Fox, NBC
This Sunday and next, two of our favorite special agents are returning to TV. NBC's Chuck (starring Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski) returns on Sunday, Jan. 10 (9 PM ET). And Fox's 24 (starring Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer) returns Jan. 17 (9 PM ET).
Let's compare the two: They're both reluctant government agents. (Jack's a counterterrorist operative who keeps trying to quit; Chuck is CIA, but only because there's a supercomputer chip embedded in his brain.) They both see a lot of action while saving lives and keeping secrets from people they love. And they're both sexy—but for oh-so-very different reasons.
Jack is a new version of a James Bond type: accomplished, worldly, slickly capable of outsmarting evil geniuses who have shady accents. But he's also vulnerable -- his heart's been broken by the cruel realities of his job. And in the opening sequence of Day Eight, he's in New York City, far removed from his former world of torture and terror threats.
But then there's the man-child, Chuck -- a computer geek far more likely to idolize Jack Bauer than try to emulate him. "I don't want to have to save my sister with a special forces team," he said last season. "I just want to be a normal guy who helps…in normal ways." Of course, the truth is more nuanced. "I don't think Chuck wants to lose who he is," said Levi in a recent TV Guide interview, but "he does want this spy life, because it's something that gives his life meaning and purpose outside of fixing people's computers."
Chuck has James Bond-like moments, due to powers endowed by the Intersect 2.0 in his brain ("Guys? I know Kung-Fu!" he gasps, stunned, at the end of season 2). But of course, his fighting skills are hardly what make him sexy. It's the adorable quotient. Essentially, Chuck is irresistibly attractive in that heartsick, Jim-from-The Office sort of way. Well-intentioned but bumbling, Chuck endears himself to übersexy spy Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) with exchanges like:
Chuck: "Brought you a present."
Sarah: "It's not my birthday."
Chuck: "Oh! One down; 364 and a quarter possibilities to go."
It's a safe bet that Chuck will eventually complete his impossible mission, save the world, whatever -- as will Jack Bauer. But while Jack will have women predictably swooning over his skillful accomplishments, Chuck's fans will love him for his mishaps: tripping, misplacing his gun, declaring the mission a disaster. And, surely, choosing exactly the wrong moment to try to kiss Sarah.
Who do you find sexier, Jack Bauer or Chuck Bartowski? Chime in below!
