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!

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.

With John Lasseter in London promoting upcoming Disney projects and D23 about to happen in California, I knew a lot of Disney news was about to break. So it really shouldn’t surprise me to see all these Disney stories this morning.

Anyway, the latest is Zachary Levi (”Chuck”) and Mandy Moore will be providing the lead voices for Walt Disney’s digital 3D-animated musical action-adventure “Rapunzel”. The film is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale and it’s due for release in late 2010 with music from Oscar winner Alan Menken (”Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin”). For more on the project, click the jump:

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.

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:

Just a few minutes ago I posted a great interview with Zachary Levi about his TV show “Chuck”. If you’re a fan of the show, it’s a must watch interview as he discusses the future of “Chuck”, this year’s Comic-Con, how next season could still be 22 episodes instead of 13, and a whole lot more.

Anyway, when the interview was almost at the end, we veered off into a new topic of conversation and since it’s about a movie he tried to do this hiatus, I figured it was worth posting separately.

It ends up that Zach tried to be a part of director Greg Mottola’s “Paul”. In case you forget what it’s about, read this.

But for the lazy ones, it’s the new Simon Pegg/Nick Frost movie that has a huge cast featuring Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch. It’s a buddy road trip movie that features Simon and Nick as two science-fiction fanatics that meet an escaped Area 51 alien named Paul. While the rest of the details are still under wraps, I’ve heard from multiple sources that the script is laugh out loud funny. But with Simon Pegg co-writing it, I’m not surprised.

So now the reason for this article. While we all knew Jason Bateman and Bill Hader would be in the movie, no details had emerged about which characters they played. But thanks to Zach…we now do. 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: