CHUCK - HIT FIX: Interview: 'Chuck' star Zachary Levi on Hulu, ratings and Comic-Con
Winning the Best in Show poll was nice, but renewal still shaky
By Alan Sepinwall
Monday, Apr 4, 2011
"Chuck" star Zachary Levi has always had a deep and abiding love for the show's fans. During the Subway campaign to save the show at the end of season 2, Levi led a group of several hundred fans to a local Subway. When Fienberg and I somehow failed to get a single audience question in at the last San Diego Comic-Con "Chuck" panel, the only person more upset than the two of us was Levi, because he loves hearing from the fans and interacting with them.
So a few hours after it was announced that "Chuck" had won Hulu's Best in Show fan tournament, I got on the phone with Levi to get his reaction to the news, and also to gauge his feelings about where the show stands in terms of renewal. (A few months ago, when the show was consistently averaging a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 year-old demographic, I thought it was a lock to come back. These days, it's averaging about a 1.7, putting the show once again on the bubble.) During a break from filming this season's 23rd episode, Levi had mixed emotions about the result, given the show's familiar precarious position, and we talked about where things stand, what he's enjoyed about doing this latest season, and what his Comic-Con plans are, whether or not renewal comes...
... Q: So this late into the season, with the show again not a lock to come back, how are you feeling?
Zachary Levi: "I think everyone's attitude is good, and not necessarily because we're optimistic about a pickup, but we're just choosing not to be negative, and come to work and appreciate your cast and crew and try to have as much fun as possible. And we know that however many people watch these episodes, even if they are the last, they mean a lot to those people. And we're coming to the end of a really long season. It's the longest we've ever done in terms of episode count. The second season we still had 8-day (production) schedules, that got cut down for the third season, so it's maybe the same number of days, but this is more episodes. It's nine months of 14-hour days and not seeing your friends and family for extended periods of time. While we don't know what the future holds, we know that we've worked hard, and try to do the best we can by our fanbase, and the rest is in God's hands, and it always has been. every season it's always been the same situation: will they or won't they? Maybe it mirrors Chuck and Sarah's relationship..."
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