It's Imperative #1: Watch ChuckNovember 23, 2012 by

Feast your blessed peepers on the first edition of It's Imperative, a feature in which I will criticise you for not paying enough attention to something that I love. There are too many great TV shows, games and bands that too few people have invested their time in and I WILL change that. My goal is enlighten and my first subject is Chuck.

Chuck stars Zachary Levi as the lovable nerd... Can you guess his name? It's Chuck! His name is Chuck! Chuck has the fortune and misfortune of accidentally installing a database of government secrets inside his brain resulting in him being pushed into the world of espionage. This forces the beautiful super-spy Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and military veteran turned secret agent John Casey (Adam Baldwin) into his life. From this basic premise, we get five seasons of the best television I have ever seen. There's espionage, romance, comedy and the hard reality of working in an electronics store. It's not thought provoking, gritty and serious, or even very realistic. It's entertaining.

Now, I know the internet loves a list. I'm sure you have all read one from The Top 10 LOLcats to 1001 Things I Hate About Jar-Jar Binks. Following this trend and in relation to suggesting that you watch Chuck, I present to thee these reason three. Or, if you'd prefer, the top three reasons to watch Chuck.

1.The Characters

I haven't been so emotionally invested in a set of fictional characters since Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Tupac Shakur. Anyone who says that they don't want Chuck to be their best friend is a liar and you shouldn't talk to them any more. Zachary Levi manages to portray Chuck as caring, cool, funny and a huge geek all at the same time. The interactions between Chuck and his best friend Morgan (wonderfully acted by Joshua Gomez) are hilarious, they always look like real friends and steal the show whenever they are on camera together.

Then we have Chuck's will-they-won't-they relationship with Sarah. I have no shame in admitting that watching this relationship develop has brought me to tears on more than one (or five) occasion(s). Levi and Strahovski are perfect together. There are the good moments, the bad moments and the painfully awkward moments but all of them are a thrill ride to watch.

Also, watching Chuck's struggle of juggling his newly 'acquired' spy life with work and family can be both comical and heart-breaking.

I cannot fail to mention Adam Baldwin's John Casey. He's your sterotypical, cigar smoking, gun loving alpha male who grunts when he's annoyed and shoots things when he's happy. Watching him reluctantly open up and become part of the group can make for some of the best comic relief in the show.

Even the ancillary cast are fantastic. The group of misfits that work at the Buy More will have all but the most grumpy of grumps in hysterics.

2.The Action

With the espionage lifestyle comes a fair bit of action. Even though Chuck places a huge amount of attention on the characters and their relationships, action is in no way ingored. Each episode tends to focus on a specific mission and these are kept varied for all five seasons of the show. There is computer hacking, gun fights, a whole load of martial arts and even the odd explosion.

And! And! And! The show casts some huge names as villians for Chuck, Sarah and Casey to go up against. Dolph Lungdren, Vinnie Jones and Stone Cold Steve Austin are only a few of the faces who pop up over the course of the show.

3. The Comedy

I've already mentioned the comedy provided by Chuck, Morgan and the rogues gallery that make up the Buy More employees but I cannot stress how funny this show is enough. Chuck and Morgan are a genuine comedy duo for the modern age. If they don't make you laugh 90% of the times they are on the screen together then I don't want you to be a part of my life. Close the browser and think about what you've done.

Even the action scenes can be funny. Chuck, being the computer geek that he is, is far from athletic and adjusting to the spy life is hard for him. He trips up climbing through windows and almost always gets caught by the bad guy. Then there is porn and apple juice. Both of these are things Chuck uses to disable bombs at different points throughout the show.

Also, there are enough pop culture references to fill something that takes a lot of stuff to fill. From Deloreans to Duck Hunt, everyone will find little mentions that make them laugh.

To summarize, I adore this show. I love it so much that not once did I have to check IMDb for actor's names when writing this article. Chuck is probably the best thing I have ever seen and I've seen some stuff!

All I have left to say is watch Chuck, it's imperative

Please feel free (and obligated) to follow me on Twitter @kevinodonnell91. I don't really tweet yet but that's because nobody follows me. If you do I might even show you pictures of my porridge in the morning (that's not a euphamism, I enjoy my oats).

Fun trivia – The other possible names for this feature were I Emplore You, Do As You're Told and Gonny Go Dae That.

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