ChuckTV.net The CHUCK archive
Following yesterday’s non-announcement by NBC, speculation about why the announcement has been delayed, and when it will come, rivals the “what’s the game changer?” speculation leading up to the season finale. We’ll post Nikki Finke’s spec, since it pretty much sums up what everyone is saying:
Chuck, this gets complicated. Turns out NBC didn’t like David E Kelley’s Warner Bros pilot Legally Mad. Problem is, there’s a $2 million penalty that gets paid to WB if the network doesn’t pick up the show. So NBC is hoping to work a deal tying the renewal of Chuck, which is also a WB show, to a pass on paying that Legally Mad penalty.
Just in case we forgot the “business” part of show business, here’s a reminder. Or, if you’re a glass-half-full person like me, this shows that Chuck has the sort of backing that makes it “leverage” for NBC. As long as they don’t leverage themselves right out of a third season!
Last night’s online screening of “Chuck vs. the Colonel” seems to have gone over well, considering the short notice. Next week the plan is to screen “Chuck vs. the Ring” at 8PM EST on Monday, spread the word. And don’t forget to enter the Watch/Buy/Share/Write/WIN! giveaway if you haven’t already – the deadline is tonight at 11:59PM PST.
And now, some words of support from Chuck from two of the show’s youngest fans:
interesting… using chuck to get out of another show. But for me as long as we get chuck back for a third season i’m good. Might have to end up watching it on hulu for the first part of the season, depending on the day, thanks to class.
Still holding out for the good news.
So would it be appropriate to contact the WB and express our desire to see CHUCK renewed?
No, they are well aware of the fan interest in the show, and of course it’s good for their bottom line to keep a show in production as long as a network wants it. At this point it appears to be down to the number crunchers to sort out the mess of this “Legally Mad” business. Our goal right now is to keep letting NBC know that we want more Chuck.
Considering how long this wait is going to take, you people should really considering adding to the site one of those coutdown thingies that let you know how many days, hours, minutes and seconds are left to a given date. Set it to March the 19th and there you go, now we can obsess over every passing hour and shout at the clock for not going fast enough.
At this point I’m starting to get really anxious. It’s not just the renewal, it’s the time slot, the nr. of episodes… geez, where are my calm pills? Oh wait, I have none…
Just another pawn in someone else’s game of Chess…not unlike CHUCK himself.
Are you kidding me a network fighting over 2 million when they paid how much for the olmypics. Seems NBC has over paid in other areas and trying to make it up here.
Thank you for the update. I’ve been hitting F5 (refresh) on all the Chuck websites hoping for a bit of news. I hear what you are saying Odrep. Either way, I went to subway this morning and heard more than one person talking about Chuck but had to leave quickly (they were out of suggestion cards).
Did my part – Bought season 1 and 2 on Amazon live demand HD and bought a BuyMore Green polo from NBC. Now to watch on Hulu and NBC next Monday at 8pm Est.
May 19… way too far away :(.
After Nikki Finke’s weekend near-guarantee of a pick-up announcement, I’m hesitant to trust her on this, but she does have excellent sources and a decent track record on the inside industry stuff. Fingers crossed.
Also, excellent point, FullMetalJacket. We are all Chucks now.
FullMetalJacket, no matter how much passionate and devoted we are to a TV show, it’s all just a business for the companies involved in its production. As long as it’s profitable, it stays. When it doesn’t, it goes. That’s jsut the way it is.
When all is said and done, I just hope NBC doesn’t make the abomination of putting Chuck on Friday night. That slot is a freakin wasteland and the show will be struggling for small crumbs, possibily dying at the end of the season.
Chuck needs a FAIR shot at improving its ratings. Putting it on Fridays is just slapping all the fan campaigns in the face.
And Keith, 2 million is still alot of money, EXPECIALLY if there’s a chance you can keep them to yourself.
No one like to pay a ticket, and will avoid it if they can (who never tried to talk a cop out of filling one on the road?) that’s just human behaviour
I can’t really say this explanation surprises me. NBC has gotten itself into a major mess (again). How long has it been since David E. Kelley has had anything on TV? It has to been a long time?? NBC seems to be repeating the same mistake over & over. Now they have to dig themselves out yet again. Desperate people do desperate things (think Leno 5 nights a week).Wouldn’t it be nice if some company like Nestle (owner of candy nerds)would be a sponsor? That is the owner of brands like Purina pet foods & Nestle foods. LOTS of opportunies for product placements. Let’s just keep our fingers, legs, arms, & eyes crossed.
Hey Chuck fans, in the words of Chuck to Captain Awesome, “Don’t freak out. You can handle this. Tell me that you can handle this delay in NBC’s announcement about Chuck. I need you to be Awesome. Can you be Awesome?” Keep up the Chuck chatter. Tell others to watch Chuck on Hulu, NBC Rewind and next Monday night. Let’s make our voices heard!
Hi,
I just wanted to chime in and say “Oh my goodness” at the two videos. Can you get any cuter? I nearly had tears in my eyes watching them. How could NBC resist? They must be boycotting YouTube, CNN, the Chuck fan sites and all the critics right now, or they wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.
I do think it will be renewed — it’s like a bargaining for a used car. Even if you really want it, you pretend you don’t so the seller will drop their price or throw in added goodies. When it comes down to it, if it’s only about dollars and cents Warner Bros. can come in at the 11th hour and drop the Legally Mad penalty or throw in other enticements.
Let’s keep up the noise, but also don’t worry too much.
Cheers,
Gray.
Well, this does give us a clue towards some of the backstage drama of, “Chuck vs the NBC Renewal.” I hope that it will be resolved favorably. I haven’t been as emotionally invested in the television program in many years, and as engaged in participating in the fan activities designed to help save a favorite show. Thanks for keeping us informed.
Damn NBC! I tired of this.. I want an announcement that says: “Chuck picked up for a full 3rd season”.. They pick up crappy shows like Southland and medical dramas that we already have enough of. But not a show with the most loyal fanbase there is.. This is just ridiculous.. Stop the damn waiting game just give us a third season.. I haven’t cared for a show like I do for this one.. And I’m a major TV-Geek, I watch around 15 Shows… And the only one i really care about is still not safe.. 🙁
Gray, I agree with you that Chuck is most likely returning next season, and btw your old car metaphor is spot on. Yet, it’s the time slot that has me worried. I know this is the “Chuck “Renewal Campaign” and technically, once Chuck is renewed, it’s mission accomplished, but if they put it on Fridays, we better start the new renewal campaign right away because it’ll be Chuck Vs. The Realms Of Death on that night
As I said in another post, that would be really lame from NBC, considering our massive campaign and the fact that Chuck never really have a fair chance to proove it’s worth. Yet sadly, that event is not as unlikely as I would like it to be.
poorly structured text. Sorry, it’s getting late in here…
Oh my god! If Chuck is cancelled I will die! It is my favorite show and has been since the first episode of season 1 and I have bought season one and am about to buy season two! If NBC cancels Chuck I will be über-angre. But Global will still have it. But that does not change anything! All of my apps on my iPhone have something to do with Chuck, my screen lock is Chuck and all of my pages up on it browser are Chuck-related. I will wright a strongly worded letter to NBC if they cancel Chuck. I always make random Chuck quotes and I would just cry if Chuck got cancelled and fight to get it back. Chuck must stay.
You’re right Odrep! I get the feeling that whatever the outcome, wherever Chuck lands in the schedule, we’ll all be doing this again. But this time we’ll be geared up from the beginning with a lot of lead time to work with. We can make a difference, business not withstanding. Keep the faith.
They really need to renew Chuck. That show is better than some the “reality” crap that all the networks keep pushing! At least it is a good fun show! NBC does not have a whole lot that gives the other networks any good competition but Chuck was a definitely a good show at the 7:00 slot on Monday!
You got that right Agent 86. Just like Bryce Larkin said so long ago: “The Future Belongs to The Geeks.” and if there’s anything Chuck fans have proven by now, is that us Chuck Geeks have some of the most creative minds ever to grace grassroot campaigns to save tv shows. We know how to play this game and as long as we have the tools to do it, I’m positve we will play it better and better by inventing new ways to support Chuck.
Chuck being used as leverage to get ot of a $2m penalty? I can’t decide if I’m happy that Chuck seemingly commands enough value to be used in this way, or if I’m sad that this is delaying and possibly jeopardizing its renewal.
oh my jesus.
that little boy is my hero.
haha.
i love his kung-fu.
he could totally be Levi’s doublt.
I would love to watch it online at NBC.com but the site NEVER works on my computer when watching any kind of video on there. It constantly stops and starts and I can barely go two minutes without it pausing for at least five. What can I do to fix this?
Man…straddling the line for two million dollars…Seeing how sticky Chuck’s renewal is turning out to be, I almost feel like starting a “Save Chuck by donating five dollars each for the penalty fee” campaign. The fans are doing a heck of a lot of work anyway…
Not to say that NBC is lazy or anything. I understand that they lost one of their execs and that (like most things in life) their jobs run off the money they make. 2 million isn’t exactly a sneeze.
Oh well, I’m looking forward to a long headache until May 19th. Hopefully they come up with a solution sooner than then.
Viva la Chuck.
i think chuck will be renewed and hopefully for full season not just 13 episodes. you never know we could get lucky and all this waiting could come out with a 26 episode season of chuck. Bring on the 19th and then September (depending if we get a 3rd season(which we will)).
Viva Buymoria
I also thing the renewal will happen. Remember what big mike said, The power of positive thinking.
What I have read on-line, there talk when chuck is renewed it will not come back on a Monday night, but another evening.
Viva Buymoria
The other numbers NBC should look at to see how many people watch Chuck is the music downloaded from iTunes. I love the music they use in the show and have down loaded 80 songs used in the show. I know which episodes these songs were used in and when listening I can picture the scene in the show.
I think this is another way to support Chuck and also get introduced to a lot of good talent out there.
@ Kevin Wigmore,
That’s an excellent point, Kevin. I remember when the WB was still an actual network they used to had little clips at the ends of their shows that had a picture of an album cover and either a) actually said the name of an artist and song that had been featured in the episode or b) said something like, “Liked the music in tonight’s episode? Check out [insert website here] to learn more about these artists/songs!” I’ve been thinking for awhile that a similar approach would work well on Chuck, because it does have such awesome music.
@Grace and Kevin Wigmore
Thething is that the money paid for iTunes downloads goes to the label that own the songs. WB pays those labels to have the songs on the show (if they don’t own them already through the Warner Music Group) and then sell the show to NBC who has nothing to do with the soundtrack. That said, they couldn’t care less for download numbers as they don’t get a cent from those. WB on the other hand could have some interest in advertising their own songs to get people to download them, but an advertisement at the end of the show like Grace says will only happen if WB pays for it or sells Chuck at a cheaper price and considering own cheap the music business is becoming vs. how expensive a few seconds are on primetime television, I think there’s no chance they’ll even consider that.
To tie the renewel of Chuck to a pilot is crazy. It is really sad what the powers that be will do to get their way.
On the flipside, David E Kelly is talented with the likes of Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, The Practice and Boston Public I am surprised Legally Mad is something that they don’t like. Hopefully Mr. Kelly can make revisions that are successfully because to put Chuck in jeopardy like this is just plain cruel!
Oh well…at least this makes us understand Chuck more! We fans waiting for renewal is like Chuck waiting for Sarah! ;o)
@ Odrep, Grace and Kevin Wigmore
If the WB music owns most of these rights to the songs then they are making money from this. Without Chuck as the catalyst for their music, people would not be downloading them (I know I have not heard 7/8 of these songs before). It all adds to the big picture which is Chuck. WB will have to look at these numbers and the exposure their music is getting from Chuck not just in the United States but worldwide and maybe sell the show to NBC cheaper to increase their music side. That’s what Grace I think was trying to say and I was trying to say the NBC could get a snapshot of who is watching Chuck from these downloads every week.
If NBC wnats to play games how about a pledge to boycott Jay Leno 9 pm show if they cancel chuck.
@Kevin Wigmore
NBC doesn’t need to track how the music in the soundtrack is doing at iTunes downloads to know how much a show is watched. That’s what Nielsen ratings and tracking of online steamings are for. When you’re doing statistics you want to measure the most unbiased source avaliable to get the right picture of what you’re studying. Tracking how a song does on iTunes after the airing of a show has alot of bias to it, specially if you go worldwide, because there is a huge array of factors that can make someone download a song, other than watching it on one TV show. Nielsen ratings on the other hand are simple, pure and much more accurate. NBC knows very well how their show is doing, that’s not a problem.
WB on the other hand does profit from the promotion of their own songs on a TV show so in theory yes, it is profitable for them to do so. But when you say they should sell the show cheaper or pay NBC some seconds of primetime to advertise it, you have to remind that the music business is shrinking by the minute as people more and more get their music free from P2P software. In the old days it was profitable to advertise in such a way as most people actually bought music. Nowadays the income WB could get from playing their music on Chuck (that, let’s be honest, doesn’t have huge ratings to brag about) isn’t quite enough to make them consider lowering the price to NBC or paying primetime seconds to advertise websites where you can download those songs. That’s not where the real $$ lie, it’s crumbs for WB in the big numbers.
Odrep, you seem to know quite a lot about the business side of Entertainment. Thanks for the insight! I have been wondering how it all connects. Can you also give me an idea of how Nielson ratings work? I don’t understand them at all.
@Springwagon
Lol, no problem at all. Actually I’m more at home with the music business than the television one since that’s where I work. But once you understand some concepts it’s really just the same.
Well the Nielsen system exists to give networks, advertisers and the people in general an idea of what the American population is watching at a given time through statistic calculation. Since it’s impossible to data-record what every single household is watching, a sample is created by having a representative (of the american population) number of individuals install a Nielsen box at their house that records what they are watching in every time slot and sends that information to Nielsen HQ who proceeds to put the information togheter and do the statistic calculations.
One thing that is important to understand about the Nielsen ratings is that altough preety much every age is represented in the sample, only the viewers on the age of 18 to 49 matter to advertisers as that’s the age period when people are affected by advertisements, have money to spend and free liberty to do it. And because advertisers pay for tv shows, tv networks really only look at those numbers as they want to make advertisers happy 😉 Bottom line, most Nielsen sites only bother to report the 18-49 ratings and the 18-34 ratings as that’s where the juicy bits are.
So but the most important thing to ask is, what’s with those numbers? Well, the numbers represent a “rating/share” index. For example, at the Chuck finale, it had a 2.5/7 index. This means that on averange, 2.5% of televisions are turned in a program (any), and out of those, 7% were watching Chuck. For simplicity’s sake, the raw number of people watching the show is usually placed at the side of the index, expressed in millions of viewers.
Also, it’s important to know that while the first results to be released don’t take into account DVR viwership, more solid ones are released later and take those some DVR viwership into account so the ratings part of the index can always go up alittle (usually happens with Chuck btw). It’s also important to notice that advertisers tend to frown alittle at DVR viwership because people tend to fast-foward commercials.
And that’s preety much it. It does get more complicated, but as someone who just wants to know how your favorite show is doing in the ratings, that’s all you need to know. If you really want to know more, one link I can give you is
http://tvbythenumbers.com/demystifying-the-s.
Hope that helps, anything else just ask 😉
Springwagon, upon re-readying my post I noticed a mistake. Sorry, it’s getting really late in here, my ears buzz from well… working and I didn’t notice until after I posted. So here’s concerning the rating/share thing:
Remember the 2.5/7 for Chuck, this means that out of all the people who have Nielsen boxes (again, a sample of American population), 2,5% of all households were watching Chuck, but if you take into account only the households who had their tv on at the time, 7% of those were watching Chuck. Actually both numbers tell you the same thing but in a different way, so you can analyse either one. For some reason, the rating is what’s more oftenly reported in America, while in some countries where I’ve been to (like my own Portugal) it’s the Share that gets reported, so it really is up to you.
Sorry for all that mess. Reading my previous statement really makes no sense, everything else is correct tough.
Off to sleep now 😉
Well done, Odrep! I think I understand now! Have a good sleep!
The thing is, I know showbiz is after all a business, and if the show does not prove to be profitable, they just won’t do it… So I don’t think that 10,000 prayers will be heard if the advertisers won’t pay for it.
What I’m totally against is leaving shows like this one, in a “to be continued” state, and then cancel it. Why don’t they make a 1 hour special wrapping everything up? That way, if the show isn’t profitable for another whole season, at least they give it some closure… Same thing happened with Las Vegas, Journeyman, which were great shows, loved by their audience, but non-profitable… They just left them hangin’…
@focculare
There really is no other option to it. The problem is that there’s a big gap between the shooting of an episode and its airing on television. For instance, from what I’ve heard here and there, I think the finale was made around the second half of March, to be aired at the end of April, and the script must be finished way before that so you can go for 2 months of time difference between starting to produce an episode and its airing, at the minimun. In February or something, there was absolutely no idea about the chances a show has to return next season (ok, if the ratings suck badly or are amazing there is, not the case here.) so what do the writers do? Cut all the loose strings, wrap up every bit of story arc and prepare for a possible cancelation? Or don’t cave in to outside pressure, plan things the way they were supposed to go and have the cliffhanger that creates seamless interest i a possible next season?
For the sake of coherence, seamless narration and the show’s premise, having a “to be continued” screen is much better that ending all story arcs and if the series is renewed, make up something new that deviates completely from the show’s past. Obviously the best way would be to have the execs call the producers of the show close to the end of the season and go “hey, I just want to let you know that we’re going to cancel your show next season so if you want to cut all loose strings and leave everything tidy for a finale, now’s the time start.”, but as you can see, it can take months for a network to make up its mind when it comes to reweals so it just can’t happen.
And I know I post alot, but I do have a life. I just have the luck to work close to a computer and be able to do things at my own rythm… which until 19th of May shall continue to be… very slowly
@Odrep
Yeah, I totally know what you mean, but take Farscape for example… they canceled it, and a bit later they came up with an hour and half ‘movie/tv special’ to wraps things up. That could be the way to go for some shows. Of course it’s not going to be profitable, but after all, when your business caters for the needs of the viewers, I think the least we’re entitled for is a decent ending. When you go to some restaurant and something’s wrong with your food, they normally cook you another plate (which lowers profits for that particular meal), but the motto of every business is ‘customer goes first’, and in this particular tv series case, we as viewers are the final customers.
So if a show gets canceled, so be it, but the TV networks also have to be aware that leaving a show hanging, speaks bad of them.
This waiting is really getting to me. Has anyone heard anything at all in the last few days. I know with all the real problems in the world this probably seems silly to a lot of people to get so upset over the change that CHUCK might get canceled, but that is why it is so upsetting. For an hour each Monday night you can forget all the bad stuff that is going on in your life or in the world, and just totally enjoy and lose yourself in this wonderful show. It has to be the fastest hour on TV. I was so anxious for Season 2 of CHUCK to start because the first season was so awesome, I counted the days. It will be so totally sad if they do not renew this show that has touched so many peoples hearts and lives. If NBC does not renew CHUCK I for one am done with NBC.
@Focculare
Yeah, the movie to end the series is an interesting concept. Firefly also got the same treatment and the Jericho producers are working on a movie too. Altough I don’t have a clue of the numbers, I’m under the impression that it’s somehow easier to get a movie released than to keep a tv series on the air, so I can see more and more producers turning to featured film to give a conclusion to their canned series.
You made a nice metaphor about the meal at the restaurant, it’s actually preety spot on, but you got the relations right. Us, tv watchers, are not the costumers at the restaurant, those are the ones who actually pay for television, the advertisers. We are more like the let’s say… flavor of the dish, the better it tastes, the more the advertisers will like it. And if they don’t, as you say, the network takes it away and makes a new one. Yeah, costumers first, but what’s awfull about tv is that those who consume the products aren’t the costumers as they don’t pay for it.
That said, you did get it right that leaving a show hanging speaks bad for a network, but only if people are going to care. Shows like Firefly, Jericho, Chuck, maybe Farscape (never really followed the series) are shows with alot of fandom and a certain cult status that will get a big bunch of lousy people screaming their hearts out and creating lots of bad publicity for the network for being such a backstabbers, this may get the networks more interested in actually putting down some money to help produce a featured film to end the story. On the other hand, these movies relly almost entirely on the fandom of a show and if said fandom is too small to be noticable, no one’s gonna think about a movie.
In the end, the featured film issue is all just the same as the tv show renewal/cancellation game, only in a different scale. If a show has good ratings, keep it. If a show has bad ratings but a very dedicated and vocal fanbase, either give it a second chance, get a great deal from the producer company or can it and study the possibility of having a featured film. If a show has bad ratings and no one talks about it, just can it and silently slip in under the rug. As far as I can see, the only factor that can break this equation is if the producers of the show actually break away from the network and try to find an independent sponsor for a straight-to-DVD release or something, judging how Uwe Boll can finance so many horrible films that way, I’m guessing anyone can…
Second paragraph:
“You made a nice metaphor about the meal at the restaurant, it’s actually preety spot on, but you got the relations *wrong*.”
Why do I always forget to proof-read… sorry about that.
I’m with Pat on the stress level thing. I have become so involved with the show that it is hard enough to imagine going all summer with no contact, let alone giving it up altogether. My husband was teasing me saying “Chuck has changed you!”. But really, it has. Although I think maybe the Save Chuck campaign has had the most impact on me. How incredible to see other people so motivated to share their opinions and their desire to keep a show going. I really, really hope that NBC et al hear us and make the effort to bring on season 3. Because in the end, no matter how Odrep explains it, TV is really there for the viewer!
I second that opinion Springwagon, Chuck and the Chuck Renewal campaign have really hit the right spot for me too. I loved Jericho and I didn’t want to have it canned, but I never got along with the peanuts campaign since it was so pointless, what were they going to do with tons of peanuts? Sell them on the street to finance the show? Where’s the point? The Chuck Renewal campaign is playing the game right and I’m 95% sure that it’ll pay off in some days as we’ll get our 3rd season. And even yet, what’s more important is the show itself. I have a good life, I’m doing what I like to do and can do it the way I want to, I’m happy, but life isn’t always so awesome and that’s where Chuck really fills in as it’s the only hour on the week where I can turn on my TV, set my sound system properly, make my favorite juice and have an hour of extremely quality time where I watch a show with huge ammounts of quality in it and that, as the ending credits roll by, leaves me with a much lighter soul than when I started watching.
Bottom line, I need Chuck to make my life happier and lighter on a weekly basis and I’ll be damned before I let it go easily!
“a much lighter soul than when I first started watching” – now that’s a quotable quote. Just finished watching “Chuck vs the Helicopter” with the family. My daughter spent a little time hiding under the desk when Sarah was captured, and when Casey was chasing Chuck, but for most of it she was dancing up and down on the couch and the rest of us were having a blast! At the end, we all felt just as you said, lighter in the soul. It’s good medicine for hard times.
I like what’s happening with this Have a Heart campaign too. Think I’ll mosey on over and see how it’s going.
Ahahahha that’s a good one with your daughter, I’m so inviting my friends and their kids over when the second season starts here. That sounds like priceless laughing material.
The have a Heart campaign is really great, it really doesn’t do much of a difference on the negociations to renewal Chuck, but it does create more buzz on the show and it serves a noble cause. A television show may not be the most important thing in the world by far, but when you tie it to such a campaign, it gets a whole different meaning. Man I’m proud of the Chuck fanbase!
@Odrep
You’re right, the real customers are the ones who pay for the show, and those ar the sponsors, the advertisers, the thing is this guys will just go for the numbers of the show (I kknow I would if I were at their position), after all, they’re only doing their job. Nothing we can do on that end.
@Everyone
I was watching the CNN interview and the ratings thing is very interesting, because, take me for example, I don’t live in the US, I started watching Chuck about 2 months ago, and I downloaded every single episode from the net.. of course I know this is illegal, but man you have to look at those numbers too.
The advertisers not only make commercial spots, but also product placement within the show (which IMHO is a better sell than the other ones). So well… they should make their homework. I’ve seen tons of stuff placed on the show: Mcaffe antivirus, Subway, Toyota of course, and maybe a couple of dozen more.
I didn’t pay for the cable, and I didn’t watch the show the day it was aired for the first time so I’m not in the statistics, I’m not in the ratings, but after all I did watch the episode -no matter when- and the advertisers got what they wanted, for me to notice their product.
Just antoher thought…