Up Chuck

Considering that ...

BYU football doesn't start up for three more months...
The former red-headed lover has twice given me the heave-ho ...
My supply of sweet tart hearts is long expired ...
The Jazz are once again removed early from the playoffs ...
and I no longer work at the elementary school ...

it becomes apparent that I am in need of a new love.

Meet the new love. Charles Bartowski.

(ah, to have hair like that)

Mr. Bartowski is the lead actor in what should be NBC's (and all of TV's, for that matter) number one show, Chuck. Now, I know my TV-watching expertise isn't that expansive and as such my words can't be fully trusted. With that disclaimer offered, I submit that this show has it all. Action, drama, unmatched supporting cast, and most entertaining, the comedy factor. No series of the hour long nature has ever made me chuckle so much (Get it? Chuck? Chuckle?).

Now, there is one other element of excellence that all TV shows need in order to succeed, and in this area, Chuck is the unquestionable number one. I speak, of course, of the beautiful girl factor.

Thus meet the real new love. Charles Bartowski's girlfriend.

                 (ah, to have hair like that- assuming I were a girl, of course)

Agent Walker has done what I once considered impossible; she's supplanted Buffy as the TV girl I most dream of dating. She slaid the slayer.

(Updated rankings of TV girls I want to date, in case you were wondering:

1. Agent Walker, from Chuck
2. Buffy, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
3. Rachel, from Friends)

This is perhaps the most important element in any show that hopes for consistent male viewership. Chuck, like Friends and Buffy before it, employs beauty as the ultimate safety device to ensure ratings.

Having such a ratings-lifesaver is crucial because someday Chuck will likely catch the same disease that cripples all TV shows. The story will become overly predictable, the characters will grow old, and the plot will turn to mush.

Fortunately, there will still be at least one reason to watch.