Daniel's TV Blog

Chuck began with him training in Universal Studios/Czech Republic but of course he returned to the Buy More. He needed to control his emotions to jeep the intersect working properly. During the season, all the main characters found out his secret and he continued to fight the strangely well-funded Ring. At the season finale, his dad died (which was unnecessary), he captured the ring leadership, he discovered a huge cache of experimental tech his dad invented, and a new bad guy was introduced: his mother! Very Alias. Also John Casey found his daughter (new character next season?) and the Buy More blew up.  I'm excited about next season.

Labels: Chuck

Tonight is the return of one of my favorite shows: Burn Notice. It's a story of a spy who got fired and now works as a private investigator in Miami. Lots of guns in the sun. Unlike another show with "Miami" in the title that is filmed in Long Beach, CA, this show is actually shot in Miami. It's a great show with great stories and great characters. I love it.

There sure are a lot of spy show on right now. Chuck started up again last week. The new "Chuck 2.0" is really working for me. Now he not only has super brain with all the super criminals in the world programmed, but he can access other super abilities like Kung Fu or speaking Cambodian, etc. Go Chuck!

However, the funniest spy show ever just started on FX. You really need to watch this. This show is filthy, and since its animated they seem to be able to get away with some of the nastiest dialog I've heard on TV. Sterling Archer is the main spy of the spy organization called ISIS. The main joke is this show is really just an office comedy, but the company is a spy company. Jessica Walter who played Lucile on Arrested Development is the voice of Archer's mom/boss. Somehow with just her voice she manages to steal every scene like in AD. This show is also on tonight. Don't miss it.

Labels: Archer, Burn Notice, Chuck

I love a good Christmas episode. Last year we got royally screwed out of Christmas episodes because of the strike. But they are back this year. Tonight I'm looking forward to Christmas at 30 Rock. Liz is alone! Jenna sings! Stritchy returns as Jack's mom! It's going to be great.

Next week I'm looking forward to Chuck's Christmas episode. Besides being an awesome spy show, Chuck is a great show about a retail store. This year they already had a great Thanksgiving/Black Friday episode. Christmastime at the Buy More can't be anything but great, especially with a promised hostage situation.

Also up tonight is an Office Christmas and on Monday there is a gift giving fiasco at The Big Bang Theory.

Labels: 30 Rock, Chuck

Somehow Monday night became the best night for television. Every network has great stuff. NBC has three hours of goodness, starting with Chuck. Chuck is the funniest spy show ever. The biggest issue I have is not all the crazy technology and gadgets, it's the fall-in-your-lap nature of a lot of the cases. Just like Murder, She Wrote and Knight Rider, the cases often come to Chuck. I mean really, how often to international terrorist walk into a Burbank electronics store? The unexpected thing about the show is the huge amount of great side characters. There's the best friend, the sister, Captain Awesome, Big Mike, the Asian chick, the Indian guy who was the assistant manager for a few episodes, and the crazy guy who was a Missile Command champion. Of course Agent Sarah and Major Casey are the other main characters. Major Casey is very hot.

Tonight had a really great joke. The mathematical solution to unlock the missile codes was encoded into a RUSH song.

Chuck: Morgan, do we have any RUSH CDs in the store?
Morgan: No, but I've got them on my Zune.
Chuck: You have a Zune?
Morgan: Of course not, they're on my iPod

Labels: Chuck

The new shows Chuck and Reaper have a lot in common. They both are about an underachiever who works at a big box store. Chuck works are Buy More (a Best Buy clone) and Sam on Reaper works at The Work Bench (a Home Depot clone). Both are reluctant heroes working unbelievable second jobs. Chuck fights terrorists thanks to the government database downloaded into his brain. Sam fights escapes souls and sends them back to hell, via the DMV. And both have hot girls they are trying to impress that work with them, either in their cover jobs or their secret jobs.

But the thing I like is that both of these stores are becoming a character themselves completely necessary to the show. Sam uses the many hardware and sporting goods items in the store in his effort to fight the powerful escaped souls. Chuck and his government agent buddies find interesting uses for the Buy More such as using the home theater room to test Chuck's stored knowledge.

Both shows are great. I hope they catch on.

Labels: Chuck, Reaper