Chucksters vs. The Goodbye

How do you say goodbye to something that has been a big part of your life for five years? That’s the question all longtime viewers of NBC’s CHUCK are asking themselves right now.

How can a mere television show mean so much to a group of people? Notice I didn’t use the word fans? If you’ve been with the show since the night of September 24, 2007 when CHUCK first aired, then you’re more than a fan; you’re part of the family. That’s what we’ve become — strangers with a common devotion that have melded into a family, a support system, a group of modern day Literati.

When CHUCK faced cancellation at the end of season 2, we banded together eating Subway sandwiches and creating a “Save CHUCK!” campaign that pushed NBC into renewing. When CHUCK was renewed without any help from us for season 4, it made television history, becoming the first show to earn it’s own renewal for an additional season after the one the campaign renewed. (Even STAR TREK couldn’t do that!) When a fifth season was in question the family came to the support of the show yet again with the ingenious #NotANielsenFamily campaign on Twitter. What other show has that kind of loyal and creative following? I suppose that being a nerd didn’t hurt.

CHUCK made history in another way, too — it made the networks realize that modern viewers tend to watch not only on broadcast nights, but increasingly by delay. DVRs and streaming now have to be taken into consideration in rating a program’s popularity. WE did that!

And now, finally, it’s time to say goodbye.

How do we say goodbye to Zachary Levi and Chuck Bartowski, the epitome of the geek who made good? The man who never really wanted anything more than what he had to begin with — family and friends?

How do we say goodbye to Yvonne Strahovski and Sarah Walker Bartowski, the ruthless C.I.A. agent that wanted only to be a “real” woman with all that entails?

How do we say goodbye to Adam Baldwin and John Casey, who despite being a heartless, loner assassin, realized the benefits family and friends bring without losing your edge?

How do we say goodbye to Joshua Gomez and Morgan Grimes, the loyal, nerdy, screw-up friend you can always count on?

How do we say goodbye to Ryan McPartland and Sarah Lancaster, Awesome and Ellie, the bedrock that served Chuck as a support system for five years?

How do we say goodbye to Mekenna Melvin and Alex McHugh, Casey’s daughter?

Yes, and let’s not forget the deranged Buy More crew: Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay and Mark Christopher Lawrence, the show’s Jeff, Lester and Big Mike, so often the parallel of what was happening in the spy world. I’ll never be able to say the word “pineapple” again without remembering the chaos that followed its use at the Buy More.

We say goodbye in the way you always say goodbye — with love and thankfulness that these people were part of our world. We were lucky to have them for five years and they will be sorely missed.

Thanks also to producers Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak for creating the CHUCK-verse and to the many writers and production crew members that brought that world to life.

For all our family members there’s going to be a big hole. When you find yourself remembering, do it thankfully and haul out those BluRays and DVD’s. CHUCK will always be there. And who knows, maybe there will be a CHUCK reunion movie a year or two down the road. (Are you finally listening, Warner Brothers?) Stranger things have happened. We’ve witnessed them!

How do we ultimately say goodbye? Easy. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.