NBC has just announced Chuck will finally return to the airwaves on Sunday, January 10^th with back-to-back original episodes (9-11 p.m. ET) before the series moves to its regular day and time (Mondays 8-9 p.m. ET) beginning January 11.  For fans of the show, this is welcome news, as it’s getting back its original time slot and it’s being paired again with Heroes.

If you aren’t aware, NBC has loaded up this season with tons of guest stars like Angie Harmon (Law & Order), who will play Sydney, an enemy operative; Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), who is set to play CIA Agent Daniel Shaw; Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) will play Colonel Keller, a soldier and spy from Casey’s past; Kristin Kreuk (Smallville), who will portray Hannah — a potential love interest for Chuck; Armand Assante as dictator Premier Goya, who is the target of an assassin; Steve Austin will portray Hugo Panzer, who becomes entangled in Chuck’s first solo mission; and Vinnie Jones (Snatch) will play Carl Stromberg, an arms dealer.

For more on Chuck, you can watch a preview of the new season after the jump!

Earlier this month we reported the news from EW’s Michael Ausiello that  NBC’s “Chuck” may return in October.  With only three days left in the month, that clearly isn’t going to happen.  But now we migh have even better news!  NBC is considering an order of six more episodes of “Chuck” on top of the thirteen they already ordered!  While “Chuck” is slated to return in March, six more episodes could mean we’ll get to see Mr. Bartowski earlier or that we may see him more half the summer.  But first the boy needs a time slot (and a good one too).  Hit the jump to read about potential problems and their possible solutions. [Update: "Chuck" WILL get six more episodes.  However, it now appears that "Chuck" will return in January paired with "Heroes" which is great because that combination worked soooo well before.  My comments on this scenario are after the jump and they explain why this scheduling is a bad decision]

While I hate watching NBC take a beating each week in the ratings, there is one great thing that might come out of it…an early return of “Chuck”! According to EW’s Michael Ausiello, NBC is considering bringing back “Chuck” later this month! If you remember, “Chuck” wasn’t scheduled to return until next March.

But the news gets better. With NBC doing so bad, if “Chuck” returns this month and the ratings were good, instead of only 13 episodes, the network could order the back nine and we’d get a full season. As a huge fan of “Chuck”, I’m extremely happy to report this news. Of course, if and when the network makes a decision, I’ll let you know. Also, no word on what day or time the show would get. As long as it’s not Friday’s, I don’t care. Fridays = death.

Opening tomorrow is the new Steven Soderbergh movie “The Informant!” The film is based on the true story of the highest-ranking corporate whistleblower in U.S. history and the film stars Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Joel McHale and Melanie Lynskey. While I’d love to go into detail about the film, it’s one of those movies the less you know the better, so I’ll just say I really liked the movie and I recommend checking it out this weekend. Especially if you enjoy surprises….

Anyway, a few days ago I got to speak with Scott Bakula about playing FBI Special Agent Brian Shepard and working for Steven Soderbergh. Of course I also worked in some “Star Trek” and “Quantum Leap” questions, and I also asked him about being on “Chuck” last season and if he might be coming back. If you’re a fan of Scott’s work, I promise you’ll like this interview.

Why stay in Smallville or Metropolis when you could come to sunny Burbank, California and hang out at the local Buy More or possibly a new Subway franchise? “Why?” indeed because Kristen Kruek (a.k.a. Lana Lang) and Brandon Routh (a.k.a. Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El/Man of Steel) are heading out West for guest roles on NBC’s “Chuck”.  Hit the jump to find out how they’re going to make sure Charles Bartowski (Zachary Levi) and “Sarah Walker” (Yvonne Strahovski) never get together.

While talking to actors is always great, if you ever want to find out what’s really going to happen on your favorite show, you’ve got to talk with the showrunners/creators. This is especially true when production hasn’t begun on the following season of whatever show you’re covering. So at this year’s Comic-Con, I was able to get a few minutes with “Chuck” Creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak and we talked about the future of the show, last season, and I even tried to pitch them some ideas. You’ll see after the jump:

If you watched “Firefly” or you currently watch “Chuck”, Adam Baldwin needs no introduction. That’s because on both shows he’s a fan favorite. Anyway, at this year’s Comic-Con I managed to get a few minutes with the talented actor and we talked about Comic-Con and all the various shows he’s been a part of. It’s kind of funny. Take a look after the jump:

I missed the “Chuck” panel at this year’s Comic-Con. As a fan of the show, I knew the cast was going to do something special during the convention and indeed they did, as Vik Sahay (Lester) and Scott Krinsky (Jeff) made their first live appearance as Jeffster! If you watch the hit NBC show, you know Jeffster performed during the finale and the group has become popular with the fans. NBC has even starting selling t-shirts.

Anyway, after Jeffster performed in front of thousands of screaming fans, they came to the press room and I was able to speak with the two members about not only playing as Jeffster, but what might be coming up on “Chuck”. Take a look at the interview after the jump. I’ve also posted their Comic-Con appearance as Jeffster in case you missed it.

“Chuck” was a big part of Comic-Con this year, with the entire cast and showrunners making an appearance in front of many thousands of screaming fans. Since production hasn’t started on “Chuck’s” 3^rd season, they brought out the big guns for their appearance….Jeffster! If you’re a fan of “Chuck”, you know who they are.

So after the panel, the cast did some press and I was able to interview most of them. Up first, Yvonne Strahovski (Sarah) and Sarah Lancaster (Ellie). During my interview we talked about Comic-Con, Jeffster, next season, Subway, and a lot more. Take a look after the jump:

If you spent all of Friday in Hall H, then prepare to spend all day in Ballroom 20 on Saturday because, like it or not, Saturday is essentially TV Day at Comic-Con.  Yes, there’s definitely some stuff going down in Hall H that’s worth your time like “Iron Man 2″, Mike Judge’s “Extract”, and “Zombieland”.  However, all the major TV stuff (with a few exceptions) is going down in Ballroom 20 including “Chuck”, “Futurama”, “Family Guy”, “The Cleveland Show”, “V”, and “Fringe”.

Oh, and for all of you who like stuff that is complete and utter shit, Saturday also features panels for “True Blood”, “Heroes”, and “The Boondock Saints II”.  If there was a panel on punching off your genitals, I would say that would be preferable to any of those.  But it your time and your schedule and I’m sure all those rooms will be packed.  They’ll just be packed with people I hate because they like things I don’t.  That’s how it works.

Hit the jump to check out the full schedule for Saturday where I’ve highlighted events that I think may be popular (even where if I think that popularity is totally undeserved). And if you missed it, click here for Friday and click here for Thursday.

NBC and Syfy have just announced some exclusives for this year’s Comic-Con. While most of the items are only for the die-hard fans, two of them caught my eye. One is a “Chuck” supervisor polo from their fictional store Buy More. The other is easily the best exclusive of the bunch. It’s a “Battlestar Galactica” toaster which creates the image of a Cylon on your toast! Admit that’s cool.

Since all the items are limited, if you want either of them, I’d pre-order them now at nbcuniversalstore.com. More info on the other exclusives from “Heroes”, “The Office” and “Caprica” after the jump:

Last night was the 2009 Saturn Awards. Like previous years, I was on the red carpet and backstage interviewing tons of the presenters and winners. Since I interviewed twenty something people, it’s going to take me some time to edit everything, so keep checking back over the next few days for tons of great interviews.

Anyway, the first interview from last night is with Zach Levi and Joshua Gomez. As some of you know, the two of them play best friends on NBC’s “Chuck”, and as you’ll see in the interview, they’re not acting, as they’re great friends off screen as well.

During the interview we talked about their new facial hair, Comic-Con, E3, driving Nerd Herder’s around Burbank, and a lot more. Take a look after the jump:

Earlier today I was at a Subway restaurant in Santa Monica on Pico Blvd. The reason I was there is Universal had transformed the restaurant into a special “Land of the Lost” themed location - complete with themed tables, chairs, and they even had some Sleestaks walking around. If you live in the area, you might want to stop by.

Anyway, the reason they were doing this promotion was to raise awareness of the upcoming “Land of the Lost” movie. So to help in that endeavor, director Brad Silberling, Sid and Marty Krofft (the creators of “Land of the Lost”), and Zachary Levi (”Chuck”) were all taking photos and talking to the press to help promote Subway.

After waiting around for a little while, I finally got some time with Zach and we discussed the future of “Chuck” and how Subway saved the show.

In case you don’t know, Subway has become a major sponsor of “Chuck” and without their support, it’s unlikely the show would be coming back next season. But thanks to a lot of fans buying footlong subs and leaving comments in the store, Subway took notice and they’re going to be a huge part of next season. While it isn’t yet known how the restaurant will be integrated, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Yvonne Strahovski’s character (Sarah Walker) working at the store.

While I’m usually against this kind of integrated marketing, I know “Chuck” wouldn’t be around anymore without Subway, so I’ll say a big thank you to the company.

Anyway, during my extended interview with Zach we discussed the future of “Chuck”, Subway, this year’s Comic-Con, how next season could still be 22 episodes instead of 13, and a whole lot more. If you’re a fan of “Chuck”, I promise you’ll love this interview. Watch it after the jump:

NBC announced its 2009-2010 schedule today and it’s definitely mixing it up a bit.

Instead of having some shows go all year long, they have announced a “shared time period strategy” that will kick off this fall on Mondays with the premiere of “Heroes” (8-9 p.m. ET). Then, in the spring, “Chuck” will assume the time period after the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

They are also doing this for a lot of shows, so just because it airs in the fall doesn’t automatically mean it’s on all year.

But getting back to “Chuck”.

I’m just happy the network picked up the show and they didn’t give it the Friday night death slot. While they’re only bringing back “Chuck” for 13 episodes, I’ll take it. The only negative is we have to wait till February.

Anyway, after the jump is the fall and spring schedule:

Much like “Dollhouse” last week, NBC has made the deal to bring back “Chuck” for another season…but, according to EW’s Michael Ausiello, only for 13 episodes and with a reduced budget that will trim the supporting cast and possibly removing one actor altogether (Pleeease be Morgan.  Pleeeease be Morgan).  While I personally never felt that “Chuck” was in such severe danger since it’s so massively appealing, has massive product placement (almost to the point of distraction), and its only real sin was trying to compete against “Dancing with the Stars” and “House, M.D.”, two of the highest-rated shows on network television.

So now the questions become: will the third season debut in the fall (and if so, is there a possibility of a nine-episode pick-up on the back-end) or as a mid-season replacement; what’s the show’s new date and time (if they keep it at Monday at 8PM, then that will be yet another example of why NBC is in 4th place); and why kind of success is NBC looking for and how will their new schedule play especially considering their all-Leno-at-10PM idiot strategy.

We’ll find out the answers to most of these questions this week as the networks do their up-front presentations with Fox kicking it off tomorrow.  Congratulations to the cast, crew, and fans of “Chuck” for pulling it through to a Season Three.