Earlier this week, we brought you the news that “Chuck” received a green light for a third season. The news came as the successful completition of several months of campaigning by fans and critics to make sure NBC didn’t forget the series when renewal time rolled around. The campaign worked and the only bad news is that “Chuck” fans will have to wait until March to see more adventures of Chuck Bartowski.
Speaking to New Jersey Star Ledger television critic Alan Sepinwall, NBC president Ben Silverman said the fan and critic’s campaign had a direct impact on the network’s decision to renew the show. Silverman went on to say that he thought the series stood to come back strong, given the marketing push NBC plans to give it and other shows during their coverage of the winter Olympics.
“We are so confident in the Olympic platform,” Silverman promised. “The Olympics obviously delivered a halo effect for everyone involved with it.” He also said they have “an incredible online plan” to keep the show in people’s minds between now and March.
And should the show perform well after the Olympics, Silverman would be open to a full-season of 22 episodes with fans getting new “Chuck” into the summer.
“We think it would pair very well with ‘Friday Night Lights.’ We love how young the show is and love where the show can grow,” said Silverman.
That news may or may not impact the storyline that co-creator Chris Fedak says has been mapped out for the third season.
“Because the episode order is for 13, we need to tell our story in a little different way, so you might not see every one of our castmembers in every episode, but that means when we do see them, they’ll get more time in that particular story,” said Fedak.
Fedak says that the series won’t do away with standalone episodes and that the series won’t become arc-heavy.
“Yes, we will have room to do standalone episodes. I think that it doesn’t change the overall story, but it does change how we structure the story, but we still will do standalone episodes,” he said.
Fedak did say he was surprised by how the product placement of a Subway foot-long sub in one of the season’s final episodes led to the campaign that got the show back. Fedak praised the fandom for helping getting the series a third season.
“That was such a great idea. When it comes to great ideas for promoting the show, that was an excellent idea,” he said.
Fedak went on to say that NBC is working to make sure that the show won’t be out of the minds of fans. He says an aggressive on-line campaign is planned for the show, though talks are only in the “preliminary” stage right now
LESS is the new MORE!
Just really happy to see Chuck back. They have any amazing cast, crew and writing staff, I know the stories are still going to be fun!
Peace,
Chav