Chuck: Season 1 (www.the-usher.com)

Pilot
Chuck Bartowski is an average computer geek until files upon files of government secrets are downloaded into his brain. He is soon scouted by the CIA and NSA to act in place of their computer.

Chuck Versus the Helicopter
As Chuck is beginning to adapt to his new life as a spy, a doctor who could possibly "cure" Chuck is murdered. Chuck then begins a high-speed fight for his life, all while trying to decide which of his two new colleagues might be out to get him. Meanwhile, Chuck's sister Ellie invites Sarah to dinner to meet the family.

Chuck Versus the Tango
Chuck needs the help of Morgan and the Nerd Herd to prove that he is ready to become the store's assistant manager. Sarah and John assign Chuck his first undercover spy mission to foil a terrorism plot.

Chuck Versus the Wookie
Chuck's latest mission has him raiding a Malibu mansion to grab a million dollar diamond being used to fund terrorism. Tagging along is an attractive but less-than-trustworthy DEA agent.

Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp
After his intuition is wrong while working on a stakeout, Chuck feels morally obligated to make things right, even when both Sarah and Casey refuse to help with Chuck's new mission. Meanwhile, Morgan has to participate in a sales competition that could decide his fate at Buy More.

Chuck Versus the Sandworm
In this Halloween episode Chuck meets a Federal agent just like him: A computer whiz whose brain is important to national security. However, Chuck soon has a personal dilemma arise when he has to decide whether or not to turn the man over to Sarah and Casey or to help him escape his handlers.

Chuck Versus the Alma Mater
Returning to Stanford, the University that expelled him, Chuck has to help a former professor who is a government agent being hunted for a sensitive top-secret file he has in his possession. At the same time, Chuck learns much about himself and about the death of his friend Bryce Larkin.

Chuck Versus the Truth
Chuck must learn to balance a real love life with his cover love life when he meets a charming young woman by the name of Lou. At the same time, his relationship with Sarah gets interesting when the duo must explain their sexual relations with Ellie and Captain Awesome on a double date. Meanwhile, there is trouble when someone is using truth poison in order to retrieve codes for nuclear facilities.

Chuck Versus the Imported Hard Salami
Not all of Sarah's feelings for Chuck may have been a cover, as she finds out, when Chuck begins to date Lou, a sandwich maker. When things couldn't get even more complicated, Lou turns out to be part of a smuggling ring.

Chuck Versus the Nemesis
Chuck discovers that his former roommate and old nemesis, Bryce Larkin, is still alive, and that a renegade group within the CIA is after the Intersect.Chuck then has to balance helping Bryce return to the legitimate CIA, with the year's busiest shopping day at the Buy More.

Chuck Versus the Crown
Vic While coping with the realization that Sarah still has feelings for Bryce, Chuck must assume his toughest cover yet by going on a mission as Sarah's husband. The team must foil the plot of a politically connected counterfeiter, who may be endangering the lives of Anna, Morgan and Anna's parents. Both Morgan and Anna also find themselves in the cross hairs.

Chuck Versus the Undercover Lover
The episode begins with a flashback to the year 2004, where John Casey is involved with a female Russian named Ilsa, who claims she is a photo journalist. Later, in present day, Ilsa returns with a fianc�, named Victor Federov. Things get complicated when it is revealed that Ilsa is a French spy.

Chuck Versus the Marlin
Chuck finds a bug in the Buy More, which leads Casey and Sarah to take drastic measures to find out whether the truth about Chuck has been discovered. Whilst facing the possibility that he may have to leave his life forever, Chuck loses something very important- the engagement ring for Ellie entrusted to him by Captain Awesome.

TV Shows about spies and Government agencies are nothing new but can 'Chuck' bring something different to the genre?

Since James Bond made his big screen debut in the 1960s, the spy has become the stable of many a movie after that but it is on the small screen were you had some memorable outings. With 'Mission: Impossible' setting the standard for series drama, you also had 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E', 'I, Spy' and 'Get Smart' that injected some humour into the genre. The modern iterations have seen a more realistic take with '24' and British series 'Spooks' setting the standard very high indeed but 'Chuck' sees a return to the humour of the classic 60s series.

The premise is simple. When American agent Bryce Larkin steals the Intersect, a government database that holds all of the US intelligence on everything, he send it to his old Stanford computer geek roommate Chuck Bartowski just before he is shot and killed trying to escape. While you may think that having a database on your computer isn't that much of a threat but when Chuck opens it, the database downloads into his brain. Now every time he sees something that is in or connected to the database, all of the information flashes in his brain. When the CIA and the NSA discover this, they assign agents Sarah Walker and John Casey to protect him and keep the fact that he has all of America's intelligence in his head a secret.

The spy premise opens up the show for action, as Chuck provides the information to the agents to solve cases and apprehend the enemies of the US but it is how it affects Chuck's normal life that makes the show so appealing. Chuck works as one of the technical team known as the Nerd Herd, in a huge electronics superstore known as the Buy More. Here is were his best friend, Morgan also works and it is Chuck's new undercover work he really has to keep secret from because he will want to get involved. He also has his family life, living with his sister Ellie and her boyfriend who is simply known as Captain Awesome and Chuck definitely has to keep them out of danger. This, of course, only adds to the comedy of the show producing a great mix of this and action drama.

The large ensemble cast is also very good. Zachary Levi leads the line as the suitably geeky but still handsome Chuck. Yvonne Strahovski is beautiful as Agent Sarah Walker but also able to hold her own in a fight. Adam Baldwin is as brilliant as ever as the overly aggressive John Casey. Add to this a very funny turn by Joshua Gomez as Morgan Grimes, the gorgeous Sarah Lancaster as Chuck's sister Ellie and the reoccurring characters in the Buy More also add to the fun.

'Chuck' is another fine example of exceptionally good of high concept television. With a good running premise with a mix of comedy that is just right, this is a show that you cannot help but enjoy and one that will become a firm favourite over seasons to come.

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