NBC renews Chuck

NBC has ordered a full second season of Josh Schwartz’s Chuck, ensuring at least 22 episodes of the show. It made the order after viewing the first six episodes of the second season.

In Australia Nine owns the rights to this series about an “average computer-whiz-next-door” who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working in the CIA; the message embeds the only remaining copy of the world’s greatest spy secrets into Chuck’s brain. It stars Zachary Levi (pictured).

13 episodes of the series have aired in the US, between September and January, but it isn’t a title that Nine has indicated it is readying. The vote of confidence by NBC will surely be noted by Nine, given the second series returns September 29th in the US.

“We couldn’t be more excited with the creative direction Josh (Schwartz) and his team are executing on Chuck,” said Teri Weinberg, NBC’s head of development and current programs. “This show has really hit its stride and deserves a full-season commitment to carry out the producers’ vision for this unique series.”

It is considered highly unusual for a network to stick out its neck so early on such a young show, especially one from a studio it doesn’t own. Networks generally order 13 episodes of new series. It’s not until a show’s third season that full 22-episode orders become the norm.

Source: TV Week (US)