Chuck: Season 1 [DVD]

Taking the secret world of the spy and turning it on its head, Chuck (Zachary Levi in a career-making turn) is all about a nerdy sales assistant who one day unwittingly has all of the CIA and NSA's secret files downloaded into his brain. Now a walking database of informative espionage, he must be protected at all costs as he slowly finds himself being dragged further and further into his handlers' (the ever excellent Adam Baldwin and the extremely capable Yvonne Strahovski) world of danger, double crossing and occasional death.

Well there's the blurb out of the way.

This show has everything: humour, action, romance, twists, lies, excitement and things that go boom! Levi is frankly excellent, and in this casting Schwartz has managed not only to nail his demographic, but also make the character of Chuck almost universally likeable. Levi is so endearing that you are constantly rooting for him in life, love and laughs. He is matched by an excellent supporting cast. Adam Baldwin is cranky as ever and Yvonne Strahovski impresses not only on the eyes but also in terms of her character. Sarah, and particularly her relationship with Chuck, proves to be nearly central to everything. Although seen through Chuck's eyes, she is bound up in everything as the agency member increasingly torn between duty and desire. Sarah Lancaster is brilliant as Chuck's concerned sister, and Ryan McPartlin provides ample comic relief as her fiancee. The staff of Chuck's workplace - the Buy More - are all superbly cast, with Joshua Gomez's Morgan working the geek bromance comedy with effortless ease.

The concept is ridiculous, the situations often laughable; but this is the finest piece of escapist television I've seen in a while. The action is good enough to appease set-piece junkies. The comedy, whilst not perhaps always laugh-out-loud, is certainly well timed. The relationships between the characters and the onscreen chemistry is spot on. Slick, well executed and genre-spanning. Chuck is a well worthy addition to your boxset library. Let's just hope Season 2 gets released quickly over here on dvd too!

A friend recommended I watch this and lent me the box set. I read the blurb on the back and thought "what a load of crap!" My friend kept nagging me to watch it so after several weeks I put it on. Pure brilliance! I was in stitches with laughter and my neighbour could hear me laughing through the walls.
I couldn't stop watching. I think I managed all the episodes in 3 days.

Adam Baldwin is my favourite. He's brilliant in his role as the snarly NSA agent. All the characters work well together and although the plot lines are a bit whacky, who cares??

If you're unsure, like I was - give it a go and watch it! You will not regret it.

I just wish season 2 would hurry up and get released!!

First of all here's what you want to know. This is a three disc set that's region free! Yes, it will play on your UK PS3 or Blu-ray player. This set has subtitles and a few extras. They include some small features, a gag reel and deleted scenes. There's thirteen episodes which are spread across three discs. Seven episodes on disc one and three episodes on disc two and three. Why didn't they just put four episodes on each disc? The sound is perfectly fine and is upgraded from the standard 2.0 Dolby on televison to 5.1 However the picture isn't great. It's a three star transfer that's hampered with grain throughout. It looks better then the television broadcasts but not as good as other warner releases like Smallville. Some of the scenes stand out and occasionally it felt like I was watching a decent HD picture. But most of the time it's not that much sharper then standard DVD. It's a shame that this transfer isn't in the same league as demo discs like Enchanted and I Robot. But it's worth buying if you're a fan and is the best picture available of the NBC series.