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After weeks of nail biting from fans and consistency in the ratings from Chuck, NBC has rewarded us all by ordering 11 additional episodes of Chuck for season 4, bringing the total order for this season to 24 episodes.
Deadline reports that digital media rights were what held up the deal from being announced yesterday. They also point out that NBC primetime chief Angela Bromstad claimed Chuck‘s loyal, passionate audience is one of the reasons they added more episodes.
Why 11 episodes instead of 6 like last season? Nine is the usual number a network orders to fill out a season of 22 episodes. Season 3 was an anomaly because it premiered in January and the Olympics were going to pre-empt at least 2 weeks and they had a couple of other specials that needed to air. NBC only had enough broadcast room for 6 additional episodes before the end of the spring season. So, because we premiered in the fall this year, the network has plenty of room for a super-sized order of 24 episodes.
This also brings the total number of Chuck episodes by the end of season 4 to 78, just 22 shy of the golden 100 for syndication. It’s still too early to speculate on season 5, but a full episode order would bring the total to…100!
Party in the comments!
24 eps this season will bring the show to 78 total episodes aired. That virtually guarantees a season five. Warner Bros. will want syndication for Chuck, and they’ll need 100 eps. to do it. So, a minimum 22 episodes season five would give them an even 100.
lol, beat me to it!
Fantastic! I wonder what this means for the story arc though. With an extra 11 they will have to do some rewrites where they can.
They’re just now writing 13 and finishing 12, I believe, and they likely had a contingency plan for a pick up. Probably the only surprise for them is that they’ll have 11 episodes to tell the rest of this season’s story instead of 9.
Unbelievable! It thought 6 would be great but 11 is just…well awesome! As for rewriting some of the first 13 episodes that’s rather unlikely. TPTB will more likely script another 11 episode story arc within season 4 as they did with season 3.
I don’t think they will need to tweak nearly as much as last season. With 11 episodes they can bring in a whole new story arc. Sarah’s family anyone?
Wow, I can’t believe it!!! I’m so excited. 24 episodes of season 4, this is the best news ever!!! 🙂
the more likely reason for a back 11 order? syndication. if nbc orders a 22 episode season five, chuck will hit 100 episodes which can get the show a good deal with syndication. wb has a lot of money to earn on this so i’d expect them really drop the licensing fee for nbc for season five.
REJOICE, REJOICE, REJOICE everybody!! And a HUGE pat on the back to Mel and all the good people at this site and all the other Chuck-lovin’ sites and blogs. And last, but not least – Congratulations to ALL the “Chuckaholics” out there. 24 episodes of Season 4!!! AMAZING. OUTSTANDING. AWESOME!!!!!
The little show that could just keeps on surprising the nay-sayers out there. Sometimes, even when the going gets tough and the ride gets bumpy – and let’s be honest, we’ve had our share of tough going and bumpy rides on the “Chuck train,” ya just gotta have FAITH! 🙂
WE DID IT!!! I’m thrilled for EVERYONE associated with CHUCK – the actors, the writers, the producers, etc., etc. THANK YOU for entertaining us so much over these last 3 plus seasons. And now a 24 episode Season 4!! It’s NOT heaven, but I think it’s awfully darn close!! (and I have that on good authority!).
😉
Well said Rick Holy, I completely agree with all my heart. I’m so happy and excited right and I’m rejoicing like you wouldn’t believe. 😉
I couldn’t agree more, Rick…this is by far the best news I’ve heard all week! 😀
LONG LIVE TEAM BARTOWSKI!!! LONG LIVE CHUCK!!!
Great News. The cast is soooo good on this show, their hard work has paid off for everyone. The fans have helped keep this show going, but the cast, crew, and writers do one hell of a job each week, giving us something to support! Great Job and congrats!
Eleven!! Yay, today isn’t a bad day anymore!
YES! So excited!!! Chuck we love you!
OMG I CAN START OFFICIALLY CELEBRATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Great news! Just hope that the storyline in general keeps getting stronger and stronger please. Not too much Chuck and Sarah angst please. 🙂
This totally made my week! What awesome news! ::happydance:: andtherewasmuchrejoycing
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happydance indeed!!!!
This is super great news!!!!!
This is absolutely exciting news. 11 episodes is BIG NEWS. I am happy dancing too!
Forget about making your week how about making your year. That’s what happened with me. 🙂 HUZZAH VIVA LA CHUCK!!!! 🙂
Fantastic and if we get a fifth season only so they can make more money with sindcation what who cares the more episodes the better which means more Chuck
now all we have to do is get more people to watch the shows if one or two people who have the Nielson’s black box start watching the show each week that could change the ratings, anyway we can target people who have the “box”
Love the show have been watching since Season 1 but being in Canada don’t really know how watching on NBC helps (they cut to a Canadian station feed for the local advertising) but I still watch it Live.
Season 5, I’m keeping my hopes up for a S10 and beyond. This is Chuck after all it always does the impossible. If it were any other show it would have died at the end of S2.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! More Chuck. My husband and kids and I are all running around screaming for joy. lol This great. Maybe we will get a 5th season.
In the words of Big Mike, VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!
This is incredible news.
Ok, sorry but WTF!
That’s the best news I’ve ever heard! My favorite show gets a 24 EPISODES-SEASON? AWESSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
P.S.: You just have to stop worrying about things and your wishes or expectations will come true! 🙂
i’m hoping the reason for the back 11 is because of the potential for 100 episodes on season 5. i really do hope the 10th and 11th episodes are not just there to end the show. i wish NBC will show Chuck the same loyalty that the CW did for Smallville.
i meant to say the 10th and 11th additional episodes…(meaning episode 23 and 24)
Awesome! I hope they do “A season in a season” this time too.. Or haven’t they already filmed the first 13? .. But 11 more episode is cool.. I just hope this doesn’t make them start dragging out the Mama B story so that it starts to feel forced…
I was at work when I found out..I kept checking TvByTheNumbers throughout the day and when I saw the announcement I was so excited I almost jumped and screamed, but then I thought my co-workers would think that was weird, so I jumped and screamed on the inside. :-). The possibility of a 5th season and reaching those syndication numbers seems very real and Chuck will no doubt gain an eveb bigger audience–like the original Star Trek did in syndication. After that who knows? Chuck Conventions, movies, the possibilities are endless. Long Live Chuck indeed! Hope the cast is as happy as we all are!
This is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! My husband and I are THRILLED! We love Chuck. Hopefully NBC has learned there lesson, and will keep Chuck around for Season 5 and stop trying to undermine it with no promotion and stupid shows like Undercovers!
This is the greatest news I’ve heard in a long time and I NOW feel like I can finally sit back and enjoy the rest of the season without feeling that impending “Doom and Gloom” nag at the back of my mind and deep in my heart. I’m unfamiliar with the ratings scheme and TV lingo speak and trying to pick it up. But what are they referring to when they say “Syndication”?
Syndication is when a show is aired on another network, generally during non-primetime hours. For example, older episodes of How I Met Your Mother are currently airing after the news on a couple of my local stations and in 2-episode blocks weeknights on Lifetime.
Ahh I see thanks for breaking that down for me Mel, that would help boost Chuck a lot and perhaps make it go viral once more.
A very good example of what syndication means is how A&E airs reruns of CSI: Miami and Spike airs reruns of CSI: Vegas all the time.
Yipeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was having the most horrific day! And this just turned it around. I am beyond psyched.
You and me both Kelly what a nightmare of a day, I’m so glad it’s over and I’ve come home to this glorious news. I’m so thrilled and beyond psyched. 😀
Wait a minute folks this isn’t my birthday. Thanks for the early present though.
Time to buy a PVR with a bigger hard drive.
24 EPISODES!!!!? Is this a trick?Are my eyes deseving me? Eeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppp!!!!!!GO CHUCK!!!!! 🙂
Wow! You guys sure we’re not being punk’d? This is awesome news.
Very pleased to hear this announcement. I was worried when I heard The Event was picked up for a full season yesterday but not Chuck.
Makes you wonder how they’ll approach the second half. Two arc season? Or Season 3, but with more delicious filler?
When a show’s filler is this good… well, that’s one fine show. C’mon great holiday episode. Coup D’etat and Couch Lock are both grand, fantastic episodes, but we need some real bruisers, something that makes Vs Santa Claus and Vs The Delorean look like pansies.
Either way, more Chuck is good in my books. I hope to high heck that it manages to scrounge a full season 5; at that, it would’ve at least had a grand run… but I would not be upset for it to reach Season 10.
Heck, with all the advertiser love for this show, and the amount of support it has, ratings may not even matter (especially with NBC’s failing schedule). A Season 5, 6… might not be such a pipedream after all.
Question for Mel. This seems to be great news and I/m happy to hear it of
course. The rationale for 11 extra episodes sounds good but I have a question
which I think you are the best person to answer.
Don’t want to throw a damper on this but could the extra 11 episodes also
mean NBC is preparing to end the series rather than expand it? The extra 11
would be a means to give the producers the time to complete the current
arcs and end the series gracefully without alienating a lot of viewers.
I don’t want to believe this, the show is curently holding its own with little
promotion from NBC while the other new shows appear not to be doing well.
Just would like your opinion on this, thanks.
No, if anything I think this adds to the possibility of a fifth season. This close to primo syndication numbers, and with a likely revenue-sharing deal in place for at least the first run of syndicated episodes, Chuck would have to either completely tank next spring or NBC’s other shows would have to miraculously increase their ratings for me to doubt a fifth season. Then again, I’ve been optimistic about a full-season order since July, so… 😉
This is a very large, very public show of support from the network and one that fans should celebrate wholeheartedly.
Hey, Mel! SHOULD we show our happiness and support for this unexpected but fantastic news? How? NBC should get some kind of indication that the fans are still going to promote the show to get more viewers and therefore help the network get better numbers to show (sell) to advertisers. Any ideas?
(Okay, you can celebrate for a while, everybody. Just sayin’ it’s not time to stop helping to promote this fabby show!)
I agree! Now is the perfect time to show NBC our thanks and appreciation for this show of faith in Chuck, as well as letting them know that we are still as passionate as ever and willing to do whatever it takes to keep Chuck alive! I’m going to write Angela Bromstad/NBC a thank you, and would encourage anyone who wants to, to do the same!
wOOt, wOOt!!!!!!!!!
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Did I overact my excitement? Definitely not. Such great news, well done NBC for doing what definitely was the right thing.
Cannot wait!
I’m really excited to read that. 24 episodes. That’s crazy. I read that headline and got really happy.
I’m excited for the rest of the season. If anything if the show continues with what it had for the next week episode, “CHUCK” will go up in ratings.
Let “CHUCK” fans celebrate. YES!
“CHUCK” deserves 100 episodes and more.
I am going away for 2 weeks, the only thing I am worried about while I am away is my PVR fails and I would have missed two episodes of Chuck. I live in Canada and hulu or nbc.com won’t work, I decided to take my laptop with me (of course that means my boss can stay in touch but it’s a small price to pay) and I opened an itunes account. Originally I planned to just buy the two episodes but on 2nd thought I bought the whole season, now that’s good investment because for the same price I now get 24 episodes instead of 13. This is the best news ever!!! 🙂
Patty, I do the same thing with iTunes (so not wait for dvds) but i cant find season 4 on there yet, so good luck… and let me know if you find it 😉
As others have commented, and I will ditto, this has been one bad day and then we get this kind of news – it is just freakin’ AWESOME!!! I’m going right over the NBC and the WB and thank them for their support of a wonderful program. Like I said over on ChuckThisBlog – last night’s episode should have been enough of a winner to warrant them getting the additional order and apparently it did – because instead of hoping and getting just the back 9 – we got the BACK 11. WINNER in my book!!
I also ditto the comment earlier about thanking Liz, Mel and Gray for this website and many other Chuck fan sites for promoting this wonderful show – this is as much a feather in your caps as it is Schwartz and Fedak’s!! THANK YOU!!!!
wow looks I’m not the only one who had a bad day but it’s awesome isn’t it that when bad things happen, somehow it does a 180 and turns it right on it;s head in the end. 🙂
just to say this but if they pick up the 22 next year to make 100 and get syndication (forgive my spelling if its off) chucks current preformance may make it quite tempting to cancel syndicate and find something new. good news is we have it till then (probably) but bad news is its only going to get harder after season 5 to get renewal.
THIS IS IT GUYS!THE MOMENT WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SINCE LIKE SEPTEMBEROF 2007! whooo hooo! best day ever!
BEST NEWS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, this is great! And I haven’t even seen Couch Lock yet. Off to do that now with the knowledge that this season will be a long and entertaining one!
to all involved: *mwahhh!* and *squishy hugs!* oh, and *deliriously happy happy dancing!*
Wow, I have awesome news to tell my mom and brother (also Chuck fans).
This is very good news for Chuck. Obviously for this season and even more optimism for a potential Season 5.
Well, Chuck Me, this is awesome!!!
What are they going to use to fill all this extra time? A wedding perhaps? They certainly can’t say that there’s not enough room for it.
You know I don’t think they are going to have to fill much. I think about Season 1 in reference to the 13 episode season and that flew by without much of a storyline. Season 2 after I watched it the second time seemed to fly by just as quick since a good near first half of that season was continuing on the random spy life of Chuck with the last half being Fulcrim. Given they have just scratched the surface of the Mama B storyline at Episode 5 of 13 it seems like it would be majorly rushed if it had ended at 13. This extra time before other episodes air also gives the directors and writers and chance to tweak and re-tune the later episodes if need be to make it work and feel less sped up. Right now Volkrof and Mama B are just names and figures we have yet to truly understand or comprehend. This season now could be epic with nearly the full thing dedicated to one entity like Season 3 was (alas the second half ratings didn’t turn out so well).
Perhaps it could finish it properly if NBC decided not to renew it for a fifth (given they usually know that answer before the cancel bear comes) and or set things up for the fifth. I think the filler episodes wont be as bad this late in and in such a huge number if they just expand things a little bit and slow down without dragging the story out. Very tricky to do but so far I don’t feel any episode has ever been a filler with Chuck and looking back after watching them again and again you realize how each episode ALWAYS plays some critical roles somewhere down the road even if it isn’t the greatest.
I disliked Episode 3 until episode 4 came along then it clicked, hopefully that continues :).
Awesome news!! Very happy.
This is really a great news!!! But I just wonder that more seasons: 6,7 and so on can deteriorate a quality of Chuck. Maybe it would be better to do less but interesting than more and boring. Honestly I cannot see how writers can develop matters in this show for much more seasons. The only way to do this is to make things complicated, dramatic – to keep us viewers interested. For example Sarah – Chuck plot – to do some dramatic brake up and so on. But on the other hand most of us do not want to much drama especially between Sarah and Chuck. Do not get me wrong I am just wondering. Anyway it is a great news for season 4. Season 5 – OK too, but more? hmmm I do not know.
I hope that we will see more of Alex and Morgan, and that the Kathleen issue will finally be dealt with. I don’t think that she and Casey should get together, as what he did to her was utterly despicable. It would be nice, however, if John finally had a love interest of his own. There’s probably a greater chance of Ellie and Awesome breaking up, but one can certainly hope.
Hey Mel, since everyone is so excited and grateful, is there a way that we (Chucksters) could all send a cyber-thankyou note to NBC? Or do you think they are over here reading our comments and that is sufficient? Just a thought…
Don’t worry, they know we’re excited. 🙂 A way to say thanks? How about voting Chuck onto the cover of TV Guide! https://chucktv.net/2010/10/19/vote-chuck-onto-the-cover-of-tv-guide/
YES!!!! This is AMAZING news! I hope I can sleep tonight! What a great show of support from NBC. Anyone want to join me in writing a thank you to Angela Bromstad/NBC? Let’s show them how much we appreciate this vote of confidence in Chuck and that we are still as passionate for our show as ever! Viva la Nerdolution!
So happy !! The 2 extra eps make up for the short S-3. The
9 lost eps from the S-1 strike hurt, neverget them back.
As Big Mike put it and as I remember quoting when we got a season 4: “VICTORY!!!!!!!!”
I’m with everyone. I’m really excited. I thought NBC would only order 9 more epi but we’ve been given 11! Go Chuck!
Best news ever !!! Go Chuck Go 🙂