It might be a bit too much to have a topic for EACH "boss" character on this show. So maybe we should combine them.

Let's see...

We have:

--Sarah's boss at the CIA - Graham (don't know for sure if its a first or last name)
--Sarah's boss at Wienerlicious.
--Casey's boss at the NSA - General Beckman.
--Buy More's Big Mike.
--and now... Buy More Assistant Manager Harry Tiberius Tang.

Personally I LOVE Big Mike. Sure, he's a one joke character, but its a good joke. I hope Harry being promoted and Chuck no longer trying for the Assistant Manager position doesn't mean that Big Mike will fade out of the show.

No way is Big Mike (and his Zen Garden!) fading away. Especially not w/ Tang as Ass't Mgr. I can just see the parade of green shirts marching into Big Mike's office threatening a coup. With Jeneral Casey leading the junta.

I'm finding it really distracting that Tang is often saying "Morgan" on this show, and the same actor, playing Masuka on "Dexter," always says "Morgan," Dexter's and his sister's last name. Reminds me of when the same actress was on "Heroes" and "Ugly Betty" last season, and on both shows her name was "Charlie"!

Well know you know what Sarah Lancaster feels like whenever Zach Levi says "Sarah" to Yvonne!

I was hoping that his non-appearance last week meant they were fading out the Harry character, but I guess not. He's just... one note and annoying. Big Mike at least throws some spins occasionally, Tang is just total cliche.

It also doesn't help that I find the "my secret life means I totally fail at my real life" routine boring. I know it's a mainstay of this sort of show, but it always grates, it's so predictable.

Hurrah! Tang is gone. And it turns out that he was only promoted since the boss was sleeping with his wife.

Actually, I get the sense that that's why Big Mike DIDN'T want to promote Tang. But Tang was the only other applicant besides Chuck, so Mike had no choice. Corporate made him do it when Chuck didn't show up for the interview.

as much as I hate Tang, I can't say Mike's revelation about nailing Tang's wife particularly endeared him to me.

I just noticed that Sarah's Wienerlicious boss' nametag says "Scooter". Heh.

... and he actually looks a little like the muppet Scooter too. Scary. :-)

From the promos thread:


They switched Beckmans??? I never noticed!

I was gonna say the same thing, I never noticed it myself. However, this is probably due to the fact that the Pilot is the only episode I do not have on my DVR as I watched it at work on the Saturday replay (thank God I watched it then, or I wouldn't be the slobbering Chuck addict I am today!).

They look somewhat similar, but the current Beckman looks a little older, and has a rounder face.

Well, sort of. Wendy Makkena (pic) was credited as "National Intelligence Director" in the pilot. Since then, Bonita Friedericy has been playing "General Beckman."

I never noticed the switch either...
Huh...

Okay, after re-watching the pilot (just now), I noticed it.
She looks younger and her voice is a slight bit different.
Interesting as to why they were changed...?

It's likely that the switch was made because the pilot was shot well in advance, and after NBC picked it up, Wendy Makkena was no longer available (although why, I'm not sure... it looks like the only thing she's got in the pipeline is the movie version of the BBC series "State of Play").

Still, it is quite interesting...

Particularily in Chuck vs the Marlin, all of the bosses seem to be so focused on their own obsessions that they have absolutely no idea what's going on.

I wonder if Director Graham knows about the NSA's kill order on Chuck, and if he has the power to stop it.

Given that in real life, and the show, the two agencies don't often "play nice" I would tend to doubt he knows. Would he stop it is the more important question. He's probably not overly thrilled that all their secrets are stored in the mind of guy who has no agent training whatsoever. But has he come to see Chuck's value?

Emmett Milbarge is okay for comedy relief at the Buy More, but I still kinda miss Harry Tang. He just seemed like a better (civilian) nemesis to Chuck.