How to Be Undercover Cool Like Chuck Bartowski

Wanna be cool like Chuck Bartowski? I saw another Bukisa user write about getting a job at the CIA. You can read that article here. It isn't a joke, it a genuine and quality article about getting work at the CIA. Chuck Bartowski, beloved Nerd Herd supervisor, seems less and less a nerd the more you watch. And he is adorable beyond nerd status. While you will find some cute nerds, he just seems too good looking to be a nerd.

His undercover name of choice is Charles Carmichael. It is suave and smooth and everything Chuck thinks he needs to be. If you want to be cool like Chuck, pick a name to make you feel cool. Any old alias you like will do.

Next up in gaining Chuck's cool? Gain the trust and respect of others. Whenever something goes wrong at the Buy More, Chuck is everyone's first call without a second thought. Chuck's real coolness comes from the fact that he is trusted to solve problems, computer or customer, where ever they might arise.

Chuck Bartowski's coolest trait has to be that he is loyal and courageous to no end. To really be cool in the style of Chuck, you need to always stand up for what you believe in and never let someone else tell you what is right. Chuck has his own moral compass and his own rule book when it comes to what is right. He doesn't let anyone stand in the way of helping his loved ones. Chuck's family and friends know he's cool because he is always there for him.

Chuck is a real hero to everyone around him. If you want that kind of cool, stand up for what you believe in. Never back down. Find what makes you feel cool. Get some respect. That's Nerd Herd style.

Source: by AnHonestWriter, Article Page

Chuck : What's Hot?

At the beginning of this past fall’s television season, there was much talk about the fresh faces emerging on the scene. Of those relative newcomers, one face in particular has managed to stand out among the pack. Zachary Levi currently stars as the computer geek-turned government agent, Chuck Bartowski, on NBC’s hit tv show, “Chuck.” He has the looks to attract the ladies, a role on one of the most successful new shows this season and the acting chops it takes to succeed and survive in show business. He is definitely someone to keep your eye on!

This 27 year old was born in Louisiana, but he and his family traveled all over the United States before finally settling in Ventura County, California. You can say Zachary Levi was one of the lucky ones who knew what he was destined to do from a very young age. At 6 years old, Zachary began acting, singing and dancing in school and local theater productions like “Grease,” “The Outsiders,” “Oliver” and “The Wizard of Oz.” By the time he graduated from high school, he was ready to take a shot at fulfilling his dreams, and he moved to Los Angeles.

In 2002, he started to tackle the small screen. He soon had roles in television movies such as “Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie” and “See Jane Date.” He followed those projects up with guest starring roles in television series like “The Division” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Prior to his current role on television, he may be best remembered as the scheming, narcissistic assistant, Kip Steadman, on all four seasons of the series, “Less Than Perfect,” starring Sara Rue, Andy Dick and Eric Roberts.

In 2007, he was cast in the lead role on NBC’s “Chuck,” a series created by Josh Schwartz of “The O.C.” fame and McG, the director of “Charlie’s Angels” and “We Are Marshall.” This hour long, action-comedy show centers around Zachary, who plays a hapless geek who works at an electronics store and accidentally becomes the government’s most vital secret agent when he opens an e-mail that subliminally encodes government secrets and sensitive data into his brain. In an otherwise relatively ho-hum television season, “Chuck” has become a favorite of television addicts everywhere thanks to both the entertaining writing and the comedic timing and charm of its leading man.

Zachary is also slowly getting a foothold on the big screen. In 2006, he was featured in the Martin Lawrence comedy, “Big Momma’s House 2.” Recently he wrapped his leading role in the independent film, “Shades of Ray,” a comedy about a man of Pakistani and Caucasian ancestry, who is trying to revive his parents’ marriage while waiting to see if his own girlfriend will accept his marriage proposal. In addition, he completed the feature film, “Wieners,” a comedy about three friends taking a road trip in a Wiener Wagon across the country in the hopes of beating up a popular daytime talk show therapist. The film also stars Kenan Thompson of “Saturday Night Live” and Jenny McCarthy. Both films are slated for a 2008 release.

With starring roles on both the big and small screens, talent, good looks and charm, it is only a matter of time before this comedic actor attracts the attention of film and television lovers everywhere. He is a favorite of ours here at Young Hollywood and we have been watching him closely, as he is truly a rising star who is on the verge of major stardom. For those of you looking to catch up, you can currently see Zachary on NBC every Monday at 8 PM or watch full episodes online at www.nbc.com.

Original page : www.younghollywood.com

CHUCK : To Kill or Not To Kill...Friend or Foe?

Every single Chuck fan out there is wondering the very same question... Will John Casey terminate Chuck?? There are plenty of acqusations that have been flying around. Two reasons why this would be a terrible decision by NBC.

1) It would be the worst way to get rid of a new series when it has done so well and
2) Killing the main character (Chuck) would be an outrage to alot of fans and NBC I believe would get alot of hate mail. Now lets move on to why I believe this will not happen just from the way things have been going.
It's a fantastic show great plot, characters, it's funny with the action thrown in and very unique. If you are caught up on the latest episode and if you pay close attention John Casey changes. When she tells him that he will have to get rid of Chuck is face changes. You can see the anger towards the superior officer appear. Also, when she says "And Casey" he retorts with a very annoyed reply. All three of them Chuck, Sarah, and Casey have become a team. Despite the differences that were at the beginning. John does like Chuck, and Sarah showing it in a way the most people would find odd. I believe it's going to come down to where he seems like he is going to follow through but he will not do it. The fate of the show rests in the hands of John Casey! However, the question that haunts the minds of Chuck fans everywhere still remains....

Will Chuck Die??

To Be Continued....2008

By Ryan Meagher

The Evolution of 'Chuck'

Chuck came into existence with high expectations. One reason for this was NBC's ridiculously aggressive marketing campaign prior to its premiere. Everywhere you looked, NBC was relentlessly pimping Chuck, whether it be the early availability of the pilot, endless on-air promos, and those annoying little pop-up ads where Zach Levi started talking to you. NBC had faith in the series, and why not? The ingredients were enticing: show runner Josh Schwartz coming off The OC, star Zachary Levi playing what is pretty much an evolutionary Seth Cohen/Josh Schwartz, stunning Australian import Yvonne Strahovski carrying on the Sidney Bristow memorial “spy who must show extensive cleavage to do her job” torch, fanboy favorite Adam Baldwin in his best role since Firefly and a pilot helmed by blockbuster film director McG. However, despite this impressive list of creative talent, the pilot and first few episodes came and went with a collective “meh” (a word I freaking hate, yet one that is annoyingly apt here). The series equaled less than the sum of its parts. Thankfully, since those first couple episodes, the Chuck team did something rare in the world of network television: it recognized its flaws and evolved rapidly, strengthening ratings and turning itself into one of the better new series on TV.

I had the honor of watching the pilot last July at San Diego Comic-Con in the presence of the cast and crew and a few hundred TV fans. The pilot went over incredibly well but, in hindsight, that was an easy room. The laughs were contagious. Sometimes that happens. After the screening, Josh Schwartz called Chuck a mix between Alias and The Office. You could tell that this was a genuine comparison, and something the pilot definitely accomplished. However, after episodes two and three of Chuck, it must have quickly became clear that Office-level humor is almost impossible to accomplish.


Early Chuck episodes featured too many blatant attempts at Office humor and with that came an increasing percentage of jokes that fell flat. Going back to The OC, this was not the type of humor Schwartz was known for. His forte was not in jokey jokes, but with characters being realistically funny in a character-driven way. Subsequent episodes have spurned the all-too-blatant jokes in favor of humor which, even if it didn't hit a home run, wasn't record-screeching if it fell flat.

The toning down of the Morgan character was a key part of this. Morgan was early on meant to be the goofy comic foil to Zachary Levi's relatively straight man Chuck. The problem was, the more the writers turned up the Morgan humor, the more annoying he got. Chuck, it turns out, is probably the funniest character on the show, and this is in part thanks to the construction of the character (again, a Seth Cohen cypher), but also thanks to the very talented Zachary Levi. Morgan has been consistently amusing in shorter doses, and that's where the writers now seem content to use him – less. Also, they're now not exclusively using Morgan as comic relief (note his relationship with co-worker Anna).

The other key to Chuck's evolution (and the most important aspect in terms of upping the show's overall quality) is the increased focus on series mythology. The re-introduction of Bryce Larkin opened up the over-arching story that Chuck is telling, and the whole ordeal has been surprisingly fulfilling for audiences. The series has turned into a less serious version of Alias, and that's a compliment. The key going forward is for the writers to make sure every episode is satisfying on a pure story level and that any humor should be looked at as a bonus and not a crutch.

Even with the writers' strike on going, Chuck has a few more episodes left before the well runs dry. NBC picked up the series for the entire season, so even if the strike continues on for the duration of Winter and Spring, fans can look forward to Chuck evolving more and more once it returns.

-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer

CHUCK - "Chuck's" Josh Gomez Talks Games

When it comes to Hollywood gamers, sure, Vin Diesel has his own game company, Tigon Studios, but I've never met two more die hard gamers than the stars of NBC's hit action comedy, "Chuck," which also happens to be a show that features a lot of games. It's not a coincidence that Zachary Levi's Chuck and Joshua Gomez's Morgan are gamers in the show. They're the reason Gears of War was featured in the first two episodes and that other games have become a staple of the show.

"We're both HUGE Gears of War fans," said Gomez. "Halo was Halo...it will always be that, but as soon as I played the first Halo is how I feel about Gears. I anticipate the sequel to Gears like I anticipated the sequel to Halo. It's going to be tough to follow up on that. I understand why Halo kind of dipped. I don't know if Halo 2 could have ever lived up to the expectations, because they were so high, and I kind of feel like there's going to be a similar thing with Gears. I've taken a lot of heat from a lot of people because Gears was so hyped and so huge of a game, but to me I thought it lived up to it. And multiplayer-wise, that game is so much more up my alley. I actually prefer the smaller four-on-four combat because then I knew who I was playing with and you could communicate and I thought there was a lot more strategy and things like that to it."


Gomez said that a lot of the video game references in the show's dialog comes from ad-libbing, because the writers of the show aren't gamers, themselves.

"Exactly, that's totally me and Zach doing our thing and we try to throw in game jargon wherever we can," said Gomez. "On the Call of Duty 4 episode, I said, 'Come on, Chuck, I need a snipe to cover my back,' and the writers were like, 'Huh?' But we got it in there. I think we need to get them Geek 101 lessons sometimes."

Unlike Levi, who'd love to do a video game voice, Gomez has dabbled in game work. In fact, he can be heard in one of the best games of this year, BioShock, as well as in the upcoming Turok from Disney Interactive.

"I did some work on some Final Fantasy games, Call of Duty, Armored Core, and I got some stuff that's still coming out like the new Turok game," said Gomez. "I come from a commercial and voiceover background, which is how I made my living in New York City before coming to LA."

Gomez brought a couple of Slicers to life in BioShock, as well as PigSkin, that football helmet-wearing freak that "was pushed a little too hard by his father." Before stepping into the booth on these games, Gomez gets to geek out on character art of the game, as well as video, sometimes. And as a die hard gamer, that's really cool for him, especially since he was a fan of System Shock.

"I thought BioShock was phenomenal and the story was so amazing and the actual emotional ties that I have to it, which is what I love about where gaming is going," explained Gomez. "You can actually convey emotions now and get attached to characters and really tell a story, which is really fun for me, obviously, because that's the thing I love about acting and doing all that stuff. Games are now this other medium, which I happen to be addicted to and really love, that are so deep now. I just thought BioShock was a beautiful game--the art style was just up my alley, that whole world, and the '20s theme and music...that was great."

When it comes to being on a hit TV show on NBC, most of Gomez' gamer friends are genuinely more impressed when he gets voice acting gigs on games like BioShock and Turok than when he gets Hollywood gigs. The hit show and the grueling pre-Hollywood writers' strike schedule, made it tough for Gomez to do anything but game.

"I barely had time to go out and be in public," said Gomez. "On my days off I just have a love affair with my couch and my 360. I'm like, 'Oh, this is heaven. I have nothing to do for 12 hours but play videogames and maybe drink a beer.'"

When he does go out, Gomez is recognized a lot more often.

"People will come up and say, 'Hey, you're in Chuck!' and you're like, 'Whoa. Yeah. Hey, what's up?' and it's great when they say, 'I love that show!' I always thank God they're not saying, 'I hate you.' That's never good."

Cliffy B is among the millions of fans of "Chuck," which will be back in 2008 with more action, comedy and videogame placement. In the meantime, Gomez, who does game with Levi, will have plenty of time to do what he loves--game.

By John Gaudiosi

Way to Go, 'Chuck'!

Way to Go, 'Chuck'!
With a Dash of Hitchcockian Intrigue, NBC Comedy Strikes a Blow for Nerds

By Tom Shales
Washington Post Staff Writer
2007;

"Chuck" is Chuck-full of elements already available in wretched excess (the only kind of excess TV knows) in prime time. There's the stereotypical wacky slacker, and lots of tongue-in-cheek, high-tech derring-do, which, if you're not in a playful mood, will come off as derring-don't.

But the show, premiering tonight on NBC, also has a happily palpable likability going for it, a lot of that courtesy of Zachary Levi, who plays the unlikely and in fact unwilling hero. Chuck Bartowski is a suburban schlemiel whose passive existence as supervisor of the Nerd Herd at the local Buy More is shattered one day by a portentous piece of e-mail from Chuck's old Stanford roommate Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer).

Larkin is some sort of secret agent involved in rooftop chases, spectacular explosions and the like. He works in a room whose walls, floor and ceiling are all papered with changing images, like the inside of a big brain. That e-mail, sent in feverish desperation, is going to plunge poor unprepared Chuck into that same kind of world, and predictably but amusingly, he's one fish who quickly begins to miss his water, lukewarm though it may have been.

As a hapless and helpless victim of circumstance, Chuck is a distant relation to Roger Thornhill, the advertising-man hero of Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest," whose life goes haywire when he's mistaken for a secret agent named George Kaplan. Producer and series creator Josh Schwartz has in fact decorated the series pilot with many a Hitchcock reference, including a rooftop chase as in "Vertigo," the prevention of a political assassination as in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and that Hitchcock favorite, the icy blonde -- in this case Yvonne Strahovski as one of the prides of the CIA.

The e-note somehow implanted a dizzy gallery of information in Chuck's head, and he finds he's being pursued and besieged with annoying and yet exhilarating frequency. This interferes with, but does not replace, such Nerd Herd duties as placating a cute little ballerina whose daddy forgot to load the camcorder with which he thought he recorded his daughter's dance recital. Obviously, that guy's in Big Trouble, too.

Details of mall life in modern America are wittily observed and make a cleverly incongruous background for Chuck's narrow escapes, mad dashes and clumsy attempts at swashbuckling. But he's no dope; if he were, he'd lose our sympathy soon enough. Behind that pocket protector, he's playful as a puppy.

To steal from the title of a great old Chuck Jones cartoon, this isn't just "Chuck" but "Chuck Amok," and if the premise and execution remind you of teen-aimed movies with similar setups and characters, at least it should remind you of the good ones, not the lame-o's. "Chuck" cheerfully brightens up NBC's Monday night of video fantastique and does it in a pretty magnifique way.

Get Behind Me Chuck!

Get Behind Me Chuck!

There had been some talk in the USA Weekend post about Zach Levi's religion so here is the article where he talks about his Christianity and how it affects ~his life~

I will bold the interesting parts.

FUTURE LOVERS?


For Zachary Levi, there has never been a backup plan.

For the 22-year-old actor and co-star of the ABC sitcom Less Than Perfect, acting was his calling; it was what he was supposed to do. After being cast in supporting roles in two NBC sitcom pilots (which weren’t picked up) and the TV movie Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie, Levi wasn’t satisfied. As a Christian in Hollywood, the most intensely competitive atmosphere in the entertainment world, he is constantly working to maintain both his positive attitude and his personal ministry in a jaded industry.

[RELEVANT magazine:] You were a mainstay in the Ojai Theater for several years doing The Outsiders, Godspell and other plays. What did you learn from live theater that is helping your career now?

[Zachary Levi:] Theater has been my entire training process because I never took any acting classes—any kind of conventional training. I learned everything that I know now from doing constant theater, working with different directors, writers and other actors. The actor that I am today would not exist had it not been for everyone that I’ve worked with before, God working within me, constantly keeping my eyes and my ears open to act as a sponge to soak that stuff up and then be able to spit it out when I needed to.


[RM:] Was your family involved in your acting at that point? How did they encourage you?

[ZL:] My family was always very supportive. Whether you’re an actor or not, everybody hears the horror stories of people going to L.A. and trying to be an actor, and their dreams are crushed, and they end up working for the IRS. So they were always protective to the point that they wanted me to have a backup plan, which is understandable, but there was always something inside of me that knew: backup plan, schmackup plan.

[RM:] Before Less Than Perfect you were a hard-working actor in Hollywood like a lot of people are today. What advice would you give others about going to audition after frustrating audition?

[ZL:] The first advice that I would give is to really spend time in prayer to make sure that this is exactly what God wants you to be doing and not just something that you really feel like you should be doing. Many times I have come home from a really devastating audition, and I’d be really thoroughly depressed because it was a role that I really was hoping for. I realized how crucial having a walk with God was because I could turn around and say, “It didn’t happen, but obviously it wasn’t God’s will.” People who don’t have God in their lives only have themselves to blame. So they look back at the audition and they say, “I didn’t do a good enough job.” But so often it has nothing to do with how good you did in the audition; it has to do with the fact that you’re a brunette and they were looking for a blonde. So, to me, the most important factor in all of the rejection was that I had a walk with God. As far as being an actor is concerned, you have to have passion. If you’re not bringing the passion of the character into the room with you, you might as well not come into the room at all.

[RM:] Now you’re part of one of the hottest casts in TV, and you’re playing the role of the archenemy. How have the last few months been for you?

[ZL:] It has been really crazy. You get free stuff; you get to be in the newspaper, in magazine articles and on television shows. It’s weird. To me, it hasn’t all completely sunk in yet. But at the same, I hope it never does. I hope it never completely sinks in. I hope there’s always at least a small part of me that’s always surprised, always taken aback, always childlike or innocent in the whole process.

[RM:] Is it hard to maintain that innocence in this environment?

[ZL:] Overall, as a human beings its hard to maintain that innocence. Even now sometimes I’ll find myself in a situation, and I’ll think to myself—and not in a really negative way but—“I wonder if they know who I am.” And not like, “Don’t you know who I am?” like I’m this huge guy, but I wonder if they know if that I am this guy on this TV show, more out of curiosity than anything else. But the problem is that the curiosity, in an instant, can turn into conceitedness. To me that’s what makes putting on the full armor of God everyday so important. Even saying that right now I feel like such a hypocrite, because reading your Bible and really spending alone time in prayer with the Lord every day, I stumble in that.

[RM:] Is Hollywood a difficult atmosphere to be in as a Christian?

[ZL:] Absolutely. The atmosphere in Hollywood in general is very anti-conservative, very anti-Christian. The liberal segment of Hollywood, which is 80 percent of it if not more, they look at Christians as hypocrites that are false and fake. The tough part is that in many cases I can’t argue with them. My job on my set, I believe, is to first just love people and gain that trust with people where they know that I really do love them and care about their well-being, so that when they are running into problems, they will hopefully, at some point, come to me and ask me, “What is your peace all about? What is your comfort all about? Where do you get your love? Where do you get your talents? And I can turn to them and say without blinking, “Jesus Christ.”
You can’t just come out there and say “Hey, I’m a Christian, and I’m gonna beat you into thinking the way that I do.” You can’t do that. It’s not about manipulation so much as it’s about getting in on someone’s life on the ground floor. So more than anything, that’s what I’m trying to do now. Just build relationships with everyone that I work with.