Chuck season 3 starts this Sunday, January 10, on NBC! It kicks off with a two-hour premiere from 9pm-11pm EST, then will return to it’s usual Monday 8pm time slot. I can’t wait! It’s been a long road getting here, but we’re finally in store for some Chuck-tacular adventure! Below is an extended season 3 preview (running time 5:56) to help get you in the mood.
If you can’t see the embedded video above, please click here.
I did this same post last year for Veterans Day, but I thought it was worthy of repeating.
In honor of Veterans Day, I thought I would post some of my favorite covers from the comic book ‘Star Spangled War Stories’. These all feature ‘The War That Time Forgot’ as the lead story. American soldiers versus Dinosaurs – heck ya!
If you are interested in reading some of these, DC recently reprinted quite a few of them as Showcase Presents ‘The War that Time Forgot’.
NBC’s Chuck has not been picked up for a third season yet. WTF?!?! Seriously?!?! Also, there are rumors that it might not get a third season based upon lackluster ratings. Yikes! A universe without Chuck scarcely bears thinking about.
Josh Schwartz, executive producer and co-creator of Chuck, explained that the second-season finale (airing tonight) will change the show in a way that will satisfy viewers whether the show is picked up for a third season or not. Schwartz said, “This is our finale. This would be our finale whether we knew we were picked up, whether … we were picked up for next year or five years. This is what we’ve been wanting to do for a while, and we’ve had this planned since the beginning of season one.” He continued, “It will end in a way that’s going to launch the show into season three with a real-it’s a game-changer. I think that it’ll be immensely satisfying in its own right, but it also really, really launches the show in a way that, you know, we’re already breaking season three stories and can’t wait to start telling them.” For more, click here to read the story on Sci-Fi wire.
Before I knew Chuck hadn’t been picked up yet, I’d already started to suspect. With the recent storylines (i.e. Chuck and Sarah, Orion, status of the Intersect in Chuck’s head, Captain Awesome, etc), it really seems like the show is changing in a big way. In some ways, it felt like they were wrapping up every dangling subplot. That’s when I first began to suspect the show might not be coming back.
I sincerely hope the show gets another season. If it doesn’t, I’m going to be really depressed. Other than Doctor Who (and its spin-offs), I’m not watching much TV at all. At the very least, we have an awesome season finale to look forward to tonight (trailer below).
The Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter animated DVD is scheduled for release this coming Tuesday, March 24! Also on the DVD will be Under the Hood, a live action adaptation of the original Nite Owl’s autobiography! Hot dog!
To watch the trailer for either, click here and then select Tales of the Black Freighter.
For those of you who haven’t read the actual Watchmen graphic novel, Tales of the Black Freighter was a comic-within-the-comic. This story actually appeared within the pages of the Watchmen graphic novel as a comic book read by a young man in New York City. Tales of the Black Freighter tells the story of a young mariner’s journey to warn his home town of the coming of the Black Freighter after he survives the destruction of his own ship. During his journey, the young seaman is “forced by the urgency of his mission to shed one inhibition after another” and experience horrible events along the way. The turbulent events the sailor endures seem to mirror those in the world of the Watchmen, specifically the events surrounding Adrian Veidt.
The Tales of the Black Freighter comic-within-the-comic was very reminiscent of the old E.C. Comics. The art and colors were very rich; the story dense with a sense of foreboding. If you love those old E.C. Comics, then you’ll go nuts for Tales of the Black Freighter.
The Tales of the Black Freighter DVD features the voices of Gerard Butler (300) and Jared Harris (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and is directed by Daniel DelPurgatorio and Mike Smith and written by Alex Tse (Watchmen) and Zack Snyder.
Under the Hood, Hollis Mason’s tell-all autobiography, chronicles the events in Hollis Mason’s life that led to him to become the masked avenger Nite Owl and discusses how the Minutemen were formed. It features the original Sally Spectre, the Comedian, Moloch the Mystic, along with Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl.
Under the Hood is directed by Eric Matthies, written by Hans Rodionoff and produced by Eric Matthies and Wesley Coller. Stars Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Stephen McHattie and Jeffrey Dean Morgan appear as their characters from the theatrical Watchmen film in this live-action documentary style special.
This DVD looks awesome! I’m especially excited about the Under the Hood segment. I’m a sucker for golden age/silver age superheroes. I can’t wait!
Back in July 2008 I praised the trade paperback, Runners: Bad Goods. Since then, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the next chapter. Unfortunately, due to the publisher restructuring, the second volume was never released. The good news is the creator/writer/artist, Sean Wang, is now giving it away for free to everyone!
Runners will now be available as a daily webcomic at RUNNERSUNIVERSE.com. It will be available to everyone, with no fee, no subscription costs, nothing. New pages will post five days a week, Monday-Friday. The site will start with the first story arc, Runners: Bad Goods, in its entirety. Immediately following the conclusion of Bad Goods, the second story arc, Runners: The Big Snow Job, will begin posting (this is the story that has never been published).
I’m so psyched about this! Bad Goods was a fantastic science fiction comic book tale. I’m really hopeful others will try it out and enjoy it as much as I have. I’m even more excited to read The Big Snow Job! I’ve been waiting almost a year for it!
Be sure to check it out at RUNNERSUNIVERSE.com. C’mon… it’s free!
You know you need it to start your Monday off right…
See… now don’t you think your day will be that much easier? Your welcome. 
LIST WEEK continues here at ONCE UPON A GEEK! Today’s list comes from the Telegraph newspaper and is ‘The 50 Greatest Villains in Literature‘. My thanks to my buddy ‘lessthan12parsecs’ for posting this list to THE UNIQUE GEEK. These literary villains hail from a variety of places, but there are definitely some folks with geek-cred here:
Click here to check out ‘The 50 Greatest Villains in Literature‘. And while you’re at it, show what a great villain you can be by shopping at the ‘Villain Source: Your Source for Everything Evil‘.
Do you find yourself yearning for more “Chuck” throughout the week? Do you find yourself thinking, Monday at 8pm just can’t get here fast enough? Do you find yourself daydreaming while in Best Buy, imagining it’s the Buy More? Well, I’m here to help those in-between days.
As I’ve mentioned before you can watch full episodes of “Chuck” online through Hulu.com. Additionally, you can pick up the Chuck comic book from Wildstorm (issue #4 should still be on shelves).
Now you can also watch a web-exclusive “webisode” of “Chuck”. It’s only 81 seconds long, but it features a brilliant Agent John Casey moment! Apparently, there are more of these webisodes on the way. Yay!
You can also join the Buy More team at the website “Inside Buy More”. You can choose to be a member of the Nerd Herd or a Buy More Sales Associate (Green Shirt). There is a message board, employee training (a.k.a. games), and more available on this site. I found myself playing around on this site far longer than I expected. If you sign up, look me up under “Co-Workers” and add me as a contact. You can find me as “OnceUponAGeek”.
Stop by and read Captain Awesome’s missives at “Captain Awesome’s Tips for Being Awesome!!“ This is a blog run by NBC and has some posts from Captain Awesome himself.
You can sign up to get text messages from NBC about Chuck. I’m not sure what these are going to be (just signed up myself), but it indicates that I’ll get about five messages a week. They better be full of awesome.
If you like behind-the-scenes things, then you can watch a few Chuck cast related videos from the 2008 San Diego Comic Con on Hulu.com.
Of course if you feel like spending money, you can buy Chuck-related merchandise through the NBC online store. I’m thinking about buying a Nerd Herd Lanyard before next year’s DragonCon myself.
Finally, if you happen to like Yvonne Strahovski (Agent Sarah Walker), then you might want to check out the website StraHOTski.com. Very nice.
See… now don’t you feel better? You can get through your week a little easier with more Chuck in your life.
I watched the “Chuck” season two premiere online this week – Chuck Versus The First Date. It was AWESOME! (pun intended) It was well worth the wait we’ve endured since last season. The story was funny, the action was good, and the romantic tension really worked.
Zachary Levi’s comedic talent continues to shine as the lovable, yet doofy, Chuck. Adam Baldwin brings a real intensity and straightforwardness to the role of the no-nonsense Agent Casey. And Yvonne Strahovski divides her time between being absolutely gorgeous and kicking some serious butt. It’s hard to believe her natural accent is Australian. They did a good job reinforcing the core concepts behind each of these characters and thus reminded us why we love them so much.
I’ve outlined below some of my favorite bits from the episode, however, be warned THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD.
If you want to watch the episode now before it airs on NBC next Monday, visit Hulu.com.
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SPOILER SPACE – I’m serious here. I’m really going to blow the episode for you if you continue.
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SPOILER SPACE – You’re still reading? Okay, you’ve been warned.
Overall the episode was very enjoyable. There were several really funny scenes, possibly some of the best in the show’s history. The chemistry between Chuck and Sarah was done especially well and seemed believable. Casey struggling with his mission was interesting and made the character even more likeable.
A few things I enjoyed worth mentioning:
The only real criticism I have is that the Intersect 2.0 plot was cleaned up a little too neatly. I got the impression that the CIA Director knew it was going to blow. Perhaps he was affiliated with Fulcrum. I just hope they revisit this plot later, otherwise it will feel too ’throw away’.
The plot point of Chuck trying to better himself by leaving the ‘Buy More’ got me wondering how long that element of the show can survive. While I’m loving the ‘Buy More’ setting right now, I can envision a period in the future in which this part of the show becomes repetitive and tiresome. It’s not boring right now, but could become that way someday.
I’m thrilled that season two has gotten off to such a great start. I can only hope the rest of the season lives up to the example set by this episode. Now I’m going to be miserable waiting two weeks for the second episode of the season to air! Arrrggghhh!!!
If you know me, then you know I love the TV show “Chuck”. I didn’t watch much TV last season, but I sure as hell didn’t miss an episode of “Chuck”. Funny, action-oriented, clever, geeky, and a beautiful Australian blond. That’s a recipe for awesome.
The good news is that the season premiere of “Chuck” airs on NBC on Monday, September 29. Check out the official NBC website for details. The even better news is that the season premiere can be seen online a week earlier (Monday, September 22) on Hulu.com according to the “Chuck Online” fansite.
If you haven’t seen these already… check out these cool, yet subtle costumes from Dragon*Con that I saw this year.
If you need something to tide you over until the season premiere, you can watch older episodes of Chuck online through NBC.com or Hulu. Additionally, you can check out the “Chuck” comic book from Wildstorm (see an earlier post of mine for details).
Finally, here are a couple “Chuck” season two commercials to get you jazzed.
A place for all things geek... ONCE UPON A GEEK is a Monday-Friday blog that focuses on a variety of geeky topics, including: comic books, Doctor Who, Star Wars (classic and legacy characters), role-playing, 80’s TV shows, and science fiction in general. However, any topic is really fair game. Don't forget to share your thoughts by adding comments!
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