Photo : Tamara Brooks
CHUCK’s Mom Revealed at San Diego Comic-Con
By : TAMARA BROOKS
A full room of appreciative and excited Nerd Herders welcomed the cast and creators of CHUCK to San Diego for the first Saturday panel in Ballroom 20.
Things kicked off with a Season 3 highlight reel created specifically for Comic-Con that ended with a big reveal – the identity of Chuck’s mother. She is none other than TERMINATOR star Linda Hamilton, one of the patron saints of butt-kicking women. And the audience loudly voiced their approval.
The video package was then “hijacked” by The Ring who “attempted” to Intersect the audience. Chuck and Morgan (Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez) interceded and went to desperate measures to prevent the Ring from breaking through again…they showed a dance video by JEFFSTER!, a green screen affair to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” This is when the cast danced onto the stage and fun began.
Mark Christopher Lawrence, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay, Ryan McPartlin, Sarah Lancaster, Adam Baldwin, Yvonne Strahovski, Gomez, Levi, and writers/creators Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz were all on hand for the panel moderated by HitFix’s Daniel Feinberg and Alan Sepinwall.
The Highlights:
Even though Chuck quit the CIA, he’s still not really out. Season 4’s main focus will be Chuck’s search for his mother and the way it melds with spy world. Team Bartowski will still be in affect, just in a different way. Says Schwartz, “Chuck and Morgan are gonna be a bad but good but bad spy team.” Fedak confirms that the Governor and the first version Intersect in Chuck’s brain won’t be forgotten but they won’t be a huge part of the storyline.
Even though everyone important in Chuck’s life now knows he’s a spy, that doesn’t mean there aren’t/won’t be any more secrets. The tension they play off is now Chuck promising Ellie he won’t be a spy while secretly investigating their mother. I’m sure keeping their father’s Bat Cave on the hush will play into things as well.
They way the cast guest stars is by thinking about who Morgan and Chuck, the nerds that they are, would get excited about being on the show. Schwartz asked around the internet about how fans would feel about Linda Hamilton being Chuck and Ellie’s mother and the reaction was very positive. Somehow Linda found out about it and called him saying, “So I hear I’m Chuck’s mom.” “You don’t say no to Linda Hamilton,” kids Schwartz. Expect to see a “glimpse” of her in the first episode.
Other guest stars so far include the return of Nicole Richie, Dolph Lundgren, Olivia Munn, and Isaiah Mustafa aka “The Old Spice Guy.” All got a good reaction from the crowd, especially Mustafa who’s name caused Levi to say, in a deep voice, “Look over there, now look at me.” Another panelist, either McPartlin or Baldwin, chimed in with, “I’m on a horse.”
Despite being blown to smithereens, the Buy More will return except now it’s owned and operated by the CIA and “now has the most kick-ass employees ever,” says Schwartz. This is where Munn and Mustafa come in. The new executive manager will be an operative named Greta, played by Munn in the first episode and played by Mustafa in the second. Essentially every episode will have a new “Greta” be it man or woman.
On the grand scope of Season 3: “When you don’t know whether you’re coming back or not every year, you don’t want to feel like you want to leave anything on the table,” says Schwartz.
On Chuck and Sarah’s Couple-dom: They are definitely together this season. Shaw (played by Brandon Routh) was a great villain but Fedak and Scwartz learned that you just don’t put anyone between Chuck and Sarah.
On Who Finds Out Chuck’s A Spy: Schwartz says Jeff will definitely be the last to know and if he did find out he probably wouldn’t remember.
Fedak and Schwartz joke that they had an idea for a JEFFSTER! spin-off with Jeff and Lester on the lam with Jeff only packing a loofah. They’d do gigs in hotel lounges and “of course Lester is hooking.” That being said, the they say they’re a big part of the show and will be back.
CHUCK returns to NBC on September 22, 2010.
