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Spies, hot girls, and . . . humor? It’s the brilliant world of Chuck.

Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) is an ordinary guy who works at the Buy More (Best Buy, effectively) and likes to play Call of Duty with his buddy Morgan (Joshua Gomez) until he receives an email that changes his life. His ex-roommate from Stanford and nemesis, Bryce Larkin, in his last moments sent Chuck an email containing stolen government secrets put together into a string of subliminal images. That’s when the government comes to call.

CIA agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) and NSA Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin, who played the brilliantly comic Jayne on Firefly) are two spies who take Chuck and the computer stuck in his brain (dubbed “the intersect”) under their wing. Sarah is sweet and pretty, whereas Casey is a bit of a violent thug. The three team up to identify threats to the government and neutralize them, all the while keeping their cover – which for Casey means employment at the Buy More and for Sarah means posing as Chuck’s girlfriend and an employee of the Weinerlicious, a hot dog shop next door.

Each episode is silly and full of cool spy action. It takes the show a few episodes to hit it’s stride, but once that’s done, it becomes increasingly difficult to stop watching. In “Chuck Vs. The Sizzling Shrimp”, we see Chuck’s difficulty in balancing his regular Joe life with his undercover spy gig when his sister wants to hang out, his buddy Morgan needs his help, and there’s a top Chinese spy in town. “Chuck vs. The Nemesis” brings a startling surprise guest to the show, shaking up the group dynamic in ways no one can quite grasp. “Chuck vs. The Truth” is quite possibly my favorite episode – everyone gets doused with a bit of truth serum, leading to some wacky, uncomfortable moments – especially from the fantastic Adam Baldwin.

But the show isn’t just about spy stuff. Chuck’s life at the Buy More, and his bizarre (and very funny) co-workers are a fantastic group of comedic actors who work so well together. Chuck’s sister, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and her boyfriend Captain Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) also provide for wacky fun (and how could the boyfriend not, with the name ‘Captain Awesome’?).

The show was created by Josh Schwartz (who also created The O.C.) and Chris Fedak. McG (Charlie’s Angels) is an executive producer, but luckily, his machinations are not easy to see. In true Josh Schwartz form, however, the show is packed with geek humor and cultural references. I kept track throughout the course of two episodes, and came up with a list of twenty-three references, including Lost, Star Wars, Spartacus, Enter the Dragon, Big Trouble in Little China, Real Genius, House on Haunted Hill, War Games and countless Bond films.

With the influx of television show DVD releases, we are seeing the aftermath of the writer’s strike. Sadly there are only thirteen episodes, but the DVD set makes up for it by plying us with a good selection of bonus material. More episodes have deleted scenes than not. There’s a featurette called “Chuck on Chuck” where Josh Schwartz, Chris Fedak, Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez watch and comment on some of their favorite scenes, which tend to coincide with some of mine. “Chuck’s World: Character Development and Original Casting Sessions” is another great featurette, and my favorite is also here – a gag reel entitled “Chuck vs. The Chuckles”.

This is a great show. Buy it, watch it, tivo the new season, which thankfully comes back at the end of September.

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