Although NBC has not officially held its upfront yet, the news is pouring in via a number of sources that Chuck has been renewed for a third season.

The caveat is that it’s only for 13 episodes (with a potential back-9 pickup) and there’s going to be some budget cutting.

Exactly how the budget is going to be cut isn’t yet released, but expect to see some minor characters reduced in scope and possibly eliminated altogether.  It is also reported that the show is going to lose a couple of staff writers.

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that Yvonne Strahovski is not in danger of getting the boot.

In addition to at least 13 more episodes of Sarah Walker, there has also been news that Yvonne Strahovski is set to star in at least two more films in addition to “I Love You Too” announced late last month.

The ever-loyal Strahotski forumners have created threads dedicated to each, a heretofore unnamed project and a movie called “Shadows from the Sky.”

Though both are early in development and it is not entirely clear how big of a role Ms. Strahovski will play, I’m sure you’re all with me when I say that any amount of Yvonne is a great thing!

So check out the forum threads, and breathe a collective sigh of relief.  Whether it was the “Save Chuck” campaign, divine intervention, or just good business — Chuck is back!

Edit: The official announcement has been released.  It looks like we won’t be seeing Chuck back until March, though.

Though it doesn’t quite live up to last week’s Yvonne Strahovski binge, the season finale of Chuck has brought in a respectable 72 new screen captures from Episode 2.22 - Chuck Versus the Ring.

The thing about Robbie McNeill’s directing is that he loves to get close-ups of Yvonne’s face.  Honestly, who wouldn’t?  I appreciate his attention to the details of Ms. Strahovski’s amazing facial expressions.

Though I require that Yvonne be part of every picture, I did try to sneak in a few where she wasn’t the main focus of the picture.  Surely everyone wants to see the aftermath of Chuck’s kung fu spree, or the loving gaze of Awesome and Ellie.

And if you need a soundtrack to your screen capture viewing, be sure to check out our music page where Rob has updated the songs for this latest episode.

Enjoy!

The biggest part of me wants to just randomly throw characters on the screen right now in an expression of excitement.

That, however, would not be the most responsible or professional thing to do, so I’m going to instead review the penultimate, best, most awesome, unbelievable episode of Chuck ever - Chuck Versus the Ring.

There may be some pretty huge spoilers implied, so read at your own risk.

“Thank you for saving my life at least once a week.”

Maybe Chuck didn’t save our lives every week by invading our living rooms with amazing television, but I feel like this quote pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?

For the last two seasons now we’ve watched the old Chuck.  We’ve watched a premise not unlike the ‘Get Smart’ universe, with a bumbling spy, a shadowy anti-spy organization, and a hot agent 99.

But now we get the new Chuck.  The improved Chuck.  The OMG I can’t believe I just saw that Chuck.  Wow.  I know it’s just touchy feely descriptions, but this episode of Chuck was spectacular.

I didn’t think they could make better episodes than what we’ve seen, but this episode has taken the show to a whole new level.

“You look like a real bridesmaid.”

The one level of disappointment that this episode brings, of course, is the Charah dynamic once again being interrupted about a billion times.  It seems Sarah is never going to be able to express her feelings to Chuck.

If Chuck could read Sarah’s face like we could, he’d know she’s crazy about him.  He needs to take a little Yvonne Strahovski 101 so he can get the message.

With the stuff at the end now, what kind of Chuck are we going to get?  Will he be as lovable to Sarah in the future?  Will he be as lovable to anyone, for that matter?

I don’t know, but Sarah really has rotten luck when trying to get it all out.  Now if Chuck can just figure out how to shut the hell up maybe he’ll get somewhere.

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This episode was one of the best of the series, so it’s no wonder that I’ve added a whopping 90 new screen captures to the gallery for Episode 2.21 - Chuck Versus the Colonel.

This episode had it all — action, emotion, and the “Chuck smile.”  It was really a breeze to cap because Yvonne was breathtakingly beautiful in every scene (as she always is).

I especially like the “OMG I can totally date Chuck now” face as they drive away from the air strike myself.  What’s your favorite?

As always, you can also check out the music for Versus the Colonel to listen to all your favorites from the episode!

Enjoy!

Yay!  It’s time for some hardcore Charah action while Sarah & Chuck are on the run from a very unhappy John Casey.

I can’t really imagine a better setup for a good time, so let’s just get to the review of Episode 2.21 - Chuck Versus the Colonel.

“Your country thanks you, Colonel Casey.”

I don’t usually start with Casey, but tonight he deserves it.  After Chuck betrayed Casey a few too many times, I was really having a hard time imagining Chuck not taking a bullet to the brain.

But Adam Baldwin is a masterful actor and brought Casey’s cold shoulder paired with his deeply buried warm heart in full force.  His quips are always to die for, but tonight we got closer to Casey than we have in 2 seasons of Chuck.

If it were any other script or any other actor, I think I would balk at the speed with which Colonel Casey forgave his charges and joined their cause.  But I bought it, and I loved it.

Three cheers to Adam Baldwin.  In an episode full of Charah, he stole the show.

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