Summer Sandwich (Soundtracking Monday Night)

Monday nights, for me, have become all about Chuck. Last year it was Heroes, before that 24, but now that honor belongs to the freshman comedy, and it continues to deliver, even as the series teeters on life support and endures the loss of C.S. Lee, who plays Chuck and Morgan's nemesis at work, Harry Tang. You can add him to the list of Dexter's victims, as Lee took on a full-time role (as Masuka) for the Showtime drama. Harry Tang, we barely knew ya. But as we lose Tang (and sweet, sweet Lady Tang) we gain sandwich queen Lou, played by The O.C.'s Rachel Bilson, as a new love interest for Chuck. Her comic delivery ("our vast height difference intrigues me") reminds us that Yvonne Strahovski has some comedic limitations. Meanwhile, the sandwich she names "The Chuck" is a reference to a sandwich at LA's Canter's Deli that's named after Chuck producer Matt Miller ("Matt's Special"). Apparently, both Bilson and Adam Brody are big fans of the turkey, muenster and egg bread sandwich.

But on to the music, 'cause that's why I'm here, right? With the use of Britney Spears' "Toxic" (during the chase for a poison's antidote) it was nice to remember when Brit was more pop artist then tabloid fodder. Of course, the song's appeal is less about Britney then about the songwriting/production team The Matrix, and really the only song of hers I can see ever being used in the series -- the rest of Spears' music would feel at home on Schwartz's other series Gossip Girl. The only other song used here is the requisite final stretch ballad use of Eels' "Fresh Feeling," which doesn't feel so fresh considering its multiple uses on Scrubs in the past.

Speaking of multiple use, Three Dog Night's "Shambala" made an appearance on Journeyman, a song you'll remember was prominently used in a Lost episode from this past March. Journeyman only seems to use songs for setting, though, so we don't care to talk about the show beyond that.

Finally, Heroes featured the debut of a special cover of Monochrome Set's "He's Frank" that will later appear in a Heroes Soundtrack to be released in early 2008. Word has it that it's a collaboration between artists, but that's all that's been revealed. Sounded to me like Iggy Pop fronting The Killers, but that's a wild guess (although, I might be willing to put money on the Iggy part).

Playlist: NBC's Monday Night Soundtrack
1. "Toxic" - Britney Spears - Chuck Ep1.08
2. "Fresh Feeling" - Eels - Chuck Ep1.08
3. "He's Frank" - The Monochrome Set (original - covered by unknown) - Heroes Ep2.08
4. "Shambala" - Three Dog Night - Journeyman Ep1.08

More: Having Marshall from Alias (Kevin Weisman) is more then a nod to debt Chuck has to that J.J. Abrams spy drama. As I mentioned in my critique of the pilot, the fish-out-of-water scenes with geek Marshall in the field had to have given at least some inspiration to the creation of Chuck.

Previously: Of Sandworms and Silicon (Ep 1.06)

The Wounded Racoon

Chuck's Buy More side-schtick Morgan (Joshua Gomez) has been, up to this point, fairly annoying, so the prospect of a "Night of Morgan" seemed rather torturous -- not nearly as much as having "Afghani warlords bleed me from my liver" as Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) so succinctly put it, but you get the point. But last night's Chuck turned me around on Morgan, and he's officially grown on me. His desperate behavior was given a more human side, and as a result, lines that once annoyed, now seem more endearing.

Like this rattled off nervous response while getting a Glengarry Glenn Ross-like sales competition rundown (which is even funnier when you imagine it being said by Jack Lemmon's character Levene):

Don't even say small pizza, alright, 'cause that's not even a prize... that's a punishment. I eat a small pizza and not only am I still hungry, but I'm angry. And you don't want me hungry and angry 'cause then I get kind of cranky... and I get a little mean.
...and then I get sleepy

Morgan's most sympathetic moment was squashed by the Geek Squad's 'wounded racoon' sales tactic, and yet, it was pretty hard not to laugh. If Chuck can continue to house Morgan in that realm of 'tragicomedy' he'll be a much more valuable character to the show. Back to pop-culture references, besides the Glengarry Glen Ross homage, other films brought up were Big Trouble in Little China (villain Lo Pan,) the defection story of White Nights and, of course, Chinatown ("forget it Bin, it's Chinatown").

Musically, Hall & Oates' "Private Eyes" goes out on another memorable stakeout. You may remember Vinnie Van Lowe (Ken Marino) singing it to Veronica Mars at one of her many stakeouts. And earlier this year, it was used as the Knights of Prosperity gang were on a stakeout of Mick Jagger. Strangely enough, the song never loses it's charm (or intended humor).

This weeks' song for reflection comes courtesy of Rogue Wave, with their waltzing "Lake Michigan." Rogue Wave are veterans of The O.C. soundtrack, so it's no surprise to hear them in this context. Especially when that other Josh Schwartz show is so veinly referenced with the lines "it's a Mother's Day miracle" -- "it's a Chrismakkah miracle" anyone? I liked this little insight into the Bartkowski home, as the sister has an unneeded character until now. Knowing why the siblings are so reliant on each other helps anchor better the three-pronged setting (spy world, Buy More store, home).

In other Monday night on TV music moments, it was nice hearing M.I.A.'s "Boyz" on Heroes, blasting in the background while Monica used her copy-cat skills jumping rope. M.I.A. draws inspiration in a lot of her rhymes from the rope skipping rhymes of the playground, so it's a fitting use.

Playlist: Chuck - Ep105
1. "Private Eyes" - Hall & Oates - Chuck sings along during stakeout
2. "Sister In Love" - Envelopes - Ellie bails out Morgan in the sales competition
3. "Lake Michigan" - Rogue Wave - the Bartkowskis celebrate Mother's day

Previously: A Tango and a Title Sequence (Episode 1.03)

tags: music, television, soundtrack, chuck, hall and oates, rogue wave, mia, glengarry glen ross, heroes, playlist