S1Ep3 Vs The Tango -- The Chuck Series Companion

Covering Season One, Episode Three of the television series Chuck, Chuck vs The Tango - Watch the Episode, Listen to the Show!

S1Ep3 Vs The Tango

Chuck vs The Tango

Wow, I was so excited to continue The Chuck Series Companion that I made the latest episode 'Chuck versus The Tango' in only two days. I was really creatively inspired to keep it going. It's funny to think that before I started this show I was so conflicted with the idea to do the podcast in the first place. My love of the show Chuck is really strong but it's also really personal. I don't know why, I just love the show so much, it's entertaining, it's got spy gadgets, comedy and a great love story, not just between Chuck and Sarah but also Chuck and family, including Morgan and the Buy More.

'Tango' is really a fun episode because it's Chuck's first spy mission and it's also the birth of his alias, Charles Carmichael. We also get Chuck's new spy watch which is totally plausible with the new line of smart watches that are now available everywhere. We can all pretend to be Spies like Chuck!

I believe this is also the first appearance of Buy More employee Fernando, who's appearance instantly makes me laugh, just thinking about the time that Morgan refers to him as 'Cabbage Patch'. Fernando is played by actor Jesse Heiman who has appeared in dozens of films and television shows as a background player, watch this video - World's Greatest Extra - of many of his appearances. I think he speaks one line of dialogue in the entire series but no matter where I see this guy, he will always be Fernando, Buy More Employee.

Here is a link to S1Ep3 Vs The Tango

Now like on previous entries I will include a review by Alan Sepinwall (just click on his name) and Maureen Ryan. I don't seem to be able to find Ryan's early Chuck recaps, I will keep searching for them though. I will continue to include these when I can find them because I got a kick out of reading their recaps while I was doing my first re-watch. Eric Goldman's Review.

Like every episode of Chuck this episode has some great tunes, my favorite is by the band The National -- Slow Show. There's also a great song by Band of Horses -- The General Specific. We also get another Spoon -- Don't you Evah. Check out the rest of the songs from the episode here.

I'm having a blast doing this podcast and I hope that you are enjoying listening to them. Until then, Keep on watching Chuck.

I know I will.

The Jastrom

S1Ep2 Vs The Helicopter -- The Chuck Series Companion

This Episode of the Chuck Series Companion covers Season One Episode Two of Chuck, Chuck vs The Helicopter -- Watch the Episode, Listen to the Show!

S1Ep2 Vs The Helicopter

Chuck vs The Helicopter

Episode two of the Chuck Series Companion has now been completed and I am well on my way. I will get more comfortable with the format as I go on and hopefully will get some feedback along the way. I have heard from a few people which is awesome but of course, I want more. Chuck vs The Helicopter is an interesting episode in that Chuck narrates the beginning of the episode, something that I don't think ever happens again. This episode feels like the Network mandated that they must re-cap the pilot for potential viewers that missed the first episode. It makes sense but also makes you think of an alternate universe version of Chuck where Zachary Levi narrates every episode like Kristen Bell in an episode of Veronica Mars.

One thing that I will try to explain without being very confusing is that I am going to try to do a blog post of the episode that I also cover in the podcast. It will give me a chance to do some writing and possibly give a potential listener a place to see my show notes like old reviews of that particular episode of Chuck and links to my favorite songs from the episodes. Basically what I am saying is that this will be the home of the Chuck podcast and I hope that you keep coming back. I'm also having a friend design a show logo for me that will be for the iTunes feed that I hope to get going very soon. I want Chucksters and new Chuck fans to find the podcast and hopefully enjoy it.

So for right now my goal is to keep cranking out these episodes while avoiding burn out. Burn out is something that has happened before when I've been excited about personal projects, I put a lot of energy and hours into it and then I fizzle out. I want to avoid that so I will be sure and take the time to do other things while planning on future episodes. Again feedback is the way to keep me going so drop me an email or send me a voicemail, it is much appreciated. If you have never watched Chuck before I hope that the podcast encourages you to check it out, I think you will dig it.

Before I go any further here is a link to Episode 2:

S1Ep2 Vs The Helicopter

Again like the first episode I am including links to original reviews for the episode by Alan Sepinwall and Maureen Ryan. (When I can find them) I could not find a Ryan review for this episode so I am including a review found on IGN by Eric Goldman. That doesn't mean that I agree with them, I simply enjoy their enthusiasm for the series. Eventually, as you will read in these links they are critical of pacing etc. I want to say it right now and hopefully not repeat myself too often but because of my love of the tv show, Chuck, I am not overly critical. I think the show is fun and it fills my heart with a warm glow. I do not rank episodes of least to favorite either, they are all my favorite. I can re-watch any episode of Chuck at anytime and never grow sick and tired of it. This show is perfect to me, frequently over the years I would read critical reviews of a particular episode and I would get annoyed and close the browser in disgust. It's fine to be critical, I'm just saying Don't expect me to be very critical. I am basically geeking out about my favorite show while at times pointing out something that might be a tad ridiculous but always with a sparkle in my eye. I am here to have fun and I hope that you are too, Chuck brings me joy after all.

I mostly want for you to Enjoy the Show! Now here are my favorite tunes from the episode! The first song that I really dig is by the band, Spoon -- Don't be a Target and the second, The New Pornagrapher's -- Challengers. Check out the rest of the songs here.

That's it for now, see you next time!

The Jastrom

S1Ep1 Vs the Intersect -- The Chuck Series Companion

This is Episode One of The Chuck Series Companion covering the Pilot Episode of the TV Show Chuck - Watch the episode Chuck vs The Intersect and then listen to the podcast.

S1Ep1 Vs The Intersect

Chuck vs The Intersect - The Chuck Series Companion has begun!

Well here it is, I finally did it. I started a Chuck podcast. It's so funny how stressed out I was about it, I still am in some ways, I mean I have been podcasting since 2005 and have had a great time doing it, learning a lot in fact. I learned how to make a show, to create it, edit it and post it and gotten to know a good many people who have enjoyed the show that I have done so with my two best friends, Mulberry Bill and Stephen the Pop Culture Zealot. But this is different, I'm doing this Chuck Show by myself, all by my lonesome. I knew that if I ever tried something like this it would most likely be a solo show because of the amount of work that it will involve. I mean, if I complete my task I will be doing 91 episodes or more, finding another person that will be available to cover all of those shows will be very hard. I will try to find guests at certain times and I would love to hear what other people think about the series and why it is special to them but I also want to get to the bottom of why this series is so damn important to me. 

Now before I started this Chuck endeavor I knew that I needed to get comfortable with the thought of doing a show solo so I started a new show called Entertainment Landfill Daily -- On this show I would talk about the current news stories in the state of Film, Television of Pop Culture. I think I am much more comfortable now even though I cheated by having frequent guests. Mainly I learned to not think about the fact that I was just sitting in a room by myself and talking to myself and instead pictured an audience, hoping that someone was out there listening and I was talking to them, not to myself. But you get the idea, I am a bit more comfortable hopefully only getting better in the long run, mainly I don't want you the listener even thinking about that so I don't know why I even brought it up. Hey it's a process!

The Funny thing about ETL Daily is that it's not a daily show, I seem to be doing it weekly or bi-weekly but I can't call the show Entertainment Landfill Weekly, can I? That's too close to EW -- Entertainment Weekly, we don't want that. I could call it ETL Bi-Weekly but I think I will just stick with ETL Daily if you don't mind. Now as for the Chuck Podcast, I will do an episode whenever I get the chance to and I am creatively motivated, right now I am excited about it and when I am excited about something I am very productive, when I get tired I might need to take a break but it is my intention to stick with it and keep producing Chuck Companion Podcasts until I am done. To understand you have to know that I have watched the Entire series of Chuck several times, I have seen all 5 seasons at least 4 times I think, I lose track, I have seen some episodes multiple times just re-watching them with my Daughter, Emma who caught the Chuck bug herself. She loves the series and I love talking to her about it. I love that she thinks Sarah Walker is as awesome as I do. It's fun sharing something you love with someone you love and I think that's what doing this podcast is all about. I want to share Chuck. The show means a lot to me, it makes me feel better when I am feeling down, it makes me laugh, it makes me feel a warmth, a glow even. I freaking love this show and I want to share it with you.

With each episode of Chuck I am going to record a show going over my favorite parts, the plot and the moments that make me laugh, cry etc. I will also highlight the music of the series, not just Tim Jones' awesome score but the many songs by many awesome bands that are played in each and every episode of Chuck. While it will be hard to go into detail on each one I will highlight my favorites. Hopefully along the way I will pick up some other Chuck Re-Watchers and you will follow me to the end. While Chuck The Series has ended it doesn't mean that it's gone, Chuck is here to stay on DVD, Blu Ray and Netflix Amazon. I love that it's now on Netflix Amazon finding new audiences for a long time to come and hopefully those new fans will come here and love Chuck along with me. 

Here is the first Episode of The Chuck Series Companion covering the Pilot Episode of Chuck. The Pilot titled "Chuck Vs The Intersect" is the beginning of special things, this is where it all began and I always love starting the series back at the beginning. It's awesome to see Chuck first get The Intersect and first meet Sarah Walker and John Casey, seeing how all of their lives are changed forever. In this episode I will be working out the kinks of what I want to do exactly but I always knew I wanted to include clips of the show and music, it's all used for review purposes and I think it's necessary in re-living the series in the theater of the mind. Hearing their voices and music helps feed the nostalgia machine, I don't own any of the property, it's all Warner Bros. but this podcast is just for Chuck fans or Chucksters and new fans alike and it's just meant for our enjoyment, nothing dubious is intended here so live and let live I say. 

As I cover each episode of the show I would also like to provide links here to some of my favorite TV Reviewers who originally covered the series, Alan Sepinwall and Maureen Ryan. I always enjoyed reading their takes and many times when re-watching the series I would go back and re-read what they had written about those episodes. I will provide links here to their reviews when I can find them. Thank you for listening to the show and thank you for watching Chuck. If you enjoy the show, do me a favor and pass the show on to someone else you love. Let them know what you think of it and tell them they can watch it on Netflix Amazon. Right now I have loaned out season 1 to my buddy Stephen, hopefully he will return it and request season 2 and hopefully a new Chuckster will be born. Now onto the show:

Download Episode 1 of The Chuck Series Companion right here: S1Ep1 Vs The Intersect

While there are times that I don't agree while reading Alan Sepinwall's takes on Chuck I also admire that the guy is a huge fan of the show and I always enjoyed reading his weekly thoughts, Check out what he had to say here about the Chuck Pilot. Maureen Ryan was also a huge Chuck supporter and here is her review of the Pilot Episode. It's interesting to see how cautious they are in the early days and it's true the show took awhile to get things rolling where you realized that you freaking loved it but they knew there was so much potential.

My favorite songs from the pilot are Into Your Dreams by Foreign Born and The Missionary by Brothers Martin. Here's a list of all the great songs from the pilot.

I hope you dig the first episode and if you feel so inclined send some feedback my way to nimpodcast@gmail.com until then, I want you to do one thing, Trust Me.

The Jastrom

I love Chuck.

  Chuck is now Streaming on Netflix! *Amazon Prime!* **HBO MAX!!!**

         
I have loved many televisions shows throughout my life, some of those shows I have watched because it was part of a routine, and some shows I watched long after they had worn out their welcome. Sometimes we all watch shows only because it was on and you had nothing else to watch, but other times you see a show that says something to you, or it has something to offer that you can relate to in your own life. Sometimes it's a show that helps you escape and let's face it, that's what TV is for, it's an escape.

What if one of those shows that you started watching merely as light entertainment kinda sneaked up on you and it turned out to offer things you could relate to. A main character that was good at his dead end retail job, but he also wanted so much more out of his life, he was unsure of himself and he lived with his sister who he loved very much, but you know it can be a drag when you live with your sister and her boyfriend. That guy also had an annoying best friend that got on everyone's nerves, the kinda guy that other people wondered why anyone would hang out with him, but not the main character, because he'd grown up with him and he knew his buddy was that one thing that was most important in any friendship, he was loyal. This main character also loved everything that you loved, Movies, Video Games and just being a geeky kind of guy with a love of computers and technology and just hanging out with friends and family, but he was also secretly ashamed that there could be so much more in his life, he was afraid to take that chance, to reach out and seize that potential.

Then one day against his will all of that changes, he has the chance to be a hero and a chance to be so much more, he has the chance to achieve more than he could have ever hoped and maybe, quite possibly land his dream girl. That is the story of Chuck. Chuck is one of my favorite shows of all-time, when I say all-time, I mean that I will watch it when I'm feeling down. It's that friend that cheers me up, it's that show that I watch when I just need to smile and feel the warmth and laughter that it provides me. I love the show Chuck because it is FUN. It's an action-comedy hybrid and it's got adventure, hi-jinks and spy intrigue, it's a show that mixes so many elements that it's hard to even describe but most of all, like I said before, it's fun and... There's ROMANCE!

I remember watching Chuck when it premiered in September 2007, I didn't think it was the greatest show ever at first but I watched it weekly and I found it somewhat enjoyable, I was digging it enough week to week to keep on watching, but then after awhile I started to love the way that the characters bantered and played off of each other, I loved the way that Chuck (played by Zachary Levi with such a likability and charm it was hard not to like him) handled being thrown into the spy world as a geek with no training. All of a sudden He was thrown into danger on a weekly basis. He had the gorgeous Agent Sarah Walker (played by Yvonne Strahovski--she came out of nowhere to play this action-goddess, just wait until later when she's gets to do more comedic stuff on the show, she's fantastic!) to protect him and of course a guy like Chuck, hell, anyone would develop feelings for Sarah after awhile if not instantly. He also had to deal with Agent Casey (played by Adam Baldwin, you may know him as Jayne, I know him as My Bodyguard but either way he's awesome in the role) who would be a great foil for Chuck and someone great to trade barbs with for a long time.

But why do I love Chuck? I watched this show loyally for 5 seasons, I couldn't wait to watch it every week but at the same time, I kept it to myself, I mean I do a freaking TV Podcast regularly and I never mentioned Chuck. Why? I have thought about this quite a bit, I loved the show so much that I didn't want to share it with anybody, I didn't want to risk my co-hosts hating it and ripping it on a weekly basis, I was having too much fun with it to dissect it regularly. I watched this show to escape, I mean, I am a geeky guy I guess, I wasted years of my life in a crappy retail job, although on the show Chuck works in a Buy More (which is their version of a Best Buy--that looks like it would be a fun place to work, well, not to work but to get paid to goof off with the likes of Jeff and Lester, if you have never watched the show, you will learn to love these two over time.) which reminded me of the place that I was trapped in, because like Chuck, even though I could have probably found a better job, there was some kind of mental block, I just couldn't leave it, like it was my shelter, my comfort zone and Chuck can't leave the Buy More, no matter how many times he tries, he always ends up there again. And it's hilarious and tragic but mostly fun. I know it's hard to describe why we love something as trivial--some would say--as a television show but how often are we called to answer why we love something?

I love Chuck because it makes me laugh, it gives you that cool sense of danger and spy intrigue, it also has a childhood favorite, Spy Gadgets! Who doesn't love Spy Gadgets? I remember watching The Wild, Wild West with my sister Vanessa and we just freaking loved the Spy stuff, and guns and missiles being hidden inside cars and tracking devices and hidden guns and throwing knives etc. Sure, that was one thing to love. There was also the geek service in the show, there are so many cameos from geek tv shows and movies and video games in the show, sure it can be fan service, but it's the kind of fan service by people who are also fans of those same things. Believe me, Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz are big nerds and they love everything they reference on the show. It never felt like pandering to me, and I hate pandering.

As the show goes on, from season to season the structure of the show is very interesting, I own the entire run on Blu Ray, so I have been able to do several entire series re-watches, so I've watched it on both a weekly basis and binge watched it too. If you watch it this way on Netflix Amazon HBO Max, over time you will notice that there will be episodes right in the middle of the seasons that feel like incredible season finale type of endings, I mean the storyline will have huge payoffs but the season isn't over yet. Strange right? That's because when they were filming Chuck, they never knew if they were going to be cancelled or not, they would usually get an order of like 13 episodes and go off to write and film those episodes treating episode 13 like it was the end, hell, they didn't even know if the show would still exist week to week because even though Chuck had a huge following, it just never got great numbers. I watched this show in fear that it was going away all of the time. So what happens is, say Season 3 there this huge finale type of episode in episode 13 and then it keeps going for six more episodes because at the last possible moment the network ordered additional episodes, and what you have are some incredible self contained episodes, you see Chuck always had great overall story arcs but they also did fantastic one-shot stories too.

And that brings me to another thing that I love about the show, I love the cast, not just Chuck, Sarah and Casey, but we also have Chuck's Sister, Ellie and her love Devon and Chuck's best friend Morgan and the gang at the Buy More like Jeff and Lester and Big Mike and throughout the run of the show people like Anna Wu and General Beckman and some other characters I can't mention because it would totally spoil stuff, but holy crap, I love this cast, they become family, they become your family. You love it whenever they get the entire group together in one setting. This show does Holiday episodes like no other, be it Christmas episodes or Thanksgiving episodes, you always wish that you were there sitting with them and you are, because you're watching it and are able to enjoy it. Chuck does warmth like no other show, I have found myself countless times watching and this smile grows across my face and I realize, "Chuck, you did it again." and I feel like a big softy, but that's what it does, it has that way of thrilling me, and making me laugh and making me feel something.

I have always wondered if there was anyone else out there that loved the show as much as I and I am positive that there is. I mean, there were people that did the letter writing campaigns and bought Subway sandwiches to show their support and get the show renewed season after season and for them I am grateful. I was one of those fans that was hidden away and kept to himself and I think I am writing this now to maybe entice people who never gave the show a chance to now check it out since it's on Netflix Amazon HBO Max, all five seasons! You have the chance to watch the entire run of the show, you have lots of fun episodes there to watch and I hope that you take the chance to check them out. This show can be fun and exciting and goofy and downright silly but also be adventurous and thrilling with a real sense of danger at times with real stakes. So if you give the show a chance because you've read this, I thank you. Maybe you will dig it or maybe it's not your cup of tea, I am just glad that Chuck gets to live on to find more audience. It's okay if you don't get into it, I still love it and I always will.

When Chuck finally ended with season 5 only recently in 2012, I was really bummed, I felt like I was losing a friend, but I kept it to myself. When I watched that final episode, I thought to myself that 'That's it, no more Chuck,' Then I was like, 'Wait! I can buy the seasons on Blu Ray and Chuck will live on!' Now more than ever, Chuck can live on through streaming on Netflix Amazon HBO Max Yay! I love Chuck! I will never keep it to myself again!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go watch Me some more Chuck!