Friday Five: Posts I Never Posted

Today’s Friday Five was originally on another topic. A topic now made moot thanks to the advance news that NBC has renewed Chuck for a fifth season. My joking lament that I now had to write a different Friday Five prompted Alex Larson to Tweet back that I ought to write one about the articles I almost wrote. Great idea! Here are the top 5 articles I wrote (or partially wrote) that were never posted:

1. Friday Five: Questions & Answers About Chuck’s Renewal – Today’s original topic. It included a breakdown of why I thought the show still had a shot at a fifth season, the difference between NBC and Warner Bros. as far as Chuck is concerned, and assurances that this site would remain live in the event of cancellation.
2. Brandon Routh NOT Returning to Chuck in Season 4 – Ages ago, before season 4 even started production and Chuck fans were still riled up about Shaw and grousing that he’d better not be returning, I got a tip that Brandon Routh would be unavailable because he would be performing in a play in Minneapolis for several weeks prior to a possible touring production. I had the post drafted and just needed confirmation of the job from one of his reps to post it, but it turned out he wasn’t going to be in the play so the post never went live. Turns out the headline would have been accurate anyway (well…we do still have one episode left this season).
3. Friday Five: Secrets of Chuck vs. the Podcast – This post could still happen, but because it requires certain people to contribute secrets (and at least one photo) to go live, it languishes in the Drafts folder.
4. Warner Bros. Refuses to Let the Buy More Be Written Off Chuck – I think this is fairly common knowledge now – we talked about it on the podcast a while back – but the season 3 finale really was supposed to be the end of the Buy More on Chuck. However, that setting provides ample opportunity for product placement, so once the season 4 order came in from NBC, Warner Bros. made it clear that the Buy More would need to be rebuilt and integrated into the show. Initially I couldn’t post this because I heard about it in June and it would’ve been a big ol’ spoiler. Later it was just to difficult to write given the fan climate (many were upset that the Buy More would return) and the implication that WB was forcing a direction on the show that fans didn’t want. Once the season was well-underway and the reintegration of the Buy More better explained, it was basically a non-issue.
5. NBC Cancels Chuck – I believe in being prepared, so as much as my natural optimism hated doing it, I did draft a eulogy for the show, just in case. (The NBC Renews Chuck! post was also pre-written, as they have been every year. Like I said, prepared.)

There you have it, a glimpse behind the scenes here at ChuckTV.net! And let me just say how happy I am not to be posting #5. 🙂