Chucksters vs. The Goodbye - Give Me My Remote : Give Me My Remote

Chucksters vs. The Goodbye

January 27, 2012 by  

How do you say goodbye to something that has been a big part of your life for five years? That’s the question all longtime viewers of NBC’s CHUCK are asking themselves right now.

How can a mere television show mean so much to a group of people? Notice I didn’t use the word fans? If you’ve been with the show since the night of September 24, 2007 when CHUCK first aired, then you’re more than a fan; you’re part of the family. That’s what we’ve become — strangers with a common devotion that have melded into a family, a support system, a group of modern day Literati.

When CHUCK faced cancellation at the end of season 2, we banded together eating Subway sandwiches and creating a “Save CHUCK!” campaign that pushed NBC into renewing. When CHUCK was renewed without any help from us for season 4, it made television history, becoming the first show to earn it’s own renewal for an additional season after the one the campaign renewed. (Even STAR TREK couldn’t do that!) When a fifth season was in question the family came to the support of the show yet again with the ingenious #NotANielsenFamily campaign on Twitter. What other show has that kind of loyal and creative following? I suppose that being a nerd didn’t hurt.

CHUCK made history in another way, too — it made the networks realize that modern viewers tend to watch not only on broadcast nights, but increasingly by delay. DVRs and streaming now have to be taken into consideration in rating a program’s popularity. WE did that!

And now, finally, it’s time to say goodbye.

How do we say goodbye to Zachary Levi and Chuck Bartowski, the epitome of the geek who made good? The man who never really wanted anything more than what he had to begin with — family and friends?

How do we say goodbye to Yvonne Strahovski and Sarah Walker Bartowski, the ruthless C.I.A. agent that wanted only to be a “real” woman with all that entails?

How do we say goodbye to Adam Baldwin and John Casey, who despite being a heartless, loner assassin, realized the benefits family and friends bring without losing your edge?

How do we say goodbye to Joshua Gomez and Morgan Grimes, the loyal, nerdy, screw-up friend you can always count on?

How do we say goodbye to Ryan McPartland and Sarah Lancaster, Awesome and Ellie, the bedrock that served Chuck as a support system for five years?

How do we say goodbye to Mekenna Melvin and Alex McHugh, Casey’s daughter?

Yes, and let’s not forget the deranged Buy More crew: Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay and Mark Christopher Lawrence, the show’s Jeff, Lester and Big Mike, so often the parallel of what was happening in the spy world. I’ll never be able to say the word “pineapple” again without remembering the chaos that followed its use at the Buy More.

We say goodbye in the way you always say goodbye — with love and thankfulness that these people were part of our world. We were lucky to have them for five years and they will be sorely missed.

Thanks also to producers Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak for creating the CHUCK-verse and to the many writers and production crew members that brought that world to life.

For all our family members there’s going to be a big hole. When you find yourself remembering, do it thankfully and haul out those BluRays and DVD’s. CHUCK will always be there. And who knows, maybe there will be a CHUCK reunion movie a year or two down the road. (Are you finally listening, Warner Brothers?) Stranger things have happened. We’ve witnessed them!

How do we ultimately say goodbye? Easy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Filed under Chuck

Comments

7 Responses to “Chucksters vs. The Goodbye”

  1. Em on January 27th, 2012 11:35 pm

    I’ve loved the show ever since the pilot, and I thought the finale was FANTASTIC. PERFECT. Well done, everyone in the cast and crew. Thank you!

  2. Kath (@canakatydid) on January 28th, 2012 9:47 am

    Probably shouldn’t have read this at work this morning…the tears are welling up in my eyes again.

    Thank you for a great article and helping us to find another way to say “good-bye” and much more importantly, “thank you” to all things Chuck…including your wonderful recaps!

  3. Agent52 on January 28th, 2012 1:36 pm

    Thanks for your kind words, Kath It was great fun doing these. I’m glad you enjoyed reading them. Now what do we do?

  4. Kath (canakatydid) on January 28th, 2012 3:12 pm

    Cry…be thankful it happened…and watch a whole lot of Chuck on DVD! 😉

  5. Richard on January 30th, 2012 1:43 am

    As the mans says. It’s not over until its over. Chuck fans unite. Sign the petition and pass it on. http://glorbi.com/bringbackchuck/index?err=fill

  6. Emily on January 30th, 2012 11:16 am

    It’s been a great 5 years! I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you Nerd Herders!

  7. http://saltburntown.co.uk/jobstest/view/artefact.php?artefact=411&view=138 on July 13th, 2013 9:16 am

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