Change Is Good: Part I

So, I'm pretty certain that all 3 of you who actually read my blog are probably hankering for at least one post that changes the topic from the Nebraska football to something else. Maybe something, dare I say, positive. So, in that spirit, I've decided to list a few people, characters, or things that my opinion on has changed on recently, for the better.

1. McG

For those not familiar with McG, or who might think he's a rapper or something, he's actually a Hollywood producer/director Joseph McGinty Nichol. He started out as a video director, directing videos for such music luminaries as The Offspring, Sugar Ray, and Smashmouth. He later moved on to film, directing movies like Charlie's Angles, We Are Marshall, and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, all of which were totally overlooked by the Motion Picture Academy when they were handing out Oscar nominations... and with good reason.

Okay, okay, all snarkiness aside, I'll admit I actually enjoyed Charlie's Angels movies, and not just because of Cameron Diaz's dance routines. They were dumb, loud, bubblegum movies that also happened to be a lot of fun. That said, I didn't walk away from it thinking: "That McG is one fine director. I expect BIG things from him in the future!" Let's just say I looked at him like Micahel Bay-Lite, and was more than relieved when he was passed over as director for Superman Returns.

And guess what? My opinion of his skill as director hasn't changed that much, if at all. So why have I listed him as someone for whom my opinion has changed for the better? Well, because I think that now that he's directing and producing for TV, his style and sensibilities are actually working for him, not against him. Case in point is NBC's new series Chuck.

McG is the executive producer and creative force of the show and even directed the pilot. Chuck is a quirky, little action-comedy of a show that's a little hard to boil down in a concise description, but I'm going to try anyway. Here goes: The title character, Chuck Bartowski, is a computer-geek who works for the Nerd Herd at a Best Buy-type store by day, and is a reluctant and pretty inept super-spy by night, all because he had an entire computer full of government secrets uploaded into his brain. Chuck is joined in his adventures by hard-nosed NSA agent Major John Casey and smokin' hot CIA agent Sarah Walker (who, by the way, kicks ass nearly every episode in a very Charlie's Angels-esque manner). Both agents are there to protect Chuck and make sure that nothing happens to the valuable information contained in his head... or are they?

Essentially, the show is like a slightly smarter, slightly more mature Charlie's Angels movie, condensed down to 45 minutes every week. In other words, it's a fun, loud, bubblegum series, that actually has some pretty decent satire and character interaction going on. Sure, it may not be the greatest show on TV, but Megan and I watch it every week, and I think that Chuck also deserves props for being unlike any other show on TV right now, combining humor, action, espionage, and even a little sci-fi. After all, the last thing this world needs is another How I Met Your Mother. And hey, don't just take my word for it, after all, it's MetaScore is a pretty high 74 and the Chicago Sun-Times called it: "Cute, creative and slick, this is one of the best new shows of the fall season."

So, like I said, I'm really having a lot of fun with the show, and (I can't believe that I'm saying this) I actually hope McG comes back to the director's chair for a couple more episodes, as so far, none of the subsequent episodes have quite matched the pilot's stellar visuals and laugh-out-loud hilarity. Seriously, the pilot features a scene with a ninja trying to steal Chuck's computer that made me laugh so hard, it required repeated viewings. So, keep up the good work McG, and while I think that making a fourth Terminator movie is a horrible, horrible idea, because of you recent good work on Chuck, I promise not to hate it before I actually see it.

Anyhow, in case you haven't been watching Chuck, you can catch up at NBC's website where you can stream each of the previous episodes for free! As for me, I'll be back next time to big up some more people and things that have managed to change my opinion for the better.