The Morning After: Nerd Night, HIMYM, More Burns, Less Burns...

Chuck looks like it's going to survive for a while on my TiVo pass. Zachary Levi played the character well, without making him too much of a stereotypical nerd. And there seemed to be real good chemistry between him and the lead female agent Sarah. Not sure how much dramatic or comedic ground they can break with this show, but it looks humorous and interesting enough to keep me entertained. (I would recommend more for Chuck's sister to do, and less of his friend Morgan, who was way too much of a cardboard caricature)

Now if only Heroes could have followed it up with a strong effort....man was I disappointed (see the Heroes post for my preliminary thoughts)

I was somewhat underwhelmed with "Chuck." It has promise (and is staying on the Season Pass), but it better progress. I couldn't tell if it wanted to be a solid comedy, a solid spy show, or a solid emotional vehicle for the main female agent (it was so-so at all three facets).

I also gave the Big Bang Theory a chance, and was mildly amused, laughing out loud a few times. I still can't get over the live studio audience (or laugh track?). After years of following Arrested Development, both Offices, and Curb I just can't get used to the standard (one note) sitcom.

Re: Chuck
I wasn't crazy about Chuck, but will give it another coupla weeks because its got Adam Baldwin in it, and because Zach Levi played the role with a really adorable sweetness - very likable. Agree with Chaddog re: good chemistry between him and Sarah, and the cardboard best friend. The show has a Veronica Mars writer, right? So that's reason #3 to give it a chance. The premise is pretty silly, particularly the interaction between the CIA and NSA characters. Yeah right he gets to work with government agents. They would in real life declare him a threat to national security, arrest him, and hold him indefinitely at Guantanamo Bay. If he even made it off the roof.

Re: Journeyman
Journeyman I liked MUCH better. I hadn't even planned on watching it, but I saw the dude in the preview and started wondering if it was Tommy the AIDS dude from Trainspotting. So I had to keep watching to see for sure (It was! 10 points for me). At first, the episode was pretty confusing and I was about to turn it off, but then I thought I saw the girl from Daybreak, and had to watch a few more minutes (right again, 10 more points for me!). By that point I was hooked - the acting was decent, the dead/not-dead/omg so totally not-dead former girlfriend thing was really interesting, and his interaction with his wife was pretty compelling. I loved how he sussed out a way to prove himself to her, how conflicted his romantic loyalties were he was when he was jumping back in time. Plus, the back and forth element made it enough different from Quantum Leap that it isn't a total ripoff. . .

So, I was surprised that the show I hadn't even planned on watching at all turned out to be one of the better fall premieres, IMHO!

Chuck was um, serviceable. I'll only be watching it if I remember to set my VCR/DVR, as there is no way it beats out watching Mother in that time slot. Besides, as already mentioned, its USA-series-with-a-bigger-budget vibe suggests that I can watch reruns and not miss anything.

Journeyman - where to start. Was the world in desperate need of a darker, grumpier Quantum Leap retread?
However, I did find it's utilitarian view of ethics interesting. Stating that it is preferable to have some sad sack suffer his life for years just so he can produce a fated child - in the first episode? That is an interesting ethical view for a network show to take.
Or the not-dead, also time-traveling fiance - who apparently faked her own death, because it is preferable that all your friends think you are dead (and not there for them 100% of the time) than to not be there 50% of the time? Not to mention that we haven't seen any forward leaps, so how did she know the plane was going to crash? Did she crash it herself? There is some interesting material there, I just wish it was in a peppier show.
And lets not get into the logical leaps - ten years doesn't make you look tired, it makes you look terminal (to those that saw you the day before). At least the movie Timecop had the decency to have the first words out of past wife's to future husband's mouth be a shocked "What happened to you!" - and when you are wishing for the internal logic of a Van Damme movie, you've got problems.

@Tom: "its USA-series-with-a-bigger-budget vibe"

I remember that at one point over the summer I compared the Chuck pilot with She Spies. People thought that was an insult. I liked She Spies! She Spies was funny! It was a really clever spy spoof. I just didn't feel compelled to catch it every week, and while I enjoy Chuck, I could see it becoming the same kind of show for me.

I watched Chuck yesterday and ended up being seriously disappointed. I tend to be drawn towards comedies with quirky characters and no laugh track (Arrested Development, Scrubs, 30 Rock, The Office), but Chuck just didn't grab me.

The plot is interesting and the characters are likeable enough, but I can see the show losing steam as opposed to getting better over time. I'm willing to bet that it doesn't make it past one season.

The stakes are high for NBC this year after coming off of a last place finish among the 4 major networks. I can't see them putting up Chuck in hopes it'll get better.

I was pretty happy with Chuck... it looks like one of those shows where the good stuff will happen on the margins - I enjoyed the Buy More slogan ("when you buy more, you can save more; when you save more, you can buy more; when you buy more, you can save more, it all starts when you Buy More") - maybe it's too much to hope for a satirical look at consumer culture (the guy has a good 6k worth of electronics, but lives with his sister), but I'm hopeful. Also, Adam Baldwin AND Tony Todd.

I didn't like Journeyman much at all - I think time travel is easy to do in a hackish way, and hard to get right. I don't want to nerd out to the space-time continuum, but the fact that he gets yanked out of his life, and then yanked back in randomly, yet can just wander away from his mission to wander around his old house was annoying.

I downloaded Chuck a few days ago & my wife & I both enjoyed it. The other comments are dead-on. I think I'm switching my single-tuner Tivo from Mother to Chuck.

I've watched Mother since the beginning, and though I'm curious what happens to the characters, I really only have watched it because of the rest of the CBS lineup that night. I don't get why so many people love it, its ok, Barney is awesome, but the overall show is not great. Last night's episode fit that norm.

Chuck: Good, but I'm not itching to watch the next episode (even though I will). I love Captain Awesome, though. I also loved the Buy More slogan.

Journeyman: The ten years older without even a comment thing was the only part I didn't like. Regarding Tom Shaw's comment about Livia and forward leaps, etc.: I don't think she purposely faked her death; from what she said, I thought that she got on a plane that was going to crash (without knowing it), time traveled while on the plane, and then couldn't go back to her old life because she got on a plane that crashed and everyone thought she was dead. Regardless, the fact that she is/was in the same boat as Dan is the part of the show I'm most interested in.

Anyway, I liked all the things Shara did, except I've never watched Quantum Leap, so I have no point of reference there.

How I Met Your Mother: Okay episode, nothing much to say. (I'm not one of the viewers who need to hear about the actual mother, though I'm glad future-Ted explicitly said this was the "how I got to be the person I was when I met your mother so that we could get married and have you as our children" story so that I can point other viewers to that when they cluelessly complain about when Ted is going to meet the mother already.)

Big Bang Theory: As you said in your review, one "joke" (book-smart people don't get laid! Isn't that hilarious?) stretched to cover a series. Whatever.

Loved CHUCK. Cute, fun, light-hearted entertainment and a good match for HEROES, which sort of disappointed me upon its return. Then again, the first few episodes of the 1st year were slow, too. Putting the pieces into place. Next show to watch? REAPER.

Didn't like Chuck too much because Zachary Levi doesn't really make a believable nerd to me.

I did like Journeyman even though the show needs some major kinks worked out. But I do find Kevin McKidd to be a winning lead and he had some really good chemistry with the actress who played Livia. So for now that will be enough to keep me tuning in and hopefully the show will get better with time.

You guys are missing a classic in the making. How I Met Your Mother is sitcom gold. It's doing some unique things with serialization vs. traditional sitcom foolery. I bet that if it didn't have a laugh track, people would be all over it like it was The Office. (www.have-you-met-ted.com).

Chuck was good! I didn't think it would be but I liked it. It was also good to see the Gift Shop Girl from Scrubs again (Chuck's sister.)

Chuck.... not horrible, but not something I feel the least bit compelled to watch.

Big Bang Theory -- a complete disaster. When the best the writers can do in to pre-commercial introduction to a pilot is the lead characters saying "hello" to each other repeatedly in a "funny" way, you know the show is gonna suck, and it did. I started channel surfing three minutes after the first commercial break.

Didn't watch journeyman -- watched part II of The War. Starting to think that the "four towns" device was a huge mistake..... and since we already know that "Babe" is gonna die (since we were told that the death of the family patriarch was "just the start" of his families troubles) I don't understand why we keep hearing about all of his letters home telling his family that he's great, and in no danger. Irony shouldn't be applied with a backhoe....