Adam Baldwin is a Porcupine and Other Chuck News from Comic Con

WARNING: SPOILERS!

Today’s Chuck panel at Comic-Con was a blast! The panel featured Ryan McPartlin, Sarah Lancaster, Joshua Gomez, Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz, but first, we were shown a preview of season 2. It’s going to ROCK! We saw scenes from the first 5 episodes including the already infamous shower fight between Yvonne and Nicole Richie, Sarah’s new undercover uniform (orange tank, white shorts), Chuck being dangled out the window by Michael Clarke Duncan, a cage match at the Buy More, the return of Bryce, Jill’s appearance, and LOTS of Chuck and Sarah. (An abbreviated version is on YouTube.) Here’s a quick rundown of what happened during that all-too-brief hour:

ROMANCE

Josh Schwartz says that they’ll be “owning the love story right out of the gate” this season. Zac embraced Josh Gomez, to the crowd’s delight, then realized Schwartz meant the Chuck/Sarah romance. The moderator asked how the “bromance” between Chuck and Morgan was faring this season. Zac says that it’s strained because Chuck is in his spy world while Morgan is holding down the fort at the Buy More, but it’s still simmering. That flame will never go out, he claims.

Speaking of the other romance, Zac looks at Yvonne and asks, “Isn’t she hot?” The crowd says that yes, she is. Zac then asks Yvonne, “What is our romance like this season?” “Steamy,” she says. Based on the clips we saw before the panel, there is a LOT going on with Chuck and Sarah at the beginning of the season, including a couple of kisses and possibly a real date!

In other romance news, Awesome & Ellie are planning their wedding with Ellie in full “Martha Stewart mode”. Schwartz is planning his own bachelor party and apparently, some of that (and his wedding) will be ending up on the show. Morgan and Anna are also smooching this season. Alas, no smooching for Casey yet. Later a fan went up to the mic and said that Big Mike (Mark Christopher was in the VIP section) wanted to know if he’s getting a love interest.

Schwartz: Is that true?
Mark: OK
Schwartz: Big Mike might be getting a love interest and it might be Morgan’s mom.
Gomez: *gasp* Well, she is a MILF.

Schwartz also revealed that there will be a same-sex kiss this season between two people who were on stage. The cast all started looking at each other, but no one knew who it was going to be.

THE NERD HERD

The Nerd Herders will be regulars this season so we’ll be seeing more of them. Gomez says that the Buy More crew “is up and running…not well.” A new assistant manager is needed, so Jeff and Lester compete for it in a cage match Morgan rigs up (we saw a clip in the preview; so funny!) which is, of course, the best way to choose leadership. Lester wins and rules the Buy More for a while until he can’t hack it, then Emmett Milbridge (Tony Hale) comes in.

Warner Bros. gave away a Nerd Herd mobile, but the lucky winner wasn’t in the panel. Hey, Samuel, if you see this, send us a photo of yourself in your new car!

THE INTERSECT

Schwartz says they’ll deal with the Beta Intersect issue right away. Casey has to “disappear” Chuck, and we’ll see Casey start to develop “a feeling”. Just one.

THE STORY ARC

Something catastrophic happens at the end of the premiere which sets into motion a story arc leading up to an amazing season finale. Each week will have its own villain or crisis to solve, but there is an overarching storyline for the whole season.

GUEST STARS

Zac’s job “does not suck.” He has Jill and Sarah fighting over him and has to make out with Melinda Clarke so far this season. “I don’t write it, but I’m gonna go with it, if I have to.” That Zac, he’s a team player.

Yvonne talked about what is going to be an iconic moment in the series – the shower fight between Sarah and Heather (Nicole Richie). “I enjoyed kicking Nicole’s butt on the show. She kicked my butt, too. You’ll have to watch to see who wins.” This was her first fight scene with water, which she thought was a lot of fun.

There aren’t any plans for Lou to return in the near future, but her deli is still there by the Buy More. Schwartz says that she’s probably still making the Chuck Bartowski, just not making out with Chuck Bartowski.

ADAM IS A PORCUPINE

The crowd was all about Adam Baldwin, of course. A Firefly alum at Comic-Con? As Zac said, Adam could be on the panel by himself speaking gibberish and people would show up. Someone asked if there was a chance that Adam would appear on Dollhouse and he replied, “H*ll no, I’m on Chuck now!” The crowd approved.

More jokes about Adam’s status at Comic-Con had us laughing and cheering, then Adam got serious and thanked the fans for their love and support following him to Chuck. It was very sweet. Gomez voiced what many of us were (sort of) thinking: “Adam’s like a porcupine: prickly so you don’t want to touch him, but inside he’s all soft and cuddly.” That earned a growl from the porcupine, but it sounds like the secret is out.

GOOD QUESTION

The fans had some good questions for the panel. Someone asked how each of the cast would want their character to die. Here’s how they answered:

Ryan: In bed.
Yvonne: In Chuck’s arms. (awwww)
Ryan: No decapitations, because then you can’t come back. I was on a soap, I know.
Sarah: I think I’d want Casey to kill me, he’s a bad*ss.
Gomez: At the arcade.
Zac: All the good ones are taken. And I don’t really sit around thinking about how to die. I’ll say in Sarah’s arms. (awwww)
Adam: In an exploding Crown Vic.

Another fan asked if someone in Chuck’s “real” life would find out about his secret spy life this season.
Zac: No.
Schwartz: You want to bet on that?

Relating back to Adam’s work on Firefly, a fan asked if Casey had any names for his guns.
Adam: I like the name “shiny”. (massive cheers)

Someone wanted to know if Chuck will be going back to college to get his degree. Schwartz says that will be addressed in the first five episodes.

RANDOM CHUCKNESS

Yvonne auditioned for the lead on the Bionic Woman series at the same time she auditioned for Chuck. Schwartz was gleeful about having grabbed her first.

The cast likes to do impressions of each other. Gomez did his impression of Awesome. Ryan claims that he’s working on his impression of Morgan, but has to grow a beard and cut himself off at the knees. Zac did his impression of Yvonne saying no – “Naeiou”.

And that winds up the text portion of our report. We have video and photos to upload, but the Internet connection in the hotel is sloooooow, so it will be a day or two before we get those posted. Also, be on the lookout for contests to win some cool swag we scored to give away to Chuck fans!

Update: Chuck vs. the Podcast Episode 008 with our exuberant report from Comic-Con is now available!