Chuck Fans Try to "Social Network" a Reprieve

Recently we started hearing speculation – and let's be clear, it's no more than that – that NBC might not bring back Chuck for a third season. Since then fans have gotten serious about saving the show, using every technology known to geekdom to get the message out that Chuck is worth keeping around.

There's no definitive word of Chuck's fate until May 5, though some are whispering that renewal now seems more likely. Although its ratings have not been spectacular by any means (6.11 million for the season finale on April 27, fourth in its time slot behind 19 million for Dancing with the Stars and 11.4 million for House), the fact that Chuck's fate is up in the air has less to do with the show itself than NBC's having promised to give over five precious primetime hours to Jay Leno.

That said, I think that Chuck's quality – its strong writing, solid acting, excellent soundtrack, and (despite the occasional intensely stupid B plots involving the Buy More supernumeraries) overall intelligence – is being underappreciated. I had a friend tell me the other day that he doesn't watch Chuck because it looked like a lamer version of Reaper – when in fact, as I've demonstrated, it's the other way around.

Either way, Chuck fans (and sympathetic critics) are blogging, tweeting, and generally social networking to save the show – a far cry from Bjo Trimble's laborious letter-writing that saved Star Trek, or the vast amounts of nuts sent to CBS to salvage Jericho. "This show is by geeks, about geeks and for geeks," said Josh Schwartz, Chuck's creator, "so who better to know how to adapt to emerging technologies."

Schwartz explained he and his team have been trying to make Chuck something different. "The show has been a great gift to work on and we always really believed in it," said Schwartz. "What we are trying to do with the show is something that is original and a blend of so many different genres ... and so I think it has the ability to reach a broad spectrum."

Meanwhile, Ryan McPartlin, who portrays the newly in-the-know Devon Woodcomb, has been talking to fans and bloggers to let them know how much the cast and crew appreciate the support. "There's something about knowing what time and day of the week your [favorite] show is going to be on and the comfort of that regardless of what's going on in your life," he said. "This is crunch time, and we've got to do what we can."