She Likes to Watch

For me, the start of the fall television season is a little like Christmas.

After weeks of glossy ads and antipicipation, viewers can finally tear off the shiny wrapping and discover our new treasures. Did we really get that rocket launcher? Or another pack of sweat socks?

I glued myself to the couch Monday night to watch three of NBC’s offerings this fall: two newcomers (”Chuck” and “Journeyman”) and one returning favorite (”Heroes”).

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

“Chuck”

Shy tech support dude Chuck is too nerdy to pick up women and too stuck on his college girlfriend to start over. So when he scores a date with stunning blonde Sarah, things seem to be looking up.

Right? Wrong. Turns out that Sarah is a CIA agent, and she’s after thousands of government secrets locked in Chuck’s noggin.

NBC crowded the airwaves with pre-season advertising, so some of the best gags — Sarah doing a deadly dance, a skater crowing “Computer emergency” as Chuck’s car tumbles over stairs — seem blah.

Still there are a few chuckles, such as the name of Chuck’s employer, Buy More, and references to the Nerd Herd (a send-up of the real-life Geek Squad).

Nerd alert: As Chuck, star Zachary Levi is too suave and well-groomed to be convincing as a hard-core geek. That honor goes to buddy Morgan (Josh Gomez), who resembles Seth Green with a few more pounds and facial hair.

“Heroes”

Folks who caught NBC’s sci-fi drama last season will find storylines and special effects a-plenty as “Heroes” returns. Right off the bat, the show spins off seven or eight sub-plots and introduces a few new characters.

Here’s a brief rundown:

Matt, now divorced and recovering from four gunshot wounds, has adopted little Molly, whose nightmares identify a new threat.

Hiro is in feudal Japan, discovering surprising things about his hero Takezo Kensei (such as the fact he looks more like Paul Bettany than Ken Watanabe).

While Nathan mourns for his brother, the Bennnets start a new life in California. Someone’s trying to kill Sulu. Oh, and there’s a gal with deadly powers in Central America.

A few scenes in the “Heroes” season opener struck my fellow viewer as silly. As a dedicated fan, however, I found plenty to like.

“Journeyman”

Commercials made this time-travel thriller look like a cheesy mash-up between “Back to the Future” and “Zodiac.” Thank goodness “Journeyman” — terrible title, by the way — is actually watchable.

Dan Vassar is a San Franscisco newspaperman with an all-but-perfect life: a beautiful wife, an adoring son. At the same time, there are whispers of an uphappy past.

Suddenly, Dan finds himself slipping back in time for hours at a time. He encounters familiar faces and, almost immediately, breaks the cardinal rule of time travel: Don’t alter the past.

Is there a reason for these trips in the slipstream? Is Dan on some unknown mission? The show has enough potentional, despite some goofy plot twists, to keep viewers wondering for a little while longer.

Half the fun may be identifying the clothes and gadgets dug up by the show’s Dumpster-diving propmaster. (”Look at those shoulderpads!” “Did you see the size of that cell phone?!?”)

****

OTHER NOTES:

What housing crisis?
Sure, the housing market is soft right now. But could lower interest rates explain why NBC’s characters live in luxury on piddling salaries?
- Chuck and his sister live in a Los Angeles apartment complex fit for starlets. I initially mistook the lush garden courtyard for the back patio of a restaurant.
- My fellow viewer identified the Bennets’ new home on “Heroes” as the set of “Runaway Bride.” Not bad for an assistant manager at Copy Kingdom.
- And “Journeyman” Dan comes home to a flawlessly restored Victorian in San Francisco with a huge yard. Because, if you can’t afford a house by the Bay, what can you afford?

PLUS: Watching three pilot shows on the same network, one absorbs more than one’s fair share of commercials.
I understand NBC’s need to make a buck. But is it really necessary to air the SAME car commercial THREE times in a row during one so-called break?
The only product that campaign convinced me to buy is Tivo.

– Sarah L.

(”Heroes” photo courtesy of NBC/Universal)