'Chuck' to Premiere Jan. 10

Today NBC announced its midseason and post Olympic schedule including the much-anticipated Jan. 10 return of 'Chuck.' The season starts off with a two hour premiere and then moves to its home, Mondays at 8PM ET.

Created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, 'Chuck' is a mixture of action and comedy, following the tale of an average computer geek (Zachary Levi ) who gets his brain literally encoded with spy secrets.Today NBC announced its midseason and post Olympic schedule including the much-anticipated Jan. 10 return of 'Chuck.' The season starts off with a two hour premiere and then moves to its home, Mondays at 8PM ET.

Created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, 'Chuck' is a mixture of action and comedy, following the tale of an average computer geek (Zachary Levi ) who gets his brain literally encoded with spy secrets.

The series premiered on Sept. 24, 2007 to strong critical reviews. Rolling Stone included the show on its 2007 "We Like to Watch" list while Time magazine called it one of the top 10 shows of 2008 and deemed it a "delight." The awards soon followed and 'Chuck' was nominated for the 2008 People's Choice award for Best New Comedy Series.

But ratings didn't echo critics. A hit from the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike as well as competition from rival network shows like 'Dancing with the Stars' on ABC and 'How I Met Your Mother' on CBS, kept 'Chuck' from reaching its full potential. The first season drew 8.68 million viewers while the second season pulled considerably less with 7.36 million.

In April 2009, there was concern from fans and execs that the show would be killed. Fans immediately launched a "Save 'Chuck'' campaign, making use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Letter writing campaigns and fan sites popped up as well and both cast and crew members got in on the action, encouraging fans to keep it up and appearing in a "rally cry" episode. The series won USA Today's "Save our Shows" poll and received mentions throughout pop culture including 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.'

The campaigns worked, even gaining sponsorship from Subway Restaurants to help cover costs for a third season in a 13-episode order that has now been extended to 19.


Watch 'Chuck' episodes online at SlashControl