Zac Levi TwitCasts Live from Set Shooting Episode 4.03

Zac shows again why the Chuck cast and crew is the best.  He TwitCasted live from the set twice while shooting episode 3.03 4.03.

SPOILERS!!!!

The first one happened just before I went to bed at approximately 08:30 PM PST:

Clip 1

Imagine my surprise and amazement to find Zac had TwitCasted for a second time around 2:30 AM PST shortly before I woke up!

Talk about your Hard Day’s Night!

Clip 2

Edited to correct episode number. Lou got too excited! ~Mel

D’oh! I keep doing that for some reason! PS – you could have fixed that on the QT! ~ OD

News Round Up: Adam Baldwin, Ryan McPartlin, Anna Wu, & More

Chuck news is starting to trickle in again, getting ready for the deluge that’s sure to come!

• Filming on Chuck season 4 begins Monday, July 19 in L.A. As announced earlier today, the season premiere is Monday, September 20.
• Adam Baldwin and Bonita Friedericy are confirmed to appear at the Fairpoint convention in February 2011. John Billingsley – Bonita’s husband and known for his roles on Star Trek: Enterprise and True Blood – is also confirmed. Farpoint is held in the Baltimore area. For more details and to purchase tickets, visit their website. Thanks to Neil for the head’s up!
• We Love Anna Wu launched a fan-made video game featuring the character that you have to see! Gray scored 6595 points; can you beat that?
• Ryan McPartlin filmed a commercial for the Honda dealership in his hometown of Quincy, IL. “No autographs.” Thanks, Eric!
• The final round of voting in Television Without Pity’s Tubey Awards is upon us! Go vote for Chuck. Thanks, Erica!

Chuck Comic Con 2010 Panel Details

Warner Bros. just released their Comic Con 2010 details, including the scoop on Chuck at this year’s geek fest. The panel will be Saturday, July 24 @ 10AM in Ballroom 20. Confirmed to attend are cast members Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Sarah Lancaster, Ryan McPartlin, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Vik Sahay, and Scott Krinsky, plus co-creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. Alan Sepinwall and Daniel Fienberg from HitFix will moderate the panel.

A “special video presentation” is being touted in addition to the Q&A. They won’t have begun filming season 4 yet, so what could that video be? We will be on hand for both the panel and the press room to bring you all the scoop! Plus, we’re planning another Chuck fan get-together after 2009′s fun evening. In the comments below, please let us know when you’d prefer to meet:

• Thursday evening (7? 8?)
• Friday evening (7? 8?)
• Saturday evening (7? 8?)

For those keeping score at home, yes, 3 (former?) Buy More employees will attend. Also, if you are planning to go to Yvonne’s charity tennis tournament Saturday evening, you have plenty of time to get up to Los Angeles and get in a few practice swings.

T2 Convention Update: Yvonne Out, Zac In?

T2 announced last week that Yvonne Strahovski had to cancel her appearance at the convention due to conflicts with her filming schedule for The Killer Elite:

It is with incredible regret that we must announce that previously advertised guest Yvonne Strahovski will no longer be able to attend. She has been cast in a new film, KILLER ELITE, and the filming clashes with the dates for this event. Yvonne and her management were incredibly helpfull, and did their best to arrange time off filming to attend, but sadly it was not possible. We wish Yvonne the best, and look forward to seeing this film when it comes out, and hope to welcome her to a STARFURY event in the near future.

Bummer, dudes. However, Adam Baldwin and Bonita Friedericy are still on, and there’s a rumor that Zachary Levi may appear as a surprise guest. We know he’s in Europe, and we know he loves the fans, so we think it’s a distinct possibility.

T2 is happening this weekend, June 11-13, at the Thistle Hotel, Heathrow. For more information, including additional guests, visit the T2 website.

PHOTOS: Chuck Season Finale

NBC posted photos from the Chuck season finale for us to examine. Not a lot is given away here, but it does appear that someone is finally in the know about Team Bartowski.

Any clues about what’s happening here, Chucksters? These are from the final episode, “Chuck vs. the Ring: Part 2″, so it’s the final hour of season 3. By all appearances Ellie has found out about her brother’s secret life.

Chuck Takes WonderCon!

A Chuck convention experience pretty much defies description. The cast and creative team are always incredibly entertaining and mingling with other Chuck fans promotes a lovely sense of community. I wondered how they’d top last year’s JEFFSTER! appearance at Comic Con, but they did it. This year at WonderCon, the 2000 or so Chuck fans in attendance got to see what was originally the season 3 finale, “Chuck vs. the Other Guy”, a day before it aired on NBC, and it was amazing.

We’ve been asked not to spoil anything, simply to spread the word that tomorrow’s episode is a must see, and that I can say without equivocation. Action? Check. Humor? Check. Drama? Check. Romance? Check. It’s a Chuck episode that will not be watched passively. There will be cheering and awwwing and chortles and guffaws and YEAHS! and OMGs! aplenty. Even if you watch it by yourself. But you know what? Zachary Levi told us that the next episode, “Chuck vs. the Honeymooners”, is even better. The two week hiatus is going to be torture!

Now that the episode talk is out of the way, how about a report on the rest of the Chuck goodness today? Warner Bros. invited me to cover the press room and interview Chris Fedak, Zachary Levi, Joshua Gomez and Adam Baldwin, which is always a treat. We’ll have the videos up in our next podcast, so let me just hit some of the highlights.

• Adam was engaging in technology along with the rest of us, filming and taking photos with his phone.
• Zac revealed that they get a NO SPOILERS warning on every script, and for the finale they didn’t even get the last four pages until right before filming.
• Addressing the fans who were upset with some of what happened earlier this season, Zac once again promised that it would all make sense. He can relate, as a fan of Lost. By the way, Zac is a Jack/Kate ‘shipper.
• We informed Zac that “Charah” is totally passe and now it’s “Walkertowski.” ‘Shipper duty done.
• Adam joked that Casey and Sarah might share an air-kiss, then confessed that he actually hugs “others”. Josh then admitted that there is an “indavertent embrace”, which Zac had to top by reminding everyone that he’s kissed Adam. Good times.
• There was some sweet discussion about Chuck‘s place in pop culture and the show’s legacy. Josh said that when he gets recognized, it’s always with “joy”, not just “oh, that guy’s on TV”, which clearly touched him.
• Zac made Adam blush by telling him he looked good in a “Big Mike” suit.
• Adam’s niche is the “funny thug.”
• Chris said that the first 13 episodes this season were really about the Chuck/Sarah relationship. The back 6 episodes will focus more on the spy stuff and the Bartowski family.
• Asked if the finale was written as a season finale or a series finale, Chris said he likes to write a finale “as a prologue, not an epilogue.” In other words, he wants the story to continue off screen, even if we don’t get to see it.
• Because they already had one season finale (3.13) written before learning that they had another six episodes, they essentially got to have two season finales in one season. Chris reiterated that no one is safe.

After talking to us, the guys headed to another part of the room where the camera crews were set up for some of the bigger shows, like E! News. Thanks to Zac’s publicist, I was able to stick around and get some cool soundbytes for Chuck: Declassified, and see Zac strap on a pregnancy pad. Yeah, the gag he started about having Josh Gomez’s baby to get a fourth season? They’re working that and it is hilarious! Video should be forthcoming from E!, but I also snagged a photo and some video of them goofing off (and Adam Baldwin filming it himself).

Following the screening of episode 3.13 (again, WATCH IT!), the guys all came out on stage to talk about the show and answer some questions. Because we’d just seen the episode, there are some spoilers in the discussion so the video will have to be embargoed until Tuesday. Here are some non-spoilery highlights:

• The inevitable “tell us about pranks on set” question came up, which Josh answered with, “I play the prank where I pretend I don’t know my lines.” Adam said that Yvonne’s prank “is flatulence,” which brought a lot of laughs. Somehow that led to a discussion of the book Everyone Poops. Seriously, these things are indescribable!
• An old friend of Zac’s was in the audience, so they had a nice catch up moment.
• Chris clarified that they had already written the first 13 episodes before they got the order for the back six.
• Josh Gomez got huge cheers from the beginning, and many hurrahs for the progression of his character this season. This led to some funny stuff between him and Adam, including a little cuddling, resulting in a new ‘ship – Morgasey. Or Corgan.
• Josh Schwartz said they warned Brandon Routh before he even signed on for the role of Shaw to beware the wrath of the fans.
• Josh Schwartz and Chris both acknowledged the fan upset about “Chuck vs. the Mask.”
• Zac reminded us to watch Chuck LIVE. He then suggested that perhaps we need to figure out how to hack Nielsen.
• Nathan Fillion is not guest starring. Yet.
• Speaking of guest stars, Zac and Josh totally flipped out about Christopher Lloyd coming on the show (episode 3.16). Zac “may or may not call him ‘Doc’ in the episode.”
• The return of Julia Ling brought many cheers. Josh feigned hurt, “She broke my heart!”
• Asked if Casey will return to his fiancee and daughter, Adam tried to sidestep it by saying that often characters brought in so significantly do have some sort of resolution. “Plus we already shot that.” Sneaky!

Good times, as usual. Keep an eye out for more from WonderCon this week, including videos from the press room and the panel.

Chuck Heads to Wondercon!

This just in: Chuck will be at WonderCon! The Chuck Special Presentation and Q&A will be Sunday, April 4, 2:30 – 3:30PM. The event will include a special screening of exclusive footage, plus a Q&A with co-creator/executive producer Josh Schwartz and co-creator/executive producer Chris Fedak and stars Zachary Levi, Joshua Gomez and Adam Baldwin.

Friday Five: Most Memorable Interviews

In the almost three years ChuckTV.net has been around, we’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview all of the regular cast members, most of the supporting cast, several guest stars, writers, directors, the composer, and producers. Today’s topic is a trip down memory lane highlighting my most memorable interviews over the last couple of years.

1. Sarah Lancaster (December 2007) – This was our first interview for the site and Sarah was a delight to talk with. She and I are native Kansans, which allowed for instant bonding, and she was so excited to talk about the show. When we spoke with her, Chuck had been granted a full season, but the writers’ strike was underway, so no one knew how that was going to play out. Looking back at the questions and answers more than two years later reminds me what hooked me on the show in the first place. (This was pre-podcast, and Liz & I didn’t know how to record things for posting on the Interwebz yet, so this interview is text only.)
2. Tim Jones (February 2008) – Gray’s interview with Chuck composer Tim was the first time I’d heard someone talk about what goes into making music for a television show. Since then I’ve learned to recognize certain pieces of the score as themes for characters and situations which adds to the richness of the experience. On top of that, Tim’s just an all around nice guy and we’ve enjoyed keeping up with him over the years. (Listen to the interview here.)
3. Rally Time – 16 Cast & Creative Team Members (April 2009) – I know, this is more than one interview, but what list is complete without it? With less than a week until the season and possibly series finale aired, we pulled together 16 interviews with the cast and creative team of Chuck to thank fans for their renewal efforts and tell them why they should watch the finale. It was a crazy few days, especially watching Gray conduct several of the interviews and put together the final product.
4. Comic Con (July 2009) – Another compilation of interviews, this time celebrating the upcoming third season. We were in the press room at Comic Con in San Diego, face to face with the cast and producers. It’s one thing to talk to these folks on the phone, wearing sweatpants and holding a list of questions to refer to as needed. In person, in a very noisy room, on three hours of sleep? It was pure adrenaline!
5. Vik Sahay (November 2009) – This may be my favorite Chuck interview of all time. At least that I participated in. I was battling a cold and really tired the day we were supposed to talk, and I was worried that the interview would suffer as a result. If anything, it might have been better than if I’d been more prepared. Vik keeps you on your toes, so buzzed on Dayquil and with just a loose outline could be the secret to having a successful interview with this guy.

We’ve had some really terrific interviews with the Chuck gang. This was a lot harder to pare down to five than I expected! If the topic hadn’t occurred to me at 10PM on Thursday, I might have been organized enough to get Liz and Gray’s most memorable five. Perhaps we’ll save that for another Friday.

Happy Birthday, Adam Baldwin!

Today we’re wishing Adam Baldwin a very happy birthday! No one says more with a well-placed grunt. Have a wonderful day, sir!

Friday Five: Things About Casey (SPOILERS)

I had an email recently asking me to reveal something, anything about Casey because this particular fan felt he was getting the short end of the spoiler stick. He has been and likely because Casey hasn’t had a whole lot to do yet this season. Except swoop in to save the day via helicopter, guns blazing. And donate blood to a dictator. But other than that, it’s been a lot of grunts and subtle protection of his team. Today, in honor of Adam Baldwin’s birthday tomorrow, let’s take a look at five Casey-centric things coming up this season.

WARNING: Spoilers ahead!

1. We’ll meet a long-lost “someone” from Casey’s past. (source)
2. Chuck extracts one of Casey’s teeth. (source)
3. Jeff saves Casey from a chokehold. (source)
4. We’ll learn more about Casey’s previous military career. (source)
5. Casey does something so bad, it could cost him his job with the NSA. (source)

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! We’ll be seeing a lot more of Casey as this season continues.

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