chuck nbc

I'm not sure what happened to the memo from top NBC brass, after the iTunes negotiations broke down, saying that Apple was firma non grata... but it clearly didn't make it to the Warner Bros. production offices of Chuck in time to excise all the Mac gear from the geek-themed spy comedy's pilot episode. The corporate rage may have found some outlet, however, in the sheer destructive energy expended on the show's poor, defenseless Macs. Even the presence of a nasty Windows virus (the kind that causes laptops to emit smoke and sparks!) as a plot point doesn't make up for the carnage.

There's the protagonist's doomed home machine, a G5 tower with a convenient sticker over the side logo -- which a) must be a lot lighter than a production model, seeing how it got tossed about; and b) suffers a grim fate as a gravity-test victim/close-combat weapon -- and earlier, there's another Mac that makes a key appearance in the opening sequence before getting blown to smithereens. (OK, seriously now, the CIA and NSA keep all their classified information -- all of it -- on one lonely Mac Plus? I sincerely doubt it.)

You can review the carnage at NBC's full-episode playback page; the Mac Plus detonation is in the first four minutes, and the G5 breakdown is at about 16 minutes in. Too bad you can't watch it on your iPhone, unless of course you EyeTV'ed it last night. Also spotted during this week's premieres: Emmy-nominee Doogie Neil Patrick Harris sporting an iPhone on How I Met Your Mother, an iPhone in the time-traveling toolkit of Journeyman star Kevin McKidd (more on this later), and another iPhone gag on the Simpsons season premiere. It's looking like a good year for Apple on TV; send us your spotter reports in the comments, or add your sightings to our "appleontv" Flickr pool.
One of the most anticipated new TV shows this fall is Chuck, NBC's action comedy that stars Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez and Sarah Lancaster. Chuck is one of two new shows this season created by Josh Schwartz (the other is the CW's Gossip Girl), the man who also created The O.C. NBC is heavily promoting this new series, with billboards, TV spots, Internet ads and, most recently, a premiere event at the ritzy Pure nightclub at Caesar's Palace Casino in Las Vegas.

The Chuck premiere event was a hot ticket to get; it was nearly impossible to even get into the club amidst the throng of scantily clad women and sharp-dressed men. After finally getting in, I was whisked away to a red, velvety room, complete with its own restroom that one could easily envision Britney, Paris or some other A-lister partying it up in. The room was packed with photographers waiting for the cast's arrival.

Once the cast arrived, they did not disappoint and were very accessible and friendly, while frequently joking with each other, making it apparent that Zachary Levi and Josh Gomez's on-screen chemistry is aided by their genuine camaraderie. Yvonne Strahovski and Sarah Lancaster looked dazzling. Yvonne embodied the smartly dressed executive while Sarah came across as sweet as Miss American Pie, her stylish green dress complementing her girl-next-door look.

I ended up interviewing Zach, Josh, and Yvonne, and here are some of the nuggets I found out about Zach and Chuck. Listen to the entire Zach Levi interview here.

Meet Monday night's newest TV characters: A nerd turned secret agent! A time-traveling newspaper reporter! Two geeky physicists!

Sorry about the exclamation points. I had some left over from the summer.

Okay, the first show under scrutiny is called Chuck (NBC, Citytv, 8 tonight). It revolves around a character named � wait for it � Chuck. And it is � please don't groan � likely to get chucked into your Fall 2007 New Favourite Shows List.

(I said please.)

Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) is a television nerd. As such, he is allowed to hold one of three jobs (overlap permitted): scientist, computer expert or retail clerk.

So Chuck is a computer expert who toils in fluorescent obscurity at Buy More Electronics. He drives a company car, a subcompact that's tricked out with an embarrassing visage of Nerd Herd flair. He spends much of his non-working time with sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and best friend Morgan (Joshua Gomez).

One night, after Ellie throws Chuck a birthday party (she wants him to meet a nice girl), our unlikely-hero-in-the-making receives an unexpected email from an old college roommate.

Unbeknownst to Chuck, this roommate is a CIA agent. The email, sent accidentally, is laced with Top Secret intelligence, a surreptitious trove of images and reports and dossiers that are subliminally uploaded into Chuck's brain.

The result? Chuck's mind is now crackling (at a subconscious level, anyway) with data the government needs for counterterrorism, espionage and national security.

Or as Chuck observes: "Yesterday I was making 11 bucks an hour fixing computers.

"Now I have one in my brain."

The show is executive produced by Josh Schwartz and the fast-food sounding McG. It also stars Adam Baldwin as the NSA's John Casey and Yvonne Strzechowski as CIA operative Sarah Walker.

Since I don't want to spoil tonight's pilot, that shall suffice for set-up. But in a shameless effort to sway you, I will say this: Chuck is a superb mix of deadpan wit and outsider charm, zany action and screwball lunacy.

Who knows, maybe you'll hate it. But for one hour, my jaded heart was warmed and tickled and left wanting more.

Moving on ... on past the space-time continuum.

Journeyman (NBC, Global, 10 tonight) is described by NBC as a "romantic mystery drama," though it could just as easily be described as "what the hell just happened?"

Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd) writes for a newspaper in San Francisco. Then one afternoon, as he enters a local restaurant for lunch, it's suddenly the past.

Is Dan blacking out? Is he having lucid dreams? Is he hitting the sauce? Is he really time-traveling? And if he is, wouldn't it be great if he eventually crosses paths with Hiro from Heroes (NBC, Global, Season 2 begins at 9 tonight) and the two purchase pastel blazers, roll up their sleeves and attend a Simple Minds concert?

Anyway, as Dan helps strangers change their own unhappy fate, the show's long arc loops over the mystery surrounding his long-lost fiancée, Livia (Moon Bloodgood).

I enjoyed the pilot, though I needed to pop a few Advil while trying to wrap my head around certain scenes. Journeyman doesn't qualify as "must see;" it's more of a "should see."

And, finally, a sitcom from a real-life Chuck. That would be Chuck Lorre (Two and a Half Men), one of television's most successful comedy producers.

The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 8:30) is about two young physicists who specialize in quantum mechanics but, alas, are turned into bumbling fools in the presence of beautiful women.

Cue the sexy new neighbour and the punch lines.