NBC Renews Chuck
Monday May 18, 2009
More good news for the fall season: ahead of Tuesday's formal upfronts, NBC has let it be known that Chuck is coming back for a third season.
The order, however, is only for 13 episodes, and word is that two staff writers are being cut and the supporting cast will be trimmed by at least one (Michael Ausiello assumes this will be the sporadically appearing Anna Wu), with the rest getting reduced screen time – all part of a move to cut costs industry-wide, especially on shows that have yet to deliver boffo ratings. NBC had decided to renew the show as long as costs could be cut, so the delay in announcing its renewal can be put down to haggling over how much the budget could be tightened.
Some pundits had been predicting that Chuck's renewal might be iffy, in part because NBC has fewer hourlong prime-time drama slots after giving Jay Leno weeknights at 10. This speculation prompted a successful fan campaign, the main side-effect of which is that the blogosphere has become even more saturated with various conjugations of the word "Twitter."
Creator Josh Schwartz has spent the waiting time pondering Chuck's future should he get to come back. "Chuck and Sarah's relationship will be one of the major driving stories of next season – should we have one," he said, adding that they already "know how next season would end."
The order, however, is only for 13 episodes, and word is that two staff writers are being cut and the supporting cast will be trimmed by at least one (Michael Ausiello assumes this will be the sporadically appearing Anna Wu), with the rest getting reduced screen time – all part of a move to cut costs industry-wide, especially on shows that have yet to deliver boffo ratings. NBC had decided to renew the show as long as costs could be cut, so the delay in announcing its renewal can be put down to haggling over how much the budget could be tightened.
Some pundits had been predicting that Chuck's renewal might be iffy, in part because NBC has fewer hourlong prime-time drama slots after giving Jay Leno weeknights at 10. This speculation prompted a successful fan campaign, the main side-effect of which is that the blogosphere has become even more saturated with various conjugations of the word "Twitter."
Creator Josh Schwartz has spent the waiting time pondering Chuck's future should he get to come back. "Chuck and Sarah's relationship will be one of the major driving stories of next season – should we have one," he said, adding that they already "know how next season would end."
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