After posting so much about the glasses for pretty much the last month, and seeing some of the comments on the Internet about how lame the 3D tech was, here are some thoughts about the Chuck 3D episode.
I thought the tech was OK, and I definitely had a better experience on a 61" widescreen in 1080i watching NBC's HD signal than some people have expressed having. In terms of things popping out of the screen there wasn't really much, a shoulder here or there -- the opening credits, but the 3-D effect was there for the entire episode most especially in terms of depth-perception which was very noticeable for me.
But while that's kind of cool, it doesn't really add much to this type of show. I could see the technology being a much bigger deal for sports from the NFL to being behind Tiger when he's sizing up a putt.
Whatever happens, ratings-wise, I don't think the 3D thing was a bust for NBC, and I'm sure Monsters vs. Aliens will be a big hit. One of the downsides of the Super Bowl commercials for both SoBe and the Monsters vs. Aliens trailer was that with so many millions of people watching, the advertisers wanted to make sure the millions of people who did not have the glasses could still watch and enjoy the commercials.
The 3D effects for Chuck were more noticeable, but while you could watch (and easily so) without the glasses, the impact to color and blurring was still very noticeable without the glasses. I don't blame NBC for taking that risk with Chuck, but I don't blame Dreamworks and SoBe for not taking as much of a risk with some extremely pricey Super Bowl ads.
I don't think there was any negative impact for NBC, SoBe or Dreamworks, but the way it was handled it probably didn't help the marketing plight of those companies involved with trying to make in-home 3D a big deal. There are many people who will think the technology doesn't work, but it does work, and very well, even with the cheap glasses.
You only need to use them on the demos here to see just how well. But even that wasn't as easy as it could be to showcase the technology. Viewing those videos in a window via the web browser, I was myself underwhelmed. But size seems to matter. When I downloaded them and ran them full screen on a 24" monitor in 1920x1200 resolution...wow! At least with the snake and bear videos. I recommend anyone with the glasses and a broadband connection and a 17" or bigger monitor to download those videos and run them in full screen and try out your glasses.
Though I didn't think it was the best episode ever, I enjoyed the Chuck 3D episode. Especially when Casey shot Chuck with a tranquilizer dart: "My ears couldn't take it, it was either that or shoot him." And it was fun to see Dominic Monaghan, Charlie from LOST, once again in the role of a British rock star.
It was cool. The 3D was decent, though on my much smaller TV it wasn’t noticable the entire time. In fact, I didn’t notice it a whole heckuva lot. The best part to me, 3D wise, was the intro with the little dude running around. Other than that, it was a good episode, as Chuck normally delivers. It would’ve been good without the 3D, but that turned out to be an added fun little bonus to an otherwise good episode.
I thought it was a great episode as well, though I didn’t notice the 3d much on my TV. I hope the rating were good – I was rather depressed after reading that Variety article claiming that it was going to be canceled!
Awesome episode. Ok, do the 3D wasn’t that great, but Chuck was just as good as always! I honestly didn’t care about the 3D, I just wanted to see my favourite show
I think the show was alright. It wasn’t the best of the season and it wasn’t the worst. The 3D effect of the throwing knife was the only top quality effect. There just wasn’t a reason for it besides a gimmick.
3D with the red/blue lenses is still not the best. It can produce headaches and is nothing like the tech behind MY BLOODY VALENTINE. TVs though can’t reproduce the polarization stuff that is used in that tech (yet). I hear Samsung is working on something to that effect.
I decided to tune in, so this was my first time watching the show. I thought the 3D was rather disappointing considering how hyped up it was. I don’t really love the show either. Sure there were some funny parts and seeing Jerome Bettis and Charlie from LOST was pretty neat, but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I would. I’m not saying it’s horrible or that I’d never watch it again, but I think it’s about half as good as everyone here seems to think it is. I just don’t get why it’s so great, but everyone has their different tastes I suppose.
Never having seen LOST, Dominic Monaghan is still Merry Brandybuck to me
Since I didn’t have any glasses, I watched Chuck in old fashioned 2D. While I like that they’re experimenting, I didn’t particularly care for how blurry the show looked to those without glasses. I don’t ever see 3D becoming a mainstream phenomenon and if the majority of the viewers have to watch blurry TV in order for 3D to work, it’s hard for me to believe that this will really take off.
My take… The 3D was okay. I turned the brightness up on my big screen and that seemed to help, kept the darkening effect of the glasses to a minimum. I can see though how people with smaller TV sets would not get the benefit of all the effects.
On the whole, I do wish NBC had not done this. I think the show would have benefited more from lots of promotion, or the post Super Bowl spot. They had to change up they way some of the show came across just for the 3D effects, and I think the show suffered a bit from that.
Vader, don’t take that episode as a norm for the show. Check out “Chuck vs. Santa Claus” on Hulu to see what a really good episode looks like–and it will also help clarify why Chuck confronted Sarah.
I love the show and the 3D thing was more about depth perception than about things popping out of the screen at you. The 3D glasses gave me a headache, but the show is worth it. It’s a funny show with original characters, solid writing and a great cast. If they can get polarized 3D to work on television that would be much better if they plan to make more 3D episodes of television shows.
I thought it was another great episode. Boy did I miss it while it was gone! But I didn’t really notice too much of a difference in 3D. Not that much popped off the screen. I just really hope the ratings were there for them!
I thought the episode was very funny but the 3D elements got in the way a bit. I don’t mean in that it didn’t work for me, since it looked good on my end, but that it didn’t flow in the same way other episodes have. This is the show’s 25th episode and it sometimes felt like its first. Also, after coming out of a great relationship builder episode in “Santa”, this episode takes a dive when it comes to Chuck and Sarah. I was surprised by this since Chuck and Sarah are the heart of the show and they are mostly presented as nothing more than colleagues. Chuck and Sarah are in love. They may not have told each other that, or ever consummated their relationship, but their actions have indicated nothing short of that. This episode fails in that department and worries me about the future episodes. Are they abandoning the love angle?
If they completely abandon the love angle, I might actually have to check Chuck out again. That whole contrived drama was what drove me away. (Along with my dislike of Yvonne Strahovski.)
Well, then I hope you never come back to the show, Julia. Because that is why most of us fans are still watching.
Not why this fan is still watching. I’m watching in spite of that, not because of it. The wil-they-won’t-they “attraction” between those two has always been the weakest part of the show for me.
I don’t mean the will-they-won’t-they element (though, I disagree strongly that it is the weakest element). I mean the actual love between those characters, where they would die for each other. I think most of us would rather the writers just put those two together already and get on with the rest of the show. That is my hope for this season.
Robert, they’re saying Chuck got a 5.1/8 in the overnights. Good, bad, expected for a Super Bowl promo-ed show? Will NBC be happy with that?
And I disagree with everyone saying the Chuck/Sarah drama is the weak part of the show. It’s a big reason for why people watch, and Josh Schwartz knows this. They are utilizing that relationship to it’s maximum.
FrankJ, A 5.1 in the early overnights is higher than usual, but things can change significantly between those preliminary numbers and the regular overnights we get here, so it’s best not to read too much into them.
5.1/8 is good for a show that has been off for 2 months and had to go up against House.
Ah okay. Thanks, Holly!
A 5.1 would be a season high. Will they be happy with it? Sure. If they do 4.8 next week they’ll be really happy.