Inessentials: The Blog

Although less vocal about it, I’ve been just as concerned about the future of NBC’s Chuck as the professional TV critics and major TV bloggers. It is the very peak of television entertainment right now. There are certainly better shows, by the standards of quality that apply to television, but there is none that is at a relatively high quality and so enjoyable to watch. (I love Breaking Bad but still haven’t finished the first season, because it’s a tough show to watch. I have to get just as prepared to watch Mad Men or Friday Night Lights, any of which could claim to be the best show on TV right now.)

One thing that has stumped a lot of people is why this show isn’t more popular. It’s incredibly funny and grounded with emotionally compelling dramatic moments. It’s easy to pick up what’s going on in an episode if you’ve never seen it before, but it also has major plot arcs that keep you interested in where the creators are taking the story. It’s got extremely talented and good-looking actors. Americans usually love spy movies and some spy TV shows have been very popular. So why not Chuck?

I think there are a few reasons.

1. A popular theory is that it’s in a really tough time slot, with stiff competition. This is true, but this doesn’t seem like enough. This show should be very, very popular and there aren’t many “freebie” time slots out there or sure-thing lead-ins.
2. Is it poorly advertised? I have to admit having no interest in it when bombarded with ads on NBC two summers ago. Nicole talked me into giving it a try, and I quickly got hooked. I didn’t start to love the show until this season, when it became much more consistent and much funnier. Does NBC need to rethink its marketing?
3. Here’s a big problem: It’s on NBC. And people just don’t watch NBC. I’d love to get viewers of NBC’s The Office and 30 Rock to watch Chuck, but even those shows are pretty weak overall (but fairly strong on DVR numbers and in 18-49). Five bucks says ratings would go up by at least 10% if this show were on ABC and 15% if it were on CBS. NBC has lost its domination over the hearts of my generation, who grew up watching Seinfeld and Friends on NBC. Now, we’re given Deal or No Deal, and soon 5 nights of Leno. Ugh. But how do we get 2 or 3 times as many people to watch this show?
4. Here’s another big problem: The sort of people who would like Chuck don’t watch TV. If they do, they watch it on a DVR, like I do, or they watch it on Hulu or iTunes or less legal means. But people under 30 have migrated away from television. Chuck is just a byproduct of a larger trend.
5. People just don’t like it. Let’s face it, we don’t all have the same taste in television. Perhaps those of us who see Chuck as a should-be-huge hit are just way off the mark. Maybe, but that doesn’t really explain why it’s not a hit.
6. But the single biggest reason why I think that Chuck isn’t more popular is this (and it’s related to the above points): Families don’t watch TV together. Although it’s littered with pop culture references in a very ‘00-style, Chuck is fundamentally an ’80s show like MacGyver or The A-Team or Quantum Leap. It’s fun, and funny, and there’s something for adults to appreciate (okay, maybe not on The A-Team) and something for kids to find incredibly cool. And it’s a mostly clean show that a whole family can sit down on watch together. But nobody does that any more. With the proliferation of media, an entire family can be watching TV, but each member watching something different and in different places. A show like this can’t exist in that environment. Apart from some very vague sexual references and some underwear scenes, this is a show that you can watch with your grandma and your eight year-old. But nobody watches television with their grandma and their eight year-old. If they are, they’re watching American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, which require absolutely nothing from the viewer (beside the cost of the occasional text).

If you are not watching Chuck, it’s not too late to start. Gather the family ’round and watch it together.

UPDATE:

I realized I left one other suggestion off the list. Last year, NBC decided not to bring back most of its shows after the writer’s strike. Across all networks, shows that ended their run early were hit much harder than those that came back for a few episodes in the spring. This certainly contributed to the decline of Chuck as well as the wonderful Pushing Daisies on ABC. Again, that’s not enough to explain its low rating overall, though.

Also, my wonderful commenters have gotten me to thinking that there is perhaps more limited appeal to this show than I initially thought. Part of the problem with Chuck might be that it’s the female lead who is the competent spy and the male lead might be just too nerdy. While I love the Seth Cohen-Sidney Bristow dynamic, that playful take on the spy genre might be off putting to people who want their spies to be manly men. Other shows with intense followings were never going to be big hits: many people have no interest in shows about teenagers (Friday Night Lights and Freaks and Geeks) and some comedies have too many in-jokes (Arrested Development) or are in genres people don’t care for (Battlestar Galactica). I thought that as a funny, sexy spy show that Chuck would be immune, but maybe people really want a show called Captain Awesome?