Every day, all day, we're stalked by puffarazzi, the aggressive hype-bots who shout superlatives in our ears and bully us into drooling anticipation of this movie and that TV show. No surprise, then, that by the time the actual product arrives - in this case, NBC's "Chuck" - you might already be tired of it. Furthermore, that product will rarely be as amazing as "they" say it is.
"Chuck," which reaches your TV tonight at 8 on Channel 7 after a summer of hard sell and critical ardor, is a likable new series and not the next "Lost" or even "Heroes." Created by Josh Schwartz of "The O.C." and Chris Fedak, it's a light action fantasy that blends the low-key quirk of "Ed" with the kitschy spy intrigue of "Alias." It's good, not great, and tonight's strong pilot gives way next week to a noticeably less stellar hour of CIA-NSA wrangling, helicopter high jinks, and an in-joke reference to Oceanic Flight 815 of "Lost" that's inserted to generate fan-kid buzz.
