Television

One of the good things to come out of the writers strike is the second chance viewers get to watch new shows for the first time. Last season included several shows that were offbeat, different kinds of shows that didn't fit any ready-made mold. In an ordinary year, they might have slipped off the air before they had a chance to find an audience, but thanks to the strike, most are back.

At the top of that list is Chuck, NBC's spy-themed comedy-action series about an easygoing guy who is involuntarily enlisted into the spy game after he accidentally has all the world's supersecret intelligence downloaded into his brain. Just like that, he becomes a living computer known as "the intersect," able to "flash" on to any secret agent, diabolical conspiracy or doomsday weapon that crosses his path.

Pushing Daisies may be every critic's buzz-crush and, riding the Emmy wave, this may be the year of 30 Rock, but Chuck may just be the smartest, funniest, most innovative show on television that nobody is paying much attention to. Start with its hybridized structure. Chuck is funny enough to qualify as a sitcom, but it's an hour long. And in between the zany antics, each week's episode is a high-wire spy story with the fate of the free world often hanging in the balance.

NBC

Zachary Levi plays Chuck, a geeky slacker forced into a spy game.

Speaking of balance, this show is a weekly exercise in it: between comedy and adventure; action and silliness; pop-culture satire and the surprisingly affecting romance and relationship stuff. The writing is sharp with good stories and great dialogue.

There's a large cast centered on Chuck (Zachary Levi), who's pitch-perfect playing the geeky slacker who's thrown into a world where underachieving is not an option. Adam Baldwin is great as the superintense, killing-machine agent embedded to protect Chuck. There's also the beautiful CIA operative (Yvonne Strahovski) who's assigned to be Chuck's girlfriend. But some of the best moments and characters are provided by Chuck's day job at the giant electronics store, Buy More, where he is head of the "Nerd Herd."

Tonight's second-season premiere picks up where the cliffhanging finale of last season left off, with Chuck hanging upside down and the bad guys about to win. At stake is the piece of electronics that will complete the government's new intersect computer, allowing Chuck to return to a normal life. At least, that's what he thinks.

The episode is everything good television should be. Let's hope viewers start paying attention.Chuck

7 Monday. NBC (Channel 5). 1 hr.