclean.com/zombies
Glad to hear it will be back.
I could do without the BuyMore clowns, especially Jeff/Lester. A little of that goes a long way. I agree that Ellie and Awesome should be given more to do than standing around worrying about Chuck.
i could go with less Jeff
more chuck/sara/casey
more Ellie/awesome
same amount of anna/morgan that we’ve been getting
I think that Anna should be the one to go. I like the character but honestly she doesn’t have much to do. It could be that her and Morgan go to Hawaii but then Morgan doesn’t like it and comes back but Anna doesn’t…that could be one way to get rid of her (I don’t want her killed). I agree that the “high profile guest stars” aren’t that necessary. All the other characters are pretty fantastic themselves so we don’t really need to see famous actors come in (don’t get me wrong, its cool to see them on the show but they aren’t THAT necessary). I don’t know about less action squences…but either way, I extremely happy that Chuck will be back for 13 episodes at least (come on people – keep watching it or start watching it if you don’t already). Chuck rules!!!
Cut the budget for Awesome’s wardrobe down to $0. What??
No way.. you can’t get rid of Jeffster! How awesome was the Styx cover in the season finale.. that was pure hilarity! I agree with Anna getting the boot… she serves no purpose whatsoever.
Less action sequences would be fine.
Don’t cut ANY of Jeff/Lester or awesome/ellie! they give the show character and depth.
Morgan is perfect but Anna isn’t needed as much i’d think, reoccuring role is fine for her.
I would keep the staff as it is. I love the show. Have you seen the bloopers?
http://hahaha-havealaugh.blogspot.com
Really funny!