Remote View: Geek Moves 
Chuck becomes a super-spy, Conan gets shafted, the Kids are back
By Blaine Kyllo | Friday, January 8, 2010
Geeks around the world have reasons to be happy and angry this week. Chuck returns to the airwaves. That's good. NBC is bargaining to push Conan O'Brien's The Tonight Show later in the evening. Not so good. Comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall are back with an original mini-series. That's great, but only if you're Canadian.How many spies can Chuck chuck?
The affable nerd with the super computer in his head, returns to the airwaves Sunday, January 10 for a two-hour premiere on NBC (Citytv in Canada). It moves to its regular Monday night slot on the schedule the following evening.
But in this third season, the super geek will have transformed into a super spy. Sort of.
The second season finale, in which spy skills are added to the computer in Chuck's brain, also worked as a series finale. At the time, producers and cast were fairly convinced their show was getting axed.
But a last-minute reprieve from NBC, stimulated in part by the outpouring of love from fans which led to a sponsorship deal with Subway, saved the show.
We've been without new episodes of the show since last spring, and what we'll get a chance to see on Sunday is exactly how well Chuck will cope with the fact that he suddenly knows kung fu. Because what he'll realize is that he doesn't have access to those super spy skills all the time. And they have a way of disappearing when his emotions get the best of him.
In short? Chuck won't be quite the super spy he might expect he's become. Cue laughter.
I'll be Tweeting through the two-hour premiere on Sunday night, so tune your Twitter to @CinemaSpy and #Chuck to participate in the conversation.
The original 13-episode order was bumped to nineteen episodes. Given that NBC worked so hard to get rid of its 10 p.m. programming, I wonder if they're going to again increase their order for Chuck now that the "Leno experiment" is being deemed a failure.
"I guess that didn't work": NBC
NBC made waves last year when it decided to kill its primetime dramas in favour of a nightly variety show featuring Jay Leno.
The move was made for two reasons. First, to reduce programming costs for the network that has been languishing in last place among the four main broadcasters.
The second reason was to keep Leno on the Peacock. NBC had promised The Tonight Show to Conan O'Brien, who's contract had a hefty penalty if NBC tried to renege on its original promise that he would one day host the talk show. By giving Leno another show, NBC prevented him from taking his ratings-best show to another network.
NBC execs did not want to face another David Letterman defection.
But only a few months into the experiment, NBC is trying to find a way out of it. Of course, the problem isn't with the decision to kill 10 p.m. dramas, because NBC insists that Leno is performing exactly as execs predicted. Instead, NBC is putting responsibility for the decision on the shoulders of its affiliates, which have seen ratings for their local news programs evaporate with Leno's weak lead in.
But Conan, who is third only to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in the hearts of geeks everywhere, looks to be taking the one who will suffer the most, as it looks like The Tonight Show is going to be moved to just after midnight. It's a slap in the face to geeks, although the later start doesn't really matter to most of them, who are time-shifting the show anyway, or watching the juicy bits through other means.
The Kids are gonna kill
In terms of nerd humour, before there was Flight of the Conchords there was The Kids in the Hall. And while the former troupe might have decided to call it quits, the latter comedians return to television next week, on Tuesday, January 12.
The Kids in the Hall — Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson — are starring in an eight-part miniseries on CBC, Canada's national public broadcaster, called Death Comes to Town.
The half-hour episodes revolve around a murder that has occurred in a fictional, rural Ontario town, and as with their original sketch comedy show, the five actors play nearly all the characters, including men, women and the Grim Reaper.
The miniseries is sure to find its way onto DVD at some point. Those of you who don't reside in or near Canada will have to wait. But we geeks always seem to find a way to get what we want, right?
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