VIDEOS: Ausiello Interviews the Chuck Cast at TCA

Missed this over the weekend, but it’s a must watch! Ausiello from EW caught up with the cast of Chuck at the NBC TCA party Friday night. Up first is an interview with Zachary Levi talking about Olivia Munn’s guest spot, working with Isaiah Mustafa that day, and the new Buy More. After that comes Yvonne Strahovski being serenaded – twice – by Scott Krinsky, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Vik Sahay and Robert Ryan McPartlin, in addition to further hijinks. Yvonne with the boys – this needs to happen more often!

Chuck @ Comic Con Report, The Kid Version

Note: Genevieve is Mel’s 11-year-old niece. She discovered Chuck at the end of season 2 and was hooked. An aspiring writer, Mel & Liz decided to bring her along to Comic Con this year to meet both the talent behind the show and other fans. This is her report on the panel and press room, edited only for punctuation.

When we woke up the morning of the Chuck panel my eyes felt like they were carrying 10 pounds. Sleep covered my eyes like chocolate syrup on vanilla ice cream and my eyes were probably as black as the night sky, but I hurriedly got dressed and I got my purse.

When we were ready to go we hopped in the car and drove off to Starbucks for some breakfast. I would recommend ordering the Classic Glazed Old Fashioned doughnut. At Starbucks make sure you have quarters because at one of them you have to pay 1 quarter to go to the restroom. What you do with the quarter is buy a bathroom token and you put the bathroom token in the slot. Then you should be able to open the door.

When we got to the convention center there was a line as expected, but not really a long one. We sat on the cement (which was cold, hard, and rocky) and ate our breakfast. After eating my breakfast I was tired of sitting on the cement, So I sat on my comic con bag, which was filled with a pillow and a blanket from the hotel. We weren’t sitting down for more than half an hour when the doors to the convention center opened; so began the long walk around the convention center. When we got inside (it was freezing in there) I lay down and got out my pillow and blanket. The backpacks and lunch bags were lay down sort of like the border of a bed. It was very comfortable, but I only got to sleep for half an hour (so my plan is to spend the night in line next year, because it is so comfortable).

When we got in the panel we got good seats, but we had to wait another hour, so we sat and talked. When it was 5 minutes before the Chuck panel I tried to start a chant, but I was the only one standing. Apparently I was the only true Chuck fan there!

All of a sudden, the lights turned off, and Zac and Josh were on the screen. They were talking about the Ring and how the only way for them to save us was for them to put in a movie, so they listed some other movies that the Chuck cast had been in and they said they didn’t want to watch any of those movies, so they put in a Jeffster music video for our own good. Everybody says that Jeffster isn’t good, but I think they’re great! Jeffster did “Bad Romance” from Lady GaGa.

After Jeffster all the cast came out and the writers came out, too! It was probably one of the most exciting moments of my life! I think Yvonne saw me and aimed T-shirts at me and that was super amazing! Good news, I don’t think Adam had a gun so everyone there was safe. Sarah and Yvonne look even prettier in real life than on T.V. (probably because cameras are not made to pick up that much beauty).

After the panel we went to the Chuck pressroom, we didn’t even have any time in between to rest. First we got the writers and then we got Ryan McPartlin and Sarah Lancaster. I asked Ryan if he wanted to be a spy on Chuck, and he said he did until he found out there were long hours.

It was so awesome! Next year I’m going to get a front seat for sure!

You can also hear Genevieve talk a little about Comic Con in Chuck vs. the Podcast.

PHOTOS: Chuck at the TCA Party

The Television Critics Association’s (TCA) annual ritual of meeting with network execs and talent is in full swing with yesterday being NBC’s day to present their new & returning shows to critics. Following a day of meetings, they cut loose with a party, attended by several members of the Chuck cast, including Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Ryan McPartlin, Vik Sahay, Scott Krinsky, and Mark Christopher Lawrence. Check out all of the photos in the Gallery.

Chuck vs. the Podcast 064 – Comic-Con San Diego 2010, Part 2

Our Comic-Con 2010 coverage continues…  we are proud to present the full Chuck panel, complete with Vik Sahay as Lady Gaga, downloadable to your iPod!

If you missed part 1, please go back and watch it first — part 1 has way too many fun goodies to list here!

Please note: spoiler warning for both parts of our Comic-Con coverage.

Miss any episodes? You can find them all at chuckpodcast.blip.tv, and every time you watch it helps to support us!

Also, if you like the show, please consider supporting us with a monthly vote at Podcast Alley.

Chuck vs. the Podcast 063 – Comic-Con San Diego 2010, Part 1

Part 1 of our Comic-Con 2010 coverage features: Mel, Liz, and Genevieve hosting on scene, news, the NBC Wired party, Chuck panel stories, press room interviews, fan interviews, the Barenaked Ladies, and even a red carpet interview with the Old Spice Guy himself, Isaiah Mustafa!

And if that’s not enough…  Joshua Gomez is now on Twitter!  Follow him at twitter.com/JoshuaEGomez !

Part 2, released later today, will include the full Chuck panel, downloadable to your iPod!

Please note: spoiler warning for both parts of our Comic-Con coverage.

Miss any episodes? You can find them all at chuckpodcast.blip.tv, and every time you watch it helps to support us!

Also, if you like the show, please consider supporting us with a monthly vote at Podcast Alley.

Friday Five: Favorite Chuck Photos From Comic Con

Cameras were clicking fast to keep up with Chuck during Comic Con, catching some awesome moments. Here are my favorites.

Obviously this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to photos. We have tons in our Gallery alone. What are your favorites?

NBC Interviews Chuck Stars At Comic Con

NBC snagged the stars of Chuck for some Comic Con reactions and interviews. Check ‘em out below.

Chuck @ Comic Con: Thoughts & Reminscing

Comic Con 2010 has wrapped, but the buzz continues. Liz & I are buried in work for our various sites (we also run True-Blood.net and NiceGirlsTV.com), so it’s almost like still being at SDCC, but without the lines and the swag. Gray is editing our special Comic Con edition of Chuck vs. the Podcast for later this week, but in the meantime I thought I’d share some thoughts on Chuck‘s fourth appearance at the annual geekfest that maybe don’t really fit in elsewhere.

Let’s get the disappointing bits out of the way first: the panel was too short and the press room was poorly managed. If you were following Twitter at all, you probably heard the virtual booing when the Ballroom 20 moderator informed the room that there was no time for fan Q&A’s. The special intro videos took up too much time (in hindsight, they should’ve ditched the season 3 highlight reel), the panel started late, and panels were a strictly enforced 45 minutes this year instead of 60. All of this combined to mean that we got about 20 minutes of panel moderators Alan Sepinwall and Daniel Feinberg from HitFix asking questions (and they did a fine job, including everyone with a broad range of queries), then the panel was over.

Having heard about what happened, the Boob Tube Dude wrote an article about accessibility – or the illusion thereof – at Comic Con that’s worth reading. He makes some good points about fan expectations; however, I have to argue that Chuck is an exception to the Comic Con rule. This was quite possibly the worst panel for the Q&A to be cut. Many other shows and  movies are there to basically put in some face time and promote their product. It’s a congenial enough arrangement, and fans clearly enjoy it, but the Chuck group is one of the few that has a strong connection to their fanbase and uses this time to strengthen it. For the past three years, Comic Con has been a place to connect with fans, get feedback, and bask in the mutual admiration. This year, that didn’t happen, and the fans and cast and creators of Chuck were understandably disappointed.

Likewise, the press room left most print media (ourselves included) out in the cold. So many video outlets were there that it took the talent about 45 minutes to make it down the line. Guess how long we had the press room? Yep, 45 minutes, then they had to hustle over to the Warner Bros. booth for the autograph signing. The publicists did try to move things along, pulling people from the video wall when they could, so we did get to talk with Josh Schwartz & Chris Fedak and Ryan McPartlin & Sarah Lancaster. We doubled up on Zachary Levi & Joshua Gomez with another table, but a video reporter rammed herself in there to ask the last question despite having already talked to them. They had 2 tables full of print journalists royally pissed over that rudeness.

So, not the best Chuck showing at Comic Con, but it certainly wasn’t all bad. For one thing, they were there to promote a new season of Chuck! Of course the big news is that Linda Hamilton will play Mama Bartowski. Spectacular casting. With the right styling, I can see her looking like Ellie. We talked to Sarah a little bit about Ellie’s reaction to Mama B, which you’ll see in the podcast, as well as her letting slip that an Awesome baby is on the way! But back to the panel: I think the best part was when a question about Casey and Morgan’s chemistry came up, and Adam decided to run with it. He coyly asked Gomez how Morgan really feels about Casey. Gomez responded that Casey has really soft hands, which had the audience hooting with laughter. The HitFix guys also decided to go for the tough questions and queried Fedak & Schwartz about the fan reaction to Shaw and whether or not Chuck & Sarah will stay together this season. In short: they’ve learned what didn’t work, and Chuck & Sarah apart doesn’t work. They will encounter some bumps in their relationship, as all couples do, but they won’t be calling it quits anytime soon.

And of course, a new JEFFSTER! video with a very funny introduction from Zac and Josh as Chuck and Morgan set a fun tone for the panel. Lester covering Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” was priceless; bless Vik’s heart, he’s a team player!

In the press room, Chris Fedak graciously asked how the podcast was going and said he’s really enjoying the video format. He also queried after Gray, then jokingly said to quit talking about him (Fedak) on the podcast. Naturally now I want to do a Fedak themed episode! In all seriousness, Fedak has been wonderfully supportive of this site and our podcast, and it was nice to get a chance to catch up with him.

It was also nice to catch up with Sarah Lancaster! We ran out of time just when she & Yvonne got to our table last year, so I was excited to see her heading our way with Ryan McPartlin. (In case you wondered: Yvonne Strahovski talked to most of the video outlets, then had to rush back to Los Angeles for her charity event.) The full interview will be in the podcast, so here I’ll just say that both of them are stunning and nice and I’m glad that they’re getting larger storylines so we’ll see more of them on Chuck.

Liz and I were fortunate to have an additional opportunity to talk with some of the Chuck cast, thanks to NBC. We were invited to the NBC Wired party the night before the panel where Zac, Josh, Ryan, Vik, Scott, and Mark stopped by for a while. Ryan startled me by recognizing me immediately and going in for a big ol’ bear hug. Hugs from Captain Awesome! He has such a sunny disposition, it’s always a treat to be around him. This was the first time Liz had met any of them, due to scheduling conflicts at previous events, so there were plenty of introductions and handshakes going around. I suspect her arm was ready to fall off by the end of the night! NBC decided it would be fun to put us on camera with Zac, but the DJ had the music turned up to 11, so I doubt any usable footage can be found. Oh well, we’ll always have the memory of “doing the peacock” with him.

Also at the party were cast members from the new NBC series The Cape, including James Frain which sent me into a bit of a tizzy. We talked at length with Keith Davis, who plays a magician and the mentor of the new superhero. Summer Glau was there, but surrounded by other people, so we didn’t even attempt to talk with her. The cast of Community, sans Joel McHale, also came by for about an hour. (Joel was performing stand-up that night.) We talked with adorable Danny Pudi and Alison Brie, finally earning me some cool points with my younger brother, but forgot to get photos with them (bye bye, cool points). Chevy Chase showed up later in the evening but seemed…distracted. Yvette Nicole Brown was an absolute sweetheart. Donald Glover and Gillian Jacobs were also making the rounds, but we kept missing them.

And finally, there was the Second Annual ChuckTV.net Fan Gathering! It was a low-key event with about 15 people making the trek out to our hotel to hang out on the terrace, eat some chicken wings and Chuck Season 4! cake, and chat about the show and the Comic Con experience. Warner Bros. donated copies of Chuck on Blu-ray as party favors, which sure was nice of them. One guest, Christopher, came last year as well. He was late but explained that he’d been in Hall H when the stabbing went down! Thank goodness everyone else was safe.

Those are my admittedly still somewhat jetlagged thoughts on this year’s Chuck experience at Comic Con. We still have a few more things on the way, including the podcast, and we already posted a short clip with Matt Bomer from the White Collar press room. Stay tuned!

PHOTOS: Chuck Cast @ Comic Con Parties

In addition to the Chuck panel, the cast and creative team attended several other Comic Con events throughout the weekend (I think Zac & Josh hit eight events on Friday afternoon/evening!), spreading the love. We’re adding photos from the events to our Gallery as they are available. Here’s a sampling:

PHOTOS: Chuck At Comic Con

When we began making plans for Comic Con this year, we decided that we wanted to have our very own photographer to take all the photos we could possibly want of the Chuck gang. Fortunately, Liz’s niece is a photography student who was willing to be bribed into coming along and helping us out. She took nearly 200 amazing photos of the cast at the panel, all available in our Gallery. Mission accomplished.

Also see our photos from the NBC party and Matt Bomer talking about his time on Chuck. More Comic Con coverage is coming in our podcast later this week, complete with interviews from the press room and the ChuckTV.net Fan Gathering. Stay tuned!

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