Filed under: Video, Odds and ends
NBC's Chuck is very Mac-heavy
I'm not sure what happened to the memo from top NBC brass, after the iTunes negotiations broke down, saying that Apple was firma non grata... but it clearly didn't make it to the Warner Bros. production offices of Chuck in time to excise all the Mac gear from the geek-themed spy comedy's pilot episode. The corporate rage may have found some outlet, however, in the sheer destructive energy expended on the show's poor, defenseless Macs. Even the presence of a nasty Windows virus (the kind that causes laptops to emit smoke and sparks!) as a plot point doesn't make up for the carnage.
There's the protagonist's doomed home machine, a G5 tower with a convenient sticker over the side logo -- which a) must be a lot lighter than a production model, seeing how it got tossed about; and b) suffers a grim fate as a gravity-test victim/close-combat weapon -- and earlier, there's another Mac that makes a key appearance in the opening sequence before getting blown to smithereens. (OK, seriously now, the CIA and NSA keep all their classified information -- all of it -- on one lonely Mac Plus? I sincerely doubt it.)
You can review the carnage at NBC's full-episode playback page; the Mac Plus detonation is in the first four minutes, and the G5 breakdown is at about 16 minutes in. Too bad you can't watch it on your iPhone, unless of course you EyeTV'ed it last night. Also spotted during this week's premieres: Emmy-nominee
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
zombieflanders said 12:25PM on 9-25-2007
"I'm not sure what happened to the memo from top NBC brass, after the iTunes negotiations broke down, saying that Apple was firma non grata... but it clearly didn't make it to the production offices of Chuck"
It might help to know that the production offices of "Chuck" are at Warner Bros, not NBC Universal. Thanks to the incestuous studio & TV system, a lot of TVshows are not made by the partners or parents of the network they air on, i.e. "My Name is Earl" is made by Fox but is on NBC, "HIMYM" is also from Fox but is on CBS, "Nip/Tuck" is from Warner but on F/X, etc...
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Shane said 12:29PM on 9-25-2007
I really like this show. I thought it was pretty funny.
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Rick said 12:33PM on 9-25-2007
iPhone, MacBook Pro, and 5th Gen iPod have made MTV's show, Life of Ryan.
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jason said 12:38PM on 9-25-2007
I'm surprised anyone even noticed the Mac's with the hot blond running around ;)
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rong said 12:40PM on 9-25-2007
Please don't visit this NBC link to view the program from their site. It's a trap.
We don't need inflated usage numbers of NBC's new video distribution attempt. It only gives them leverage in any future iTunes Store negotiations.
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Michael Rose said 12:48PM on 9-25-2007
#1 -- Yes, you're right ZF. I didn't mention the studio at first as I was really just joking about the 'memo,' but I've put WB in the post to clarify.
As it is, there's a lot of anger at Apple anyway in Chuck...
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Michael Rose said 1:02PM on 9-25-2007
#5 -- Ron, fair point, but I'm not sure what scaling factor you've applied where "audience of TUAW" = "appreciable, measurable fraction of NBC show streaming clickthroughs." :-)
If you truly don't want to give NBC the clicks, the pilot will be rebroadcast on Wednesday night.
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Brendan West said 1:31PM on 9-25-2007
Also Journeyman, as previously posted, revolves somewhat around an iPhone. Conspiracy!
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Brandon said 1:30PM on 9-25-2007
Both white and black Macbooks make their way onto the screen in Showtimes great new show Californication. David Duchovny's character, Hank, is even seen writing his blog at the Apple store in the first or second episode after smashing his crappy PC laptop, with the clip making it's way into the opening credit sequence.
Furthermore, there are iPods aplenty and even the mention of gifting music in iTunes.
Clearly this is a pro-mac (or should that be Mac Pro) show. I will try to get some photos into the flickr feed for those of you interested. And check out the show. It's funny with lots of T&A.
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Rubbinz said 1:32PM on 9-25-2007
Note to Michael Rose:
This pilot episode was filmed many months ago, well before the NBC/iTunes fallout. I watched the episode back in July I believe.
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gambi said 1:41PM on 9-25-2007
Of course there are lots of Mac's in the TV show there are Mac's in everything. Don't you know Apple is the whore of hollywood. They put there computers in any movie no matter how bad it is. Just the other day I saw it in Tansformers they showed the history of sector 7 on a mac. Doesn't matter that in that sence they are surrounded by PC's, or most goverment agenciens use PC's. No no Mac has to be pimped so put it up there on the screen. Make sure you get the apple logo. Good.
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jonathan ober said 2:25PM on 9-25-2007
Well if you want to talk about movies and whoring...Watch Xmen 3...holy Dell Computer and Big TV batman!
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jonathan ober said 2:26PM on 9-25-2007
and I forgot to add...in Journeyman it looked like one of the shots was a goof...the first time the actor looks at his phone to have no signal, it looks like it was upside down...could have been a clear cover, but it certainly looked like the home button was on the top.
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John said 3:03PM on 9-25-2007
Did anyone else notice that during the NBC News commercial, when they mention podcasts, they removed the iPod and put in a Zune instead?
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BdeRWest said 3:10PM on 9-25-2007
In re: No. 14:
Oh snap! NBC told Apple there
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Justin said 3:58PM on 9-25-2007
I think if the governement uses MACs then we are all screwed none the less.
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tc said 4:42PM on 9-25-2007
The first episode of Chuck has been posted to ITMS.
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Cabbage said 6:39PM on 9-25-2007
You guys are slow. The pilot, the episode that was on last night, was leaked over a month ago on the internet.
>>hot blond running around ;)
You must not have been watching in HD. She's not that hot.
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Mark said 6:02PM on 9-25-2007
Hey guys. Don't forget about the Mac Classic at the beginning of Chuck. Bryce plugs an OQO into the floppy drive of the Mac.
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david said 6:11PM on 9-25-2007
Yea, the iPhone was all over Journeyman last night. Including one shot where he is clearly using it upside down.
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