Produced by College Hill Pictures, Fake Empire, Wonderland Sound and Vision and Warner Bros. Television, the series premiered on September 24, 2007, on NBC, airing on Monday nights at 8/7c.
Chuck was renewed and began in January, 2010 for a third season following a campaign mounted by fans to have the network renew the show. A major sponsorship deal between NBC and the Subway restaurant chain was also announced to help cover costs of the third season. A fourth season was picked up by NBC and began airing on NBC's fall 2010 schedule.
Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) is in his twenties, living in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles, California and working as a computer expert in the Nerd Herd at the Burbank Buy More (parodies of Best Buy's Geek Squad), a large retail consumer-electronics chain, with his best friend, Morgan Grimes (Joshua Gomez). Chuck's sister Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and her now-husband Devon "Captain Awesome" Woodcomb (Ryan McPartlin) are doctors who are constantly encouraging Chuck to make progress in his professional and romantic life.
At the beginning of the series, Chuck receives an e-mail from Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), his former Stanford University roommate, who is now an apparently "rogue" CIA agent. When he opens it, the entire database of all the US government's secret information — a neural supercomputer called the Intersect — is subliminally embedded into his brain. Both the NSA and the CIA want the intelligence returned to them and dispatch agents of their own — Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) — to retrieve the data.
Since the information was stolen by Bryce and the government's copy is destroyed in his attempted escape, and since Chuck experiences "flashes" of information from the database activated by certain triggers around him (such as faces, voices, in-context keywords, and various objects), he must use the knowledge he now possesses to help the government thwart assassins and international terrorists — upending his previously uneventful life. In order to preserve their safety, Chuck must keep his newfound occupation a secret from his family and friends, forcing Casey and Walker to establish an uneasy alliance and secret identities; Walker poses as Chuck's girlfriend and takes a cover job at a local restaurant near the Buy More while Casey reluctantly goes undercover as part of the Buy More team.
As the series progresses, it is revealed that rogue spies are engaged in a secret war with the legitimate intelligence community, and that Bryce stole the Intersect to keep the real rogue spies from capturing it. The rogue spies believe they can aid their cause by capturing the human Intersect or by building their own Intersect.
The government, meanwhile, wishes to rebuild the Intersect. This would make the Intersect in Chuck’s head redundant, making him a national security risk, so Casey is secretly under orders to kill Chuck if and when he becomes redundant. However, the new Intersect is destroyed by Fulcrum, a rogue spy agency.
Chuck, Sarah and Casey all face professional conflicts as they grow to respect each other and a genuine romantic interest develops between Chuck and Sarah. Chuck’s desire to maintain his close relationships and eventually return to a normal life is challenged by the dangers and growing responsibilities of his new secret life, and he gradually becomes a more competent, confident and willing spy.
Chuck's father, Stephen Bartowski (Scott Bakula), comes into the picture to be there for Ellie's wedding, which brings up painful memories of childhood for Ellie and Chuck. Stephen reveals himself to be a former CIA agent and creator of the Intersect shortly before he is captured and forced to create the Intersect 2.0. This advanced Intersect allows the user to perform physical tasks they previously could not (e.g. martial arts, foreign languages, and musical instrument skills) in addition to the functions of the original Intersect. A series of events leads Chuck to embed the new Intersect into his brain to keep it from being taken.
As of Season 3, Chuck has willingly decided to become a real spy, to Sarah's chagrin. Although he fails "spy school," his effectiveness in the field leads General Beckman to give him a second chance and reinstate him as a member of the team, where Daniel Shaw is introduced to encourage his development as an agent. Chuck struggles to learn to balance his emotions to control the Intersect, which is complicated by his lingering feelings for Sarah. Sarah and Shaw begin dating, but Shaw is turned by the Ring. In "Chuck Versus the American Hero" Chuck is officially inducted as an agent by General Beckman, and in the next episode, "Chuck Versus the Other Guy," he attempts his first kill, shooting Shaw in order to protect Sarah. Chuck and Sarah immediately return to a long-delayed relationship. Chuck's best friend Morgan Grimes also becomes privy to Chuck's "spy secret," following which General Beckman inducts him as part of Chuck's "spy team" and orders John Casey to train him.
In the finale of Season 3, Shaw is revealed to be alive and has downloaded the Intersect as well, and attempts to kill Sarah, Chuck and Casey, and compromise both the NSA and CIA. Chuck thwarts this plan, although his father is killed and his sister finally discovers his double life. The side-effects from the Intersect cause Chuck to regain a childhood memory in which he learns that he accidentally downloaded an early copy of the Intersect into his brain when he was still a young child. The season ends with a retired Chuck discovering his father's secret spy base, dedicated to locating and protecting Chuck's mother and performing spy work that "governments are afraid to do."
Season 4 begins with Chuck and Morgan out of jobs and traveling around the world looking for Chuck's mother, Mary Elizabeth Bartowski (Linda Hamilton), and soon rejoining the CIA, despite Ellie's initial discomfort with Chuck risking his life on spy work. Chuck and Sarah continue to have communication issues, and Chuck's search for his mother entangles him in a fight with Russian international arms dealer Alexei Volkoff (Timothy Dalton) and his far-reaching organization Volkoff Industries, whom she was assigned to infiltrate 20 years earlier. Over the course of the season, Chuck and Sarah work out their communication issues, while trying to figure out where Mrs. Bartowski's loyalties really lie. Because she knowingly erased the Intersect from Chuck's brain (using a program housed in a PlayStation Portable), she is assumed to be a rogue agent, but her subsequent help in orchestrating Chuck and Sarah's escape from a deadly situation causes them to once again question her motives. In the episode "Chuck Versus the Leftovers", Chuck regains the use of the Intersect when he activates a laptop found in the back of a car left for Ellie by their father. At the end of "Chuck Versus the Balcony", Sarah tells Chuck that she is going undercover as a double agent to bring down Volkoff Industries and bring back Mary Bartowski. Sarah works undercover in Volkoff for a few weeks until Chuck devises a plan to take Volkoff down. With the arrest of Volkoff, the family rushes to the hospital where Ellie is in labor. Clara Woodcomb is born as Chuck proposes to Sarah and she says yes.
At the beginning of the series, Chuck receives an e-mail from Bryce Larkin (Matthew Bomer), his former Stanford University roommate, who is now an apparently "rogue" CIA agent. When he opens it, the entire database of all the US government's secret information — a neural supercomputer called the Intersect — is subliminally embedded into his brain. Both the NSA and the CIA want the intelligence returned to them and dispatch agents of their own — Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Agent Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski) — to retrieve the data.
Since the information was stolen by Bryce and the government's copy is destroyed in his attempted escape, and since Chuck experiences "flashes" of information from the database activated by certain triggers around him (such as faces, voices, in-context keywords, and various objects), he must use the knowledge he now possesses to help the government thwart assassins and international terrorists — upending his previously uneventful life. In order to preserve their safety, Chuck must keep his newfound occupation a secret from his family and friends, forcing Casey and Walker to establish an uneasy alliance and secret identities; Walker poses as Chuck's girlfriend and takes a cover job at a local restaurant near the Buy More while Casey reluctantly goes undercover as part of the Buy More team.
As the series progresses, it is revealed that rogue spies are engaged in a secret war with the legitimate intelligence community, and that Bryce stole the Intersect to keep the real rogue spies from capturing it. The rogue spies believe they can aid their cause by capturing the human Intersect or by building their own Intersect.
The government, meanwhile, wishes to rebuild the Intersect. This would make the Intersect in Chuck’s head redundant, making him a national security risk, so Casey is secretly under orders to kill Chuck if and when he becomes redundant. However, the new Intersect is destroyed by Fulcrum, a rogue spy agency.
Chuck, Sarah and Casey all face professional conflicts as they grow to respect each other and a genuine romantic interest develops between Chuck and Sarah. Chuck’s desire to maintain his close relationships and eventually return to a normal life is challenged by the dangers and growing responsibilities of his new secret life, and he gradually becomes a more competent, confident and willing spy.
Chuck's father, Stephen Bartowski (Scott Bakula), comes into the picture to be there for Ellie's wedding, which brings up painful memories of childhood for Ellie and Chuck. Stephen reveals himself to be a former CIA agent and creator of the Intersect shortly before he is captured and forced to create the Intersect 2.0. This advanced Intersect allows the user to perform physical tasks they previously could not (e.g. martial arts, foreign languages, and musical instrument skills) in addition to the functions of the original Intersect. A series of events leads Chuck to embed the new Intersect into his brain to keep it from being taken.
As of Season 3, Chuck has willingly decided to become a real spy, to Sarah's chagrin. Although he fails "spy school," his effectiveness in the field leads General Beckman to give him a second chance and reinstate him as a member of the team, where Daniel Shaw is introduced to encourage his development as an agent. Chuck struggles to learn to balance his emotions to control the Intersect, which is complicated by his lingering feelings for Sarah. Sarah and Shaw begin dating, but Shaw is turned by the Ring. In "Chuck Versus the American Hero" Chuck is officially inducted as an agent by General Beckman, and in the next episode, "Chuck Versus the Other Guy," he attempts his first kill, shooting Shaw in order to protect Sarah. Chuck and Sarah immediately return to a long-delayed relationship. Chuck's best friend Morgan Grimes also becomes privy to Chuck's "spy secret," following which General Beckman inducts him as part of Chuck's "spy team" and orders John Casey to train him.
In the finale of Season 3, Shaw is revealed to be alive and has downloaded the Intersect as well, and attempts to kill Sarah, Chuck and Casey, and compromise both the NSA and CIA. Chuck thwarts this plan, although his father is killed and his sister finally discovers his double life. The side-effects from the Intersect cause Chuck to regain a childhood memory in which he learns that he accidentally downloaded an early copy of the Intersect into his brain when he was still a young child. The season ends with a retired Chuck discovering his father's secret spy base, dedicated to locating and protecting Chuck's mother and performing spy work that "governments are afraid to do."
Season 4 begins with Chuck and Morgan out of jobs and traveling around the world looking for Chuck's mother, Mary Elizabeth Bartowski (Linda Hamilton), and soon rejoining the CIA, despite Ellie's initial discomfort with Chuck risking his life on spy work. Chuck and Sarah continue to have communication issues, and Chuck's search for his mother entangles him in a fight with Russian international arms dealer Alexei Volkoff (Timothy Dalton) and his far-reaching organization Volkoff Industries, whom she was assigned to infiltrate 20 years earlier. Over the course of the season, Chuck and Sarah work out their communication issues, while trying to figure out where Mrs. Bartowski's loyalties really lie. Because she knowingly erased the Intersect from Chuck's brain (using a program housed in a PlayStation Portable), she is assumed to be a rogue agent, but her subsequent help in orchestrating Chuck and Sarah's escape from a deadly situation causes them to once again question her motives. In the episode "Chuck Versus the Leftovers", Chuck regains the use of the Intersect when he activates a laptop found in the back of a car left for Ellie by their father. At the end of "Chuck Versus the Balcony", Sarah tells Chuck that she is going undercover as a double agent to bring down Volkoff Industries and bring back Mary Bartowski. Sarah works undercover in Volkoff for a few weeks until Chuck devises a plan to take Volkoff down. With the arrest of Volkoff, the family rushes to the hospital where Ellie is in labor. Clara Woodcomb is born as Chuck proposes to Sarah and she says yes.