The Chicago Tribune‘s Mo Ryan, who we met and fangirled at Comic Con, visited the set of Chuck as production on season 3 began yesterday. Because she’s a fan herself, she couldn’t help but share some tidbits from the set:
OK, here are some facts about the season premiere of “Chuck” and some overall themes for the new season. Check out now if you don’t want to know:
*The title of the season premiere is “Chuck vs. the Pink Slip” and it was written by Fedak and Matt Miller.
Zachary Levi & Ali Adler on the first day of Season 3 proCHUCKtion / photo from Ali Adler
*On Wednesday, the day before shooting began on Season 3, Zachary Levi showed up at the NBC party at the TCA press tour with a full-on Old Testament beard. You may think he had to shave it Thursday morning before he began work on “Pink Slip.” No, he did not. The beard has been worked in to the season premiere; it’ll appear for at least part of the episode.
*Levi’s wardrobe for the episode included an old grey T-shirt, a bathrobe, a baseball cap and sunglasses. The phrase “vagrant Serpico” was used by one character to describe his look.
*The Buy More is still part of Season 3. But it was a very different place, much more locked down and tidied up, and on all the flat screens in the store, a very ominous film loop was playing: a black and white clip of Joseph Stalin reviewing troops in Red Square. Dun-dun-dun!
*The reason for the grim mood in the Buy More? The reign of terror implemented by Emmett Milbarge. Yes, Tony Hale, who plays Milbarge, will once again recur in Season 3. And as we know, he’s not the “see no evil” manager that Big Mike was. His office is now a much darker, more ominous place, dominated by a giant executive chair and a large “Buy-Moria” flag.
*Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence), the store’s former manager, is still in “purgatory/Hell” on the Buy More sales floor, according to Fedak.
*This is a factoid from the Comic-Con interview, but I thought it was worth mentioning again: Morgan and Chuck are roommates as Season 3 begins.
*I interviewed Adam Baldwin for a separate piece that will run in advance of the new season, and he said that though there’s nothing concrete worked out just yet, the idea of Casey getting a love interest at some point had been bandied about.
*The set of the Orange Orange was in use on Thursday.
*The set of the Castle, the spy headquarters, was in use on Thursday. And it is going to be expanded in Season 3. “You could call it a palace now,” Levi joked.
*Fedak said there are still plans to keep John Casey (Adam Baldwin) in the orbit of the Buy More crew, given that there is so much comedy to be mined from his irritation with the store’s staff. “It’s a lot of fun to have him in that world as the straight man, and it’s great to get his perspective on the Buy More madness,” Fedak said. “John Casey’s been out there for 20 years saving America, now he realizes just what he’s been saving. So it’s tough for him. But this year we’d like to get him in the Buy More even more.”
*How Subway, the “Chuck” advertiser whom fans patronized in an effort to get a new season for the show, will be worked into the new season has not quite been figured out.
*As mentioned in that Comic-Con piece, Chuck’s new abilities, which were glimpsed at the end of Season 2, will not work perfectly in Season 3. The idea in Season 3 is to have Casey and Sarah act not just as Chuck’s protectors but as his “senseis,” or teachers who will help him use his powers effectively. “They’re training him to be the master spy, and their relationships are maturing that way,” Fedak said.
*There are also plans to “deepen the spy characters” to find out, for example, how a soldier like Casey ended up becoming a spy. And we’d also find out more about what Sarah and Casey have done in their espionage careers. “Spies are people who go to other countries and commit criminal acts. So with Casey and Sarah, it’s always interesting to see what they’ve done in their past, and find out how grey or interesting or duplicitous they’ve been,” Fedak said.
*Fedak said specifically that I should say he refused to comment in any way on the Cheese Balls.
Read more from Mo, including Josh Schwartz commenting on the fan reaction to the “will they or won’t they” Charah relationship, at the Chicago Tribune.
wow great spoilers! i love the “deepen the spy histories” angle….
i’ve written in the forum a while back about how, in the pilot and ep2, alot was made of sarah’s spy past, but was dropped for the rest of the show to date. how she killed many people, and poisoned a room full of people, how casey is a “murderer… cold school”, etc… you’d expect violence like that to have effects in the future (revenge plots against agent walker and/or casey), and i thought that would make for much of the show’s episodes. but that wasn’t the case in seasons 1 and 2.
but now in season 3, we should see some of that. yay!
Wow even though season 3 is a while away it’s good to get some news from the chuck set even though is it getting ruined for me to watch instead of listen but I’m to interested in finding out what’s going to happen with Chuck and Sarah will they break up for sure or will they ever get married and stay spies
I know your woes. Both Hulu and the NBC website seem to hate us (though I haven’t the slightest idea why). I bought season 1 and pre-ordered season 2, but if you don’t have the dvds then the only place that really shows Chuck is citytv.com …
Even then, streaming is pretty slow…and I think they removed the Chuck episodes…
Anyhow, good luck. I’m still searching for a good, not-shady-looking site. If I find one, I’ll make sure I go bonkers posting the link wherever the internet will allow me.
if you have a bittorrent client like vuze (azureus) then you can download the entire season or individual episodes. it’s how i keep up with top gear, since i’m in not in the UK
I’m a fellow canadian and well, getting reruns of Season 2 (which I missed since I’m a late adopter, bought the DVD, fell in love with the show and well agent WAlker 😉 )
If you live in Quebec, ZTele will be starting season 2 (in french) starting on August 25th. If you aren’t, well you can do as I did and sort of *hacked* your way through Hulu and watch episode there. They are missing most of the first half of season 2 but I read somewhere that those will be available by saterday of this week.
If you want to get access to hulu from here, well, the keyword I have for you is “hotspot shield”.
Some of the rumors I have heard in the last 24 hours shed a new light on this season. Josh is not going to hold back in case the show is cancelled, he is going to give us everything. That is why they said it would be really good for Charah. I have heard that they will actually need a fresh story arc next year because they are going to run the season to a successful conclusion.
Just in email conversations with two bloggers, one is kind of an insider and not willing to say much so I can’t say what will happen with any certainty, but at comic con Josh apparently talked about just putting everything out and not holding back and also he hinted at the resolution for Chuck and Sarah, some kind of deeper level of their relationship. He mentioned that to the crowd as well, with the ‘really good’ line.
But rumors are rumors. I kind of appreciate the positive rumors…I also read more into Ali’s little video message than some.
Oh, I love this show to bits. There’s so much fun to be had!
But…*lowers voice* Levi’s beard scares the hell out of me. I know he’s free to dress/shave however he likes but I will be so relieved when it’s gone. Chuck is such a fun-loving guy—the beard makes him look a little weary/aged-beyond-his-time.
—Anyway, I’m glad to see everything seems to be running smoothly for them. I’d love to see more about Casey. Sarah’s gotten a bit more of the spotlight due to her love-you/love-you-not romance with Chuck, so I think it’s only fair they toss the ball to John for a while.
@dave – try this website http://hotspotshield.com/
I participate in the strahotski.com forums and according to some of the users outside of the US, this software connects by VPN and uses an US ip. Good luck!
Chuck’s beard simply HAS to go sometime early during the first episode of season 3. With all due respect, part of Chuck’s lovability is his clean shaven, handsome face. If Chuck picks up new female viewers due to his handsomeness, and they watch only to find that he has a beard all of a sudden! Well then I don’t know… they might be sent away by that. I would be lying if I said that I would stop watching Chuck just because of the beard. Cause I love Chuck. But itll be funner for me to watch with a cute, clean shaven Chuck. 🙂
Like the rest of you, I’ve been watching closely for news of season 3. Now the game has completely changed. Forget Charah. Forget the Buy More. Now I need more info on the Cheese Balls. Damn you Fedak, cut the fans a break and spill some news!
Hey folks. They’re going to keep giving conflicting signals regarding Chuck and Sarah. One week you’ll here how things will be more complicated. You’ll hear about “love trapezoids,” etc., etc. The next week you’ll hear something completely different. REMEMBER – the season premier is still 200 days away – over SIX MONTHS.
They’re going to keep lobbing bombs with all kinds of mixed signals to keep everyone interested in the web sites, blogs, etc. If all they came out and said was “this is how it’s going to be,” then how many of us would keep checking this and other sites regularly for new little tid bits of information.
They know what they’re doing. Just remember, when you hear talk like “they’re afraid they might get canceled so they’re going to put everything on the table – so thta looks good for Chara,” don’t forget Season 2. They were saying the same kind of stuff. We’re going to pull out all the stops, etc. Not that Season 2 wasn’t great, but there was no “final resolution” with anything. And remember,when they were shooting the last episode of Season 2, they didn’t know whether or not there would be a Season 3.
If they want to keep us die hards from going beserk, they’ll move the Chuck/Sarah thing foward SOMEHOW. Doesn’t mean there won’t be difficulties, etc. But they would have to be absolutely off their collective rockers to return to the “back and forth” and “on again, off again” stuff of Seasons 1 and 2. They built up to a nice “critical point in the relationship” at the end of Season 2. I have confidence, despite the different things they’ll toss out on the blogosphere from time to time, that they’re wise enough to build on that and not go backward.
Keep on Chuckin’ all you Chuckaholics. And peace, all!
I agree with Rick Holy. They need to move Charah forward, not keep it in neutral or move backwards. Nobody wants to see a marriage, they can save that
for a series finale (if they get one). If they have problems as a couple, that’s one thing, if it goes back to the same old stuff, the series is done with no efforts to save it this time around. People will just stop watching,
period.The vehement fan reaction at Comic-Con to a comment made that smacks of
the same old thing as occurred in the first 2 seasons should serve as a clear
warning to Schwartz/Fedak to STOP the teasing. the core fans have had enough of that and will not tolerate another “Moonlighting” mess.
Don’t they get it? Can it not be made clearer? Nobody cares about beards,
bromances, or the store management at the Buymore, though it would be nice
for Big Mike to get his old job back as store manager. This is a hint from
the fans-get it Schwartz/Fedak? Just stick to the basics and move things
forward consistently without the teasing, ok ?
The music and stunts in the show are two of its really strong points, the editing is weak. Whenever you look at board comments it is easy to see what needs to be done to make the fans happy and increase viewership. Put Chuck and Sarah together in a permanent, loving relationship and then you can concentrate on the comedy and adventure a much greater percentage of the time. “The Break Up” is my least favorite season 2 episode, it impacts almost all the season two episodes. The combination of serious heartache with poor comedy (spilling of the wine) was not a great combination. On the other hand The First Date, The Seduction (minus the last 30 seconds) and the Colonel were three of my favorites. They have one thing in common, less of the dreaded “angst”. Rick Holy and Robert H are on board why can’s F&S get it?
The Ring was probably the most disappointing episode. What if it had been the last episode-it left all of us hanging. If things do not become more uplifting I imagine season 3 will be the end of Chuck–what if we are still left in the air? That is scarier than the love triangles and angst I anticipate in season 3–I plan on recording the episodes and omitting the angst–may not be watching many episodes.
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Casey at the Buy More! Ye! Poor guy. lol
wow great spoilers! i love the “deepen the spy histories” angle….
i’ve written in the forum a while back about how, in the pilot and ep2, alot was made of sarah’s spy past, but was dropped for the rest of the show to date. how she killed many people, and poisoned a room full of people, how casey is a “murderer… cold school”, etc… you’d expect violence like that to have effects in the future (revenge plots against agent walker and/or casey), and i thought that would make for much of the show’s episodes. but that wasn’t the case in seasons 1 and 2.
but now in season 3, we should see some of that. yay!
Wow even though season 3 is a while away it’s good to get some news from the chuck set even though is it getting ruined for me to watch instead of listen but I’m to interested in finding out what’s going to happen with Chuck and Sarah will they break up for sure or will they ever get married and stay spies
Hey there is no good website to watch chuck any advice i live in Canada and it’s hard to watch it on American sites because i live some where else?
Hello, fellow Canadian.
I know your woes. Both Hulu and the NBC website seem to hate us (though I haven’t the slightest idea why). I bought season 1 and pre-ordered season 2, but if you don’t have the dvds then the only place that really shows Chuck is citytv.com …
Even then, streaming is pretty slow…and I think they removed the Chuck episodes…
Anyhow, good luck. I’m still searching for a good, not-shady-looking site. If I find one, I’ll make sure I go bonkers posting the link wherever the internet will allow me.
😉
I live in New Zealand so I get what you mean! Try sidereel.com the supernovatube links are quite good and you can get high def.
if you have a bittorrent client like vuze (azureus) then you can download the entire season or individual episodes. it’s how i keep up with top gear, since i’m in not in the UK
I’m a fellow canadian and well, getting reruns of Season 2 (which I missed since I’m a late adopter, bought the DVD, fell in love with the show and well agent WAlker 😉 )
If you live in Quebec, ZTele will be starting season 2 (in french) starting on August 25th. If you aren’t, well you can do as I did and sort of *hacked* your way through Hulu and watch episode there. They are missing most of the first half of season 2 but I read somewhere that those will be available by saterday of this week.
If you want to get access to hulu from here, well, the keyword I have for you is “hotspot shield”.
Some of the rumors I have heard in the last 24 hours shed a new light on this season. Josh is not going to hold back in case the show is cancelled, he is going to give us everything. That is why they said it would be really good for Charah. I have heard that they will actually need a fresh story arc next year because they are going to run the season to a successful conclusion.
Really? Wow! Where did you here that? Thats awesome! 🙂
Just in email conversations with two bloggers, one is kind of an insider and not willing to say much so I can’t say what will happen with any certainty, but at comic con Josh apparently talked about just putting everything out and not holding back and also he hinted at the resolution for Chuck and Sarah, some kind of deeper level of their relationship. He mentioned that to the crowd as well, with the ‘really good’ line.
But rumors are rumors. I kind of appreciate the positive rumors…I also read more into Ali’s little video message than some.
Oh, I love this show to bits. There’s so much fun to be had!
But…*lowers voice* Levi’s beard scares the hell out of me. I know he’s free to dress/shave however he likes but I will be so relieved when it’s gone. Chuck is such a fun-loving guy—the beard makes him look a little weary/aged-beyond-his-time.
—Anyway, I’m glad to see everything seems to be running smoothly for them. I’d love to see more about Casey. Sarah’s gotten a bit more of the spotlight due to her love-you/love-you-not romance with Chuck, so I think it’s only fair they toss the ball to John for a while.
XD
In person Zac’s beard isn’t at all scary. It amuses me that it freaks people out in pictures. 🙂
@dave – try this website http://hotspotshield.com/
I participate in the strahotski.com forums and according to some of the users outside of the US, this software connects by VPN and uses an US ip. Good luck!
OK, I really hope the creators keep this in mind.
Chuck’s beard simply HAS to go sometime early during the first episode of season 3. With all due respect, part of Chuck’s lovability is his clean shaven, handsome face. If Chuck picks up new female viewers due to his handsomeness, and they watch only to find that he has a beard all of a sudden! Well then I don’t know… they might be sent away by that. I would be lying if I said that I would stop watching Chuck just because of the beard. Cause I love Chuck. But itll be funner for me to watch with a cute, clean shaven Chuck. 🙂
Like the rest of you, I’ve been watching closely for news of season 3. Now the game has completely changed. Forget Charah. Forget the Buy More. Now I need more info on the Cheese Balls. Damn you Fedak, cut the fans a break and spill some news!
Hey folks. They’re going to keep giving conflicting signals regarding Chuck and Sarah. One week you’ll here how things will be more complicated. You’ll hear about “love trapezoids,” etc., etc. The next week you’ll hear something completely different. REMEMBER – the season premier is still 200 days away – over SIX MONTHS.
They’re going to keep lobbing bombs with all kinds of mixed signals to keep everyone interested in the web sites, blogs, etc. If all they came out and said was “this is how it’s going to be,” then how many of us would keep checking this and other sites regularly for new little tid bits of information.
They know what they’re doing. Just remember, when you hear talk like “they’re afraid they might get canceled so they’re going to put everything on the table – so thta looks good for Chara,” don’t forget Season 2. They were saying the same kind of stuff. We’re going to pull out all the stops, etc. Not that Season 2 wasn’t great, but there was no “final resolution” with anything. And remember,when they were shooting the last episode of Season 2, they didn’t know whether or not there would be a Season 3.
If they want to keep us die hards from going beserk, they’ll move the Chuck/Sarah thing foward SOMEHOW. Doesn’t mean there won’t be difficulties, etc. But they would have to be absolutely off their collective rockers to return to the “back and forth” and “on again, off again” stuff of Seasons 1 and 2. They built up to a nice “critical point in the relationship” at the end of Season 2. I have confidence, despite the different things they’ll toss out on the blogosphere from time to time, that they’re wise enough to build on that and not go backward.
Keep on Chuckin’ all you Chuckaholics. And peace, all!
I agree with Rick Holy. They need to move Charah forward, not keep it in neutral or move backwards. Nobody wants to see a marriage, they can save that
for a series finale (if they get one). If they have problems as a couple, that’s one thing, if it goes back to the same old stuff, the series is done with no efforts to save it this time around. People will just stop watching,
period.The vehement fan reaction at Comic-Con to a comment made that smacks of
the same old thing as occurred in the first 2 seasons should serve as a clear
warning to Schwartz/Fedak to STOP the teasing. the core fans have had enough of that and will not tolerate another “Moonlighting” mess.
Don’t they get it? Can it not be made clearer? Nobody cares about beards,
bromances, or the store management at the Buymore, though it would be nice
for Big Mike to get his old job back as store manager. This is a hint from
the fans-get it Schwartz/Fedak? Just stick to the basics and move things
forward consistently without the teasing, ok ?
Comments are invited, thanks.
The music and stunts in the show are two of its really strong points, the editing is weak. Whenever you look at board comments it is easy to see what needs to be done to make the fans happy and increase viewership. Put Chuck and Sarah together in a permanent, loving relationship and then you can concentrate on the comedy and adventure a much greater percentage of the time. “The Break Up” is my least favorite season 2 episode, it impacts almost all the season two episodes. The combination of serious heartache with poor comedy (spilling of the wine) was not a great combination. On the other hand The First Date, The Seduction (minus the last 30 seconds) and the Colonel were three of my favorites. They have one thing in common, less of the dreaded “angst”. Rick Holy and Robert H are on board why can’s F&S get it?
The Ring was probably the most disappointing episode. What if it had been the last episode-it left all of us hanging. If things do not become more uplifting I imagine season 3 will be the end of Chuck–what if we are still left in the air? That is scarier than the love triangles and angst I anticipate in season 3–I plan on recording the episodes and omitting the angst–may not be watching many episodes.