David Millard

I just watched Chuck. All 91 episodes of it. There is something about this five season spy spoof that really worked for me. Without a doubt it’s my favorite TV show since I watched Buffy some fifteen years ago. You can like a TV show for all sorts of reasons, but loving a TV show is different, and I really loved all five seasons of Chuck. If you havent seen it, go watch it (and btw, there are no spoilers below, although be careful if you follow the links).

In fact Buffy led me to Chuck in a way (Seth Green was in Mass Effect 2/3 alongside Yvonne Strahovski, and googling about the cast was what led me to Chuck) and now here I am, five boxsets later, and a thorough Chuck convert.

I dont watch much TV, but when I do I am drawn to these shows with an extended narrative. 24, Lost, Heroes, Galactica, I’ve invested in all of them, some more successfully than others (I’m looking at you Heroes). In fact around the time Chuck was premiered I picked up a very similar show called Reaper, and was disappointed when it was canned after two series. I have no idea how I missed Chuck, it’s clear that there is a huge fan following (perhaps the definitive fan following), and a massive amount of love out there for the cast, writers and producers. I feel a little guilty coming so late to the party, but I’m glad that I did.

Bingewatching it has given me a different experience to those people who followed it week by week. I think it makes you more forgiving when the quality varies, and more patient with certain WTWT storylines, but it also lets you connect the dots more easily, to perceive the thinner threads, and see the bigger themes. It also meant I knew what I was getting into – five seasons, then cancelled. But Chuck tottered down the cancellation tightrope better than most shows. The writer’s strike gave it a short first season, but the second, third and fourth are enough to explore the characters and situation fully, and the constant threat of cancellation means that each has a finale worthy of an endgame (and some have two). So when it does come, the short fifth season feels like a swan song. A lap of honour that is knowing and reflective, and ultimately, heartbreakingly, bittersweet.

So why is Chuck so good? And why does it remind me of Buffy so strongly? Well, the only show I’m following with any interest at the moment is Game of Thrones. It’s beautifully made, incredible to look at, and written as tightly and neatly as you could want. No other show has ever made me gasp in shock at a TV screen. But ask yourself this: do you like any of the characters on Game of Thrones, I mean really like them, like them enough to want to see them away from the main narrative, like them enough to imagine them in your own life? (‘Hey folks, meet my new friend The Hound – best not mention the scars.’).

This is the trick that Buffy pulled, making the audience feel a part of the Scooby Gang, invested in each of the characters and their relationships, and it’s what Chuck does too. Just look around the Internet at the fanbase Chuck left behind. A fanbase that resurrected the show between season’s two and three by buying Subway Sandwiches (a serious culinary sacrifice), and even now is active in fostering new viewers through services such as Netflix, and pushing for a Chuck movie. These are people who love those characters, and commitment like that only comes when a part of you feels like it’s part of the Nerd Herd too.

David Stubbs wrote in the Guardian recently that TV is getting to dark, and that only darkness is seen as credible. Perhaps he’s right to complain. The world can be a bloody, grim and depressing place but surely we make our own lights – and the moments and stories we share with one another are how we meet that darkness. Heroic adventures, romances, and comedy’s are our cultural lights. They can fill our real darknesses, guide and inspire us.

Now hang on, I hear you say, are you seriously saying that throw away TV confection can be inspirational, that it can fill the existential Abyss – really?

Sure, why not. There’s a lot of Abyss to fill, plenty of room. Not everything has to be earnest, not everything has to be high art. Genre, melodrama, high fantasy, bring it on, it all has a place.

Turns out that the Chuck title music is actually a natty song by alt-rock band Cake. Makes me smile, and proof that everything about Chuck is great.

Chuck has heart, it has soul, it has Jeffster! It’s a joyful show. A romantic adventure that believes in friendship, love, and family, and is comfortable putting those things centre. And in today’s TV world that is brave, perhaps was to brave, but it’s why I love it.

So do yourself a service and watch Chuck. And if you know of any other joyful shows, preferable with an eponymous single word title, then let me know.

I’m in.