I've gushed about NBC's Chuck on this site once or twice before, but I think it's time to step things up a notch and really tell you all about how much I love this show. I can't sum up what makes the show great in just a few sentences, or even in one review. So I'm going to talk about this show over the next 35 weeks!

This is the little show that could; season 2 had low ratings, but fans launched an unprecedented renewal campaign and NBC renewed the show for a third season. The only downside? It isn't coming back until March 2010, so fans need to keep the momentum going for many more months. One of the most prominent leaders of the renewal campaign was the fan-site www.chucktv.net, and they've come up with a brilliant method of keeping the momentum alive. It's called "Chuck Me Mondays," and fans of the show are to watch the series from the beginning, one episode per week, on Mondays at 9:00 PM ET (7:00 PM here in the mountains). This is Chuck's regular time slot, and the time slot it will return to in March. I want to do my part the only way I know how-by reviewing the hell out of this great show!

So here's my mission statement: every Monday, I'll post a review for an episode of Chuck, starting with the pilot and working up to the season 2 finale (provided this is well enough received, though I might have such a good time that it won't even matter). Today, the first week of Chuck Me Mondays, we'll be starting with the pilot episode. If you have the DVD, break it out and watch it with all the fans tonight at 7:00; if not, go online, or if that fails, happily reminisce about the episode. Remember to visit www.chucktv.net to get in touch with the entire Chuck fan base!

Week 1: Pilot
Original Airdate: 9/24/07
Episode Rating: A

Few pilots have so expertly established what the show to follow will look like as well as the pilotfor Chuck. Most shows take a while to find their stride, but Chuck started off on the right foot with a pilot that showcased the trademark humor, great action, and family dynamics fans love the series for.

There's a lot of story to tell in 42 minutes: Chuck Bartowski is just your average geek. Years ago, his best friend Bryce Larkin got him kicked out of Stanford, and ever since his life has been a mess. He lives with his sister, works at the Buy More, and hasn't been on a date in years. Bryce, however, is a full-fledged CIA agent, and he's gone rogue by stealing the government's most powerful computer, the intersect. As he is captured, he sends it to the only person he can trust: Chuck. The files download into Chuck's brain, and he begins "flashing" on ordinary things, remembering secrets that he shouldn't know. The CIA and NSA both send their top agents out to find him, and by the end of the hour, Chuck is involved in multiple car crashes, has plenty of guns aimed at him, and even defuses a bomb.

The pilot is, as you can see, jam-packed with plot that sets the groundwork for the entire series, but it also takes the time to introduce to all of the characters and their relationships. The dynamic between Chuck and best pal Morgan, for example, is hilarious. The relationship between Chuck and his sister, Ellie, is touching. When agents Sarah and Casey come into the mix, you can tell exactly how they will work into the plot for the entire series and the way they'll interact with other characters.

The cast is what brings the show to life. Zachary Levi has the role of Chuck down pat from his first moment on screen, and he hasn't faltered once since. His performance is incredibly natural and real, and Levi makes Chuck feel like a real person. He's got his quirks, but he's a great guy that everybody, especially the geeks of the world, can relate to.

Yvonne Strahovski is as good an actress as she is beautiful, and that's saying a lot. The character of Sarah could have been a one-dimensional role, but Strahovski adds a layer of depth and realism. She perfected it over time, but she does a fine job in the pilot and has terrific chemistry with Levi. Adam Baldwin, on the other hand, knows exactly what the role of Casy needs and delivers in spades. Think Jayne from Firefly or Animal Mother from Full Metal Jacket, but with more brains and less emotion. That's Casy, and he's hilarious.

The pilot doesn't specify exactly how characters Morgan and Ellie will work into the actual series-that came later-but the actors obviously know what they're doing. Joshua Gomez steals every scene he's in as quirky Morgan, Chuck's best friend, and Sarah Lancaster is so sweet and sincere as Ellie that viewers will wish she was their sister. Some of the best scenes in the pilot are between Chuck and Ellie, the first of many such terrific scenes that would continue for the rest of the series.

The pilot has a great soundtrack, an element that would become one of the show's greatest assets. The song "Cobrastyle" by the Teddy Bears is used three or four times, and perhaps a bit too much, but gets the blood pumping and is a good primer for the musical/visual sequences Chuck would perfect in later episodes. Other standout song choices in the episode include a high-energy dance/fight/seduction scene set to "Into Your Dream" by Foreign Born, or the final, dramatic montage set to "A Comet Appears" by The Shins. Plenty of songs have been used in the show's two seasons, but the pilot still has one of the best soundtracks.

I remember when I first saw the pilot for Chuck back in 2007; it was something new and different and I was hooked from the very beginning. It does exactly what a good pilot should do. It sets up all of the characters, the main plot, and gives us a fun story. If you haven't yet watched the pilot, do so. I dare you to view it and not instantly want more.