Forget Bryce Larkin. Chuck Bartowski’s biggest nemesis is… Billy Graham?

December

Ratings for “Chuck” ratings improved for the second week in a row—tied for tops in its time slot this week!—no thanks to NBC’s affiliate in South Bend, Ind.

It’s bad enough Notre Dame tortured regional fans this season, but with the final “Chuck” episode of 2007 and possibly the TV season about to be broadcast, execs at WNDU decided to preempt the mini-finale in favor of a special featuring evangelist Billy Graham.

Viewers waiting to watch John Casey’s quips and Sarah Walker’s, uh, kicks instead were treated to “a special performance from the Gaither Homecoming Friends.”

Call it “Chuck vs. The Televangelist,” except the main character in “Celebrating Ruth Bell Graham” probably has a more metaphysical description of his own Captain Awesome.

According to Jeremy D. Bonfiglio, a staff writer for the South Bend Tribune, “Chuck vs. The Crown Vic” aired early Tuesday morning at 3:05 a.m., despite a full week of NBC commercials promoting the episode at its regular time.

Regional executives decided to bump “Chuck” after NBC scheduled super-sized, two-hour editions of “The Biggest Loser” and “Deal or No Deal” on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Not wanting to interrupt Thursday night’s “Comedy Night Done Right” block of “My Name is Earl,” “30 Rock” and “Scrubs,” they terminated Chuck Bartowski’s home for the week. As of Monday, no make-up time for “Chuck vs. The Crown Vic” had been scheduled in that market.

Graham’s Web site said the special would only be broadcast from Dec. 1 to 9. WNDU was alone in bumping “Chuck” for Billy, according to Bonfiglio.

“The Billy Graham special was something that had to air this week,” WNDU programming director Michael Fowler said.

That all depends on who you ask.

(Photo of “Chuck” courtesy of NBC/Universal. Photo of Graham by Mark Vergari/The Journal News.)

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 6th, 2007 at 1:00 pm by Chris Serico.
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