Negative commentary about the terrible state of television aside, I’m really glad Chuck is back! I’m also glad that they didn’t tamper with the formula that makes Chuck a great series too much, even though we’re only 3 episodes in so far. I was relieved to see that they weren’t relying too heavily on the Intersect 2.0 gimmick to push the plot along/vanquish the bad guys. I am really looking forward to see how this season is going to progress, and hopefully they’ll keep the revolving mini-plots that they’ve done so well with up to this point, going (according to interviews I’ve read on TVguide.com, it seems this will be the case, and I think this is one of the show’s greatest strengths).

On the unfavorable comments on (Chuck) Sundays 1st show I whole understand. The writers had very diffuclt hurdle. They needed to cram 2 hours of story telling into a 1 hour show to acommodate both new and old viewers.

I heard a FEW interesting developments for CHUCK. Hopefully everyone will know in the next month.

Robert and Bill the awesome contest is, well awesome

I’m glad the show did well. I wish it could be the hit it deserves to be. Though, there is something appealing about it being the underdog.

Everything clicked.

In a partial non-sequiter, I did see ads for the Super Bowl half time on the NBC Wild Card games this weekend. They focused on the halftime sponsor (Barclays?) but featured CBS Sports more prominently than any other ad I recall seeing on a rival broadcast network in the past.

Are you aware of the state NBC is currently in? Expecting a 5.0 is absurd. Yes, NBC advertised the hell out of the show and that’s probably a big reason for the spike in viewers. But you do realize that in order for promotion to be a huge help, people have to be watching the network on which a show is being promoted, right?

A scant few people watch NBC religiously anymore, which means not as many people saw the Chuck ads as they would’ve if it had been equally advertised on CBS. So, all things considered, a 3.0 is great for the Chuck premiere. With the sad state NBC is in, that qualifies as a hit. If it can hold anything above a 2.5 throughout the season, I would think it’s a lock to get a fourth season. Something that I would have thought was ridiculous at this point last year.

On a side note, are NBC and Comedy Central affiliated in any way? I saw Chuck ads on Comedy Central, and did a double take.

Give the customers what they want, when the want it, TV execs. The world’s changing, have you noticed?

Rather than being FUN, the show was sexist, graphically violent, cold, and crude.

If it looses audiences, it will be because of those things… and not the time slot or competition.

Viva la Chuck!

The first episode was not as strong because it was a severe departure from the typical Chuck episode. I think the reason that happened was because the show’s creators, writers, etc. didn’t think Chuck had much of a chance of coming back for another season so most of the tension in the plot lines were resolved. The first episode last night served to undo what happened during last year’s finale. It was somewhat messy, and awkward because they had to pull 180′s and do so much to bring plot lines back to life – e.g. the romantic tension between Sarah and Chuck. The second episode was awesome and more true to form in what you will see from Chuck from week to week. Stick around and I don’t think you will be dissappointed. BTW, Yvonne Strahovski was hotter than ever!

Here was your prediction:
When we last saw Chuck it was pulling a 2.4 rating with adults 18-49 and 6.12 million viewers in the 8pm hour on a Monday in the overnight Live+SD numbers. I’d love to predict a 2.6 and 7 million viewers, but because it’s NBC, I can’t.

In fact, what I want to do is apply a straight 20 percent NBC suckage tax for being on NBC. NBC isn’t down by that much versus last season, but increases to Sunday Night Football have helped the overall averages some. The ratings carnage particularly for scripted one hour dramas is worse, and this will be the first Sunday in a long while where NBC has had any scripted content.

The 20% suckage tax yields a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating. Because it’s Chuck (and not, for instance Trauma, or Mercy) I’ll assess only a 15% NBC suckage tax.

That yields a 2.0 rating with adults 18-49 and 5.2 million.

2.9/7.2 certainly exceeds your expectations. Now, it’s up against tougher competition tonight in House, HIMYM and The Bachelor, but I still think it will bring a 2.5/7.0 tonight. That would exceed whatever terrible numbers Heroes was drawing in the same slot in the fall.

That will NEVER happen. Reruns of Chuck does considerably worst than reruns of any of the L&O franchises as demonstrated 2 summers ago when NBC aired reruns of Chuck on Saturdays.

Just cross your fingers Chuck stays in the mid 2s and maybe NBC will extend the season to 22 episodes. I could see two hours block during May sweeps.

In those free hours that NBC got now moving leno, they should put at least some re-runs for the new viewers to at least understand better whats going on.

Chuck all the way!!!!!

Sure, Chuck won’t single-handedly save NBC/Universal/GE/ComCast, but these are GOOD signs!

Sure, this might be false hope, but more Strahovski and Baldwin! (and maybe have cameos of C.S. Lee as Harry T. Tang or Julia Ling as a CIA agent)

VIVA LA CHUCK!!!!