Contemplating "Chuck"

For some reason, I've been feeling hopeful lately, like the way I used to feel as a kid before Christmas. I couldn't quite figure out what was provoking this sensation until last night when, bingo, it hit me like a rolled up copy of the TV Guide: there's a new television season approaching with actual scripted television shows, none of which are produced by VH1 or star Bret Michaels. Aside from the usual favorites like "30 Rock," "The Office" and "House" and those favorites that I have to wait until the next century to see like "Battlestar Galactica" and "Lost," I find myself intrigued by a couple of new shows including NBC's new action-comedy, "Chuck."

Now I figure this is either going to be a really fun, entertaining show that's going to my nerdy side a-twitter or...it's going to completely blow. The show centers around a geeky young man named Chuck who works for fictionalized version of the Geek Squad, proffering computer assistance to the technically inept. One day he accidentally sees a top-secret government video that becomes lodged in his big nerdy brain and suddenly he's wanted by a whole bunch of bad guys. The series centers on his efforts to stay alive and learn how to be a crafty spy while never losing his gooey geek center.

Here's a preview:



I figure I've got to give the show a try, despite the fact that it's made by the former producer of "The O.C." For one thing, it focuses on one of our archetypal nerd brethren. I gotta lend my support to that. I also have to watch because "Chuck" co-stars Adam Baldwin. Whether he's playing an alien supersoldier in "The X-Files", wearing his little orange hat as Jayne in "Firefly" or testing my patience in a TV movie version of "Poseidon Adventure," I will watch Adam Baldwin because I'm pretty sure I sold my TV viewing soul to him a few years back and the bastard never lets anyone out of a contract. "Chuck" also wins my attention simply for the fact that it's being marketed as an action-comedy. And boy oh boy, do I like action comedies.

So I'll be tuning in to "Chuck," which debuts at 9 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 24. If it makes me laugh and if they blow stuff up, I'll tune in again. I'm easy that way.