History Series / CHUCK

The various government agencies who contributed to this cache of government secrets are none too happy to have them stuck in Chuck's head, particularly since Bryce destroyed the original database, and at the same time sent the whole thing to Chuck. The agencies dispatch two agents to deal with the hapless Mr. Bartowski: Sarah Walker (Creator/YvonneStrahovski), a super-sexy CIA agent Sarah Walker (as well as Bryce's former partner and erstwhile lover), and John Casey (Creator/AdamBaldwin), a borderline psycho NSA man. Fortunately for Chuck, the agencies decide that Chuck may be more useful to them alive than dead, and they allow him to keep his normal life (more or less) -- with the addition of Sarah and Casey as guards/handlers/minders.

[-(Uh... hello? It's $12.50!)-][[note]]Clockwise, from top: [[CoolLoser Chuck Bartowski]], [[ActionGirl Sarah Walker]], [[LovableJock Devon]] (aka [[RedBaron "Captain Awesome"]]), [[CoolBigSis Ellie Bartowski]], [[BenevolentBoss Big Mike]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Jeffrey Barnes]] and [[CasanovaWannabe Lester Patel]], [[BestFriend Morgan Grimes]], [[PerkyGoth Anna Wu]], [[TheBigGuy John Casey]], and [[MissionControl Gen. Diane Beckman]].[[/note]]]]

(Uh... hello? It's $12.50!)[[note]]Clockwise, from top: [[CoolLoser Chuck Bartowski]], [[ActionGirl Sarah Walker]], [[LovableJock Devon]] (aka [[RedBaron "Captain Awesome"]]), [[CoolBigSis Ellie Bartowski]], [[BenevolentBoss Big Mike]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Jeffrey Barnes]] and [[CasanovaWannabe Lester Patel]], [[BestFriend Morgan Grimes]], [[PerkyGoth Anna Wu]], [[TheBigGuy John Casey]], and [[MissionControl Gen. Diane Beckman]].[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:278:Saving the world at $11 an hour. (Uh... hello? It's $12.50!)[[note]]Clockwise, from top: [[CoolLoser Chuck Bartowski]], [[ActionGirl Sarah Walker]], [[LovableJock Devon]] (aka [[RedBaron "Captain Awesome"]]), [[CoolBigSis Ellie Bartowski]], [[BenevolentBoss Big Mike]], [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Jeffrey Barnes]] and [[CasanovaWannabe Lester Patel]], [[BestFriend Morgan Grimes]], [[PerkyGoth Anna Wu]], [[TheBigGuy John Casey]], and [[MissionControl Gen. Diane Beckman]].[[/note]]]]

''Chuck'' is the story of Charles Irving "Chuck" Bartowski, an all-around nice guy nerd who is stuck in a low-end retail job as a member of the [[BlandNameProduct Nerd Herd at the local Buy More]]. Chuck had his formerly bright future as a Stanford student derailed by his best friend and roommate, Bryce Larkin, who framed Chuck as a cheat and got him expelled -- apparently to steal his girlfriend Jill. One day, Chuck receives a strange email from Bryce. When he opens it, a vast array of nebulous government secrets, called [[AppliedPhlebotinum The Intersect]], gets downloaded into his unsuspecting brain, turning him into a walking OmniscientDatabase.

The various government agencies who contributed to this cache of government secrets are none too happy to have them stuck in Chuck's head, particularly since Bryce destroyed the original database, and at the same time sent the whole thing to Chuck. The agencies dispatch two agents to deal with the hapless Mr. Bartowski: the super-sexy CIA agent Sarah Walker (Bryce's former partner and erstwhile lover), and the borderline psycho NSA man, John Casey. Fortunately for Chuck, the agencies decide that Chuck may be more useful to them alive than dead, and they allow him to keep his normal life (more or less) -- with the addition of Sarah and Casey as guards/handlers/minders.

Chuck suffers from frequent flashes where he spots something or someone that seems innocuous at first, but the Intersect stuffed into his head [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling identifies the object or person as very important.]] Chuck and his minders must find a way to act on Chuck's information, all the while keeping Chuck's family and friends in the dark about his special abilities and new status as government agent/prisoner. Among these friends and family members are his loving and protective big sister Ellie and her significant other, Devon (nicknamed Captain Awesome), his best friend Morgan, and Chuck's underlings in the Nerd Herd at the Buy More.

Primarily a SpyDrama spoof, ''Chuck'''s appeal comes from a mix of sharp writing, well-realized characters with surprisingly genuine emotional lives, and a strong cast including Creator/ZacharyLevi as Chuck, Creator/YvonneStrahovski as Sarah, and the inimitable Creator/AdamBaldwin as John Casey. Much of the comedy comes from Chuck's FishOutOfWater nature in the spy world (even the cartoon version of it presented in the show) combined with the contrast between his life as a PartTimeHero and the normal one he tries to maintain with his sister and in his job at the Buy More.

This series ran for five seasons from 2007 to 2012. There are also six {{Series/Chuck}} tie-in comics in print.

'''Morgan:''' Wow, Chuck, that was... dark.\\

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Very minor one in "Chuck Versus the Leftovers," in which [[VillainsOutShopping the villain of the episode is playing a game of Charades]]. Although the correct answer is never disclosed on screen, WordOfGod [[http://twitter.com/JoshSchwartz76/status/9456110339629056 states]] that the answer is Film/LawrenceOfArabia.

* DramaticGunCock: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in "Chuck Versus the Leftovers."

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Episodes are titled "Chuck Versus [X]". "X" is often a geeky ShoutOut ("[[Recap/ChuckS1E04ChuckVsTheWookie Chuck Versus the Wookiee]]", "[[Recap/ChuckS1E06ChuckVsTheSandworm Chuck Versus the Sandworm]]"). It's always something that's in the episode, even if it occasionally has [[ChekhovsGun little]] to do with the main plot (such as in "[[Recap/ChuckS2E10ChuckVsTheDeLorean Chuck Versus the DeLorean]]") but sometimes is (such as "[[Recap/ChuckS2E05ChuckVsTomSawyer Chuck Versus Tom Sawyer]]", where [[spoiler: listening to Music/{{Rush} saves the world]].)

*** [[SerialEscalation The lampshade itself is given a wind machine]] in "Chuck Versus the Suitcase", in which you actually see Morgan holding up an industrial fan as the Buy More crew PowerWalk through the store.

* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Daniel Shaw, in the third season. Was there really any other way that was going to play out, though?]]

%%* OverProtectiveDad: Casey.

** In "Chuck Versus the Bullet Train", Casey phones up Awesome and Morgan to rescue Alex from enemy agents. [[spoiler:They wind up getting captured, so Casey recruits Jess and Lester to save the day instead.]]

* AmazonBrigade: Fatima Tazi and her entire organization consisting entirely of fairly attractive women in tank tops with machine guns in "Chuck Versus the Seduction Impossible".

** [[spoiler: "Chuck Versus the Other Guy" has finally shifted the paradigm. [[TheyDo And there was much rejoicing]]]].

* BlackTieInfiltration: "Chuck Versus the Tango", "Chuck Versus the Crown Vic", "Chuck Versus the Break-Up", and "Chuck Versus the Lethal Weapon", to name a few.