Monday, September 22, 2008

Sandwiches and fresh fruit: Chuck and Life a week early

While there may be three hours of Heroes tonight, here's a friendly reminder that there are two other great shows that sandwich the series for NBC next Monday night. Both Chuck and Life, in lieu of the Heroes onslaught tonight, don't have their premieres until next week, but you can see them a week early via this internet thing that everyone is talking about. NBC.com, Hulu.com and the new kid on the block, Amazon Video on Demand, are all showing the season premiere for the two programs right now -- for free.

Chuck, for it's part, has already been picked up for a full season based on the strength of the first six episodes that Josh Schwartz and company had in the can, and from what I've seen of the premiere, it's seems warranted. Guest baddie is the 'imposing' Michael Clarke Duncan, who's character takes part in an expository-rich opening scene that helps fill in the blanks for new viewers. It's representative of the tightrope that both Chuck and Life have to walk this go 'round, following their strike-shortened first seasons.

Musically for Chuck, we get the usual mix of both new and pop-cultural referencing old. Multiple songs from Huey Lewis & the News, for instance, play a minor role, while buzzy Frightened Rabbit ("The Twist") get the coveted introspective third act slot that last season was (sort of) famous for. That's all I'm saying until after the proper premiere, when we'll reconvene and discuss, deal?

In the meantime, as promised, below is the season premiere of Chuck. Once you're done with that, you probably want to check out the other half of next week's sandwich, the season premiere of Life. (After Monday night, Life moves to Friday nights at 10PM.)



Previously: The No-Bread Sandwich (Episodes 1.12-1.13)

1 comment:

Arjan said...

hmm it seems I've got to add even more series to the too-watch list. Mind you, Dexter starts again next week, I hope they don't get too much competition from that.

*ugh..can't watch the vid..being outside of the US, I'll tube it.*