Well, here we are, a couple of episodes into the final season of Chuck. I predict this season there will be a lot of Subway sandwiches eaten, a choice Jeffster performance, and a plethora of geeky references. The training wheels are off, as Chuck has lost the intersect and Morgan is the new ace in the hole. The spy in tennis shoes and his team of rogue spies aren’t out for the count yet, though.

Read on, as the cast gives some parting words on their super secret missions on the mean streets of Burbank.

The Flickast: Chuck’s brother-in-law, Devon, has the nickname “Captain Awesome”. On a scale of 1 to 10, how awesome are you?

Ryan McPartlin: 10 being the most awesome? We have to clarify. (TF: Yes, 10 being the most awesome). It depends on what we’re talking about, like I feel I’m a really awesome dad and husband, so I’m a 10 at that area. But, there’s a lot of things that I can’t dedicate my time to that I think I could be really awesome at, like for instance, golf.

TF: What does Casey think of teaching the spy tricks of the trade all over again, this time to Morgan?

Fortunately, one of our favorite shows will be coming back next year so tonight’s two-hour season finale of Chuck isn’t all that sad. Well, at least the fact that the series is having a season finale isn’t sad. The episode itself? Perhaps.

To get you in the mood for tonight, we’ve got not one, but two clips about the show. In them, you get to see stars Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski discuss the finale and the super-secret ending that will surely turn everything in Chuck world upside down. Then, check out all the action in a clip from the actual episode and marvel at how the show’s creative team make it look so good after having their budget cut for this season.

All the action kicks off tonight at 8/7C on NBC. Until then, check out both clips after the jump.

It didn’t come as much of a surprise to many people when Fox announced Matthew Vaughn as director of the upcoming prequel X-Men: First Class. He is a hot commodity right now due to the mild success of Kick-Ass, and they had always had their eye on Vaughn, even back as far as The Last Stand.

With that in mind, it should come as even less of a surprise that Vaughn is bringing on screenwriter Jane Goldman to tweak the First Class script a little bit. Vaughn and Goldman worked together on Stardust and most recently wrote the ending to Kick-Ass (as the ending was unfinished when Mark Millar brought the script to Vaughn).

In a recent tweet from Goldman’s husband and BBC Media Mogul Jonathan Ross, he confirmed the rewrite:

“Also, for those who need to know, my wife IS currently writing X men First Class.”

What could this mean for the X-Men: First Class film is unknown just yet. Last we heard, Chuck and O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, who wrote the original comic, was stepping in to write the script. This could be the same script that’s getting “retooled”, or Goldman and Vaughn could be taking it back to square one.

With a release date of Summer 2011, you can expect more answers to come through soon.  Let’s just hope there isn’t an epic “flying through the city on a jet pack” scene at the end of this comic book adaptation.

Less than 24 hours ago, we brought you news that Kick-Ass director/co-writer Matthew Vaughn was in negotiations with Twentieth Century Fox about directing the upcoming prequel X-Men: First Class. It looks like the studio was happy with their meeting, as they have officially attached Vaughn as director.

From Heat Vision:

Vaughn’s involvement had been on and off, with negotiations resuming yesterday thanks to the involvement of producer Bryan Singer. Another factor had been Fox’s desire of wanting to have a finished film for next summer, making the search for a director who can deliver a quality film a priority.

On top of that, Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, who worked on Marvel’s “Thor” movie, did a rewrite on the “First Class” script that convinced execs that making a movie for next year was possible. According to Fox, “First Class” will “chart the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time.

Before they were archenemies, they were the closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.”

So not only do we have rewrites on the film, a director, and franchise helmer Singer’s stamp of approval, but the film also has a release date of June 3, 2011. This means that you can expect casting news to start pouring out over the next few weeks, as principal photography needs to start as soon as possible.

Now that Kick-Ass has been considered to be a financial success (even though it was still toppled by 3D Dragons), it’s inevitable that the film’s director and co-writer of the screenplay, Matthew Vaughn, would be considered a hot commodity and poached by other studios. In this instance, it could be for yet another superhero flick, as Fox is allegedly interested in Vaughn directing X-Men: First Class.

The screenplay comes from Chuck creator Josh Schwartz, who also wrote the comic series of the same title. In the book, the story takes us a few years back, as we follow the very first years of Professor Xavier’s students. This class includes a young Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Ice Man, and Angel.

This isn’t the first encounter that Vaughn has had with Fox and the franchise, as he was signed to direct X-Men 3: The Last Stand back in 2006 after Bryan Singer left the franchise to direct Superman Returns. Vaughn left the project soon after signing on due to family issues, but not before casting Kelsey Grammer as Beast and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut (arguably two of the best cast roles in the film).

Now that Singer has been attached as hands-on producer of First Class alongside Lauren Shuler Donner, Fox has Schwartz and Jamie Moss writing a screenplay, and now possibly Vaughn as director, the film seems to be coming along quite well.

We expect 20th Century to make the official announcement about Vaughn and his role in production before the end of the week. Soon after that, information on casting should start rolling in, as the film is currently slated for a 2011 release.

Last year, fans across the nation teamed up with the sandwich chain Subway to save NBC’s Chuck from getting canceled. NBC was touched by the amount of support from the legion of viewers that they were able to rework the show’s budget so it could stay on for another year. Now it seems like fans are getting ready to save the show from damnation once again.

Starting on Monday, fans will rally in cities like Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, and Philadelphia in “Buy More” clothing (The store that the titular character works at) in an attempt to bring awareness to the NBC series once again. From THR:

The idea is from fan site chucktv.net, one of those that spearheaded last year’s “Finale and a Footlong” campaign that made national headlines when fans bought sandwiches from “Chuck” sponsor Subway. While last year’s effort was about sending a message to NBC that fans will support the show’s advertisers, this year it’s about trying to market the show to potential viewers.

“Chuck fans are the most loyal, dedicated, imaginative and passionate fans any show could ever hope for,” “Chuck” co-creator Josh Schwartz said.

Even though today is Monday and nobody really likes Monday, at least one good thing is happening tonight: Chuck returns with a brand new episode. After some time off, everyone’s favorite reluctant yet determined spy returns and we’ve got the promo video to prove it.

But wait, that’s not all. The video is not just a promo for tonight’s episode, it also gives us a lot of stuff about what we can expect from the second half of season 3. This includes guns, explosions, back flips, romance, action and, apparently, teeth pulling. Yeah, I don’t quite get that last one either.

Still, with Chuck being one of the few “geek” shows left on the air, it’s nice to see it coming back strong for the rest of the season. Hopefully, things will continue to go well for the show and we’ll get a season 4.

Check out the video after the break. Chuck airs tonight at 8/7 C on NBC.

Chuck may have been on the bubble last season, but it seems to be doing beyond well with the first three episodes airing last week on NBC. This week, things seem to be heating up for the gang, as Captain Awesome gets mistaken for a CIA agent and kidnapped. From NBC:

When Awesome (Ryan McPartlin) is mistaken for a super spy by the evil Sydney Price (guest star Angie Harmon), Chuck (Zachary Levi) must become his handler and show him the spy ropes. While on a mission for The Ring, they meet the mysterious Daniel Shaw (guest star Brandon Routh).

Meanwhile, Morgan (Joshua Gomez) gets promoted to assistant manager and must deal with Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Lester’s (Vik Sahay) latest hijinks. Sarah Lancaster and Mark Christopher Lawrence also star.

That’s right, this week gets not one-but two separate guest stars; Angie Harmon and Brandon Routh. Check out four new clips from the upcoming “Chuck Versus Operation Awesome” episode, airing on NBC next Monday at 8/7C.

It should come as no surprise that we love Chuck here at The Flickcast. We cover it quite extensively and bring you as much info about the show as we can. We are also still hanging in there for Heroes, even though the show sorta seems to be heading down the wrong path. Although, Greg Grunberg assures us that the show is not being canceled, so its got that going for it.

This week Chuck settled into its Monday slot and Heroes was all new as well. If you missed the episodes, we’ve got some video for you to help you keep up with what’s going on with your favorite reluctant spy and your used to be favorite people with special abilities.

If you saw the episodes already, well, just watch these recaps and previews for next week anyway. We would appreciate it and I’m sure NBC would as well — especially if it gets you excited to watch Chuck and Heroes next week. Check out all the video goodness after the jump. You can also watch full episodes at NBC’s website.

Chuck is one of those rare TV programs that manages to combine humor, action, drama and suspense all in one pretty satisfying package. Sure, the show takes a few missteps here and there, but overall its a solid hour of television that’s sure to please fans, especially of the more “geeky” variety. Even though it was “on the bubble’ as they say in the biz and was at risk of cancellation, we’re happy that it was finally granted a reprieve and is now coming back for a third season this Sunday with a special two hour premiere.

So, now that Chuck‘s coming back, what can we expect from season three? Well, fortunately our friends at NBC have graciously sent us a pretty awesome press kit about the upcoming season and were kind enough to include the first five episodes for us to watch and tell you a little about. Don’t worry, no spoilers.

When last we saw Chuck, he had had quite a day and at the end of it had been fully integrated with the brand new Intersect 2.0, complete with a whole array of new skills including martial arts and, apparently, guitar. It should also come as no surprise that even with these new skills in his head, Chuck still has a few problems getting the Intersect to behave exactly how he wants to utilize these new abilities.

Of course, as you’ve no doubt seen in the previews for season three, he does manage to engage his fighting skills some of the time, which makes for some pretty good action sequences. That guitar skill also comes in handy as well but, as is often the case, end up leading Chuck into even more danger.