As far as scripted television is concerned, the vast majority of my viewing these days involves programming on NBC: Tops with me right now are “The Office,” “30 Rock” and “Chuck”—with “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and a resurgent “Saturday Night Live” up there as well. And, while we’re at it, I’ve heard nothing but good things about “Life” from viewers whose opinions I respect.

As crazy as this sounds, I’m most enthusiastic about “Chuck” right now. And not because the other shows are doing anything wrong. “The Office” is more consistently subversive and “30 Rock” delivers more punchlines than my mindgrapes can handle, but “Chuck” is so irresistibly fun and loose that it’s hard to imagine the show coming to an end, temporarily or otherwise.

In light of the WGA strike, Remote Accessory Brian Howard pointed me to a TV Guide report that indicates that just six episodes remained prior to last night’s episode, so now we’re down to five. Too bad, because the series is really hitting its stride. In my rundown of “Chuck vs. The Truth” after the break, I’ll go into more details, but to paraphrase a certain cougar (Mellencamp), the truth hurts… so good.

First though, the requisite teaser links to keep up-to-date fans satiated while respecting the needs of DVR fans who want some extra info without fear of spoilers. Check out Alan Sepinwall’s passionate and articulate plea in the Star-Ledger for viewers to watch (and the network to save) “Chuck.” And Hollywood buffs can review Reuters’ old-timey history of the real home that serves as Chuck’s residence.

Handle the “Truth” after the jump.

At the start, we find a diminutive baddie Reardon Paine (Kevin Weisman of “Alias” and Vh1’s assorted “I Love The [Decade]” series) poisoning a man who has access to codes that unlock the power of nuclear facilities. In ridiculous fashion, the poison first works as a truth serum then slowly kills the infected party unless an antidote is injected. Forget realism, people. Just sit back and relax. It’s “Chuck” time.

In a closet where R. Kelly and his stream-of-consciousness narratives are nowhere to be found, Chuck gets down and dirty—with the floor—when Sarah’s fast food boss approaches unexpectedly. To be fair, Sarah’s “make-out” with Chuckie is a spontaneous straddle with some neck nuzzling and bonus cleavage tossed in for good measure. I’m guessing Chuck would be offended if he had time to think with his brain, but his goofy grin seems to show that he doesn’t much care about being treated like a piece of meat in that moment.

Especially if that meat were, say, turkey. With Muenster on grilled egg bread. Enter Lou (Rachel Bilson, sassy star of the defunct “O.C.”). Broken phone and snappy dialog intrigue Chuck, who is reduced to a rhyming goodbye and a puddle of goo over Lou. Morgan labels him a “mind cheater” and wants to chew on Lou’s hair. I’m guessing the episode writer (Alison Adler) was hungry at the time she wrote the cold open.

When Chuck’s sister Ellie helps the poisoned guy into the ambulance and it pulls away, Chuck flashes on his ID and realizes he’s a bad guy. What he doesn’t realize is that the victim tossed an encoded amulet in the pocket of her lucky sweater.

Happy-time “Chuck” credits! Sing along, everyone! “Nah-nah, nah-nah, nah-nah! Nah-nah, nah-nah, NAH NAH!” Hooray for Cake and their three quirky mainstream hits. If you like the “Chuck” theme (part of “Short Skirt, Long Jacket”), download “The Distance” and “Never There” while you’re at it.

After some commercials (thankfully now Bee-Movie-Juniors-free), we learn that Sarah is afraid that her cover as Chuck’s girlfriend might be blown, so they might have to “make love.” Something tells me that if this show were on HBO, that’s not the term a blunt CIA agent would have chosen. But it is startling enough for Chuck to choke on his “hot coffee!”

Back at the Buy More, Tang’s wife is about as aggressive with Morgan as Sarah isn’t with Chuck after Morgan offers to help the assistant manager’s wife with a big purchase. Morgan’s bumbling coworkers tape this exchange, hoping to be rewarded. After all, “Knowledge is powder.” Or something like that.

Chuck fixes Lou’s phone and Lou brings him the aforementioned sandwich, which she names the Chuck Bartowski. Chuck didn’t order her subsequent innuendo, but he won’t send it back to the kitchen:

You know, you should come by the shop sometime and taste it fresh.

As Chuck fumbles for a response, Sarah shows up and awkwardness ensues. Lou learns of Chuck’s “girlfriend” and stomps away. No time for feelings, however, as Chuck must report to a morgue to help the agents search for clues on the poisoned man, who’s very dead and too naked for Chuck’s liking.

Meanwhile, Ellie’s been tracked down by “the tiniest cop” Captain Awesome has ever seen, only it’s not a cop; it’s Paine. His tracking doesn’t end there as he poisons Ellie with the same poison and a GPS-like bug.

Lou gives Chuck the cold shoulder at first, then admits that she likes him. She tells him to give her a ring if the relationship with Sarah ends. Sarah looks on, concerned. Later, in Chuck’s bedroom (which “Chuck” fans are reminded is bugged for his protection), Sarah watches Chuck doing some silly thrusting dance moves as soul music plays in the background. Caught in the act and realizing that their intimate time together is going to be reduced to snippy commentary, Chuck saunters to the bed and turns around to see Sarah in purple lingerie that she describes as “cover.”

Chuck: Well, it doesn’t cover a thing.
Sarah: And what if Ellie or Awesome were to walk in? This is exactly what a girlfriend would wear to seduce her boyfriend. I am just being professional.
Chuck: Yeah. The world’s oldest profession.

I’d like to pretend that the only reason I kept rewinding this scene was to recapture this witty banter. But Sarah is hot. And wearing just about the most scandalous lingerie that can be worn at an 8 o’clock time slot in network prime time. I’m only human.

Anyway, when Chuck inquires about the nature of their fake relationship, Sarah reveals that she knows he is interested in pursuing Lou. Before we can get a straight answer out of him, we see Ellie having an honest freakout (in more ways than one). Best of Ellie’s lines: “Chuck, you need a haircut. It’s starting to make funny animal shapes” and “Words taste like peaches,” the latter of which is straight out of the Ralph Wiggum Vernacular of the Absurd. Then she passes out and Casey notices she’s been poisoned.

Is it just me, “Smallville” fans, or did tonight’s story feel like it was ripped right from Clark Kent’s Smallville Torch newspaper? Sudden, unexplained activity? Bedside confessionals to the seemingly unconscious? Monologratification? (Like that word? I just made it up now. Really. Google it.) I mean, even the token hospital scene—practically the secondary setting for “Smallville” Seasons 1 and 2—and Chuck’s confessional to a bedridden Ellie seemed very Clarky. I kept waiting for Annette O’Toole to walk in and give Chuck a hug. The only difference in this case is that the green stuff saves lives, versus the Kryptonite that renders Clark powerless.

Chuck finds the encoded necklace, then ridiculously allows Paine to grab it from him. With poison escaping into the air, infecting Chuck and possibly the agents, Paine escapes but leaves behind one antidote dose, which the agents demand Chuck to take. Instead, he gives it to Ellie. In the process, he and Casey are vocalizing truths lethargically, a side effect which Sarah in retrospect probably was immune to. Chuck sees the gadget that will track down Paine to help them find more antidotes.

Forget the alleged performance of “Gimme More” at the MTV Video Music Awards. The use of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” in tonight’s episode is a far more inspiring comeback opportunity. It plays while Honest Chuck and the Agents (I think they opened for Blind Melon) wait for an elevator:

Chuck: God, (Sarah), you’re so pretty. And Casey, your jaw was chiseled by Michelangelo himself.
Casey: Thank you.
Chuck: Oh yeah.

Upon finding Paine, Chuck’s comic book prowess helps him determine that the antidotes the bad guy gives the agents are phony. When Paine tries to escape, Sarah shoots him in his bum knee and he is subdued. But before scarfing down the antidote, Chuck presses Sarah for the truth about them. She says there’s no future in that department, then scarfs down the green liquid. But when Chuck thanks her for “being honest,” she looks away. Hmm.

After Tang is shown the tape of his wife hitting on Morgan, he reports to the conference room in an attempt to catch them in the act. Instead, he walks in on a meeting with Chuck, Sarah, Casey and the feds. Casey convinces him he’s a government agent and he’s off to Oahu. But unknown to Tang is that Big Frank—not Morgan—seems to have had his way with Tang’s wife and will miss her. Awkward.

With Chuck realizing how good Awesome and Ellie seem to have it, he makes a point to talk with Sarah while the Eels’ “Fresh Feeling” plays in the background:

Chuck: We need to break up.
Sarah: What?
Chuck: You know, you know, like, fake… fake break-up our pretend relationship. [Pause.] I just can’t do this anymore, you know? The longer we go, the longer we keep trying to fool people into believing that we’re a real couple, the person I keep fooling the most is me.

Nerd power!

But wait, it gets better. Casey checks in to see if Sarah compromised herself while she was exposed to the poison. It turns out she had developed an immunity to it, meaning she could have been (read: was totally) lying to Chuck when she said she couldn’t see a real relationship with him. Oh, snap!

Chuck gets his schwerve on and high-tails it to Lou’s for some sweet, sweet sandwiches. Oh and Lou, herself. All while Sarah jealously looks at their good times together. Mwoohahahaha.

Chuck’s. Got. Game.

Next week: Sarah’s in dumpsville, Lou’s investigated by the agents and Chuck’s caught in the middle.

PS—Longest post ever.

(Photo courtesy of NBC/Universal.)