Chuck Returns on January 10th

NBC’s action-comedy series “Chuck” returns to the NBC lineup on Sunday, January 10 with all-new missions and two action-packed, back-to-back original episodes in its season premiere (9-11 p.m. ET) before the series — starring Zachary Levi in the title role — moves to its regular day and time (Mondays 8-9 p.m. ET) beginning January 11.

In addition, “Chuck” returns with guest stars galore in its third season. These include: Angie Harmon (NBC’s “Law & Order”), who will play Sydney, an enemy operative; Brandon Routh (“Superman Returns”), who is set to play CIA Agent Daniel Shaw; Robert Patrick (“Terminator 2: Judgment Day”) will play Colonel Keller, a soldier and spy from Casey’s past; Kristin Kreuk (“Smallville”), who will portray Hannah — a potential love interest for Chuck; Armand Assante (“Judge Dredd”) as dictator Premier Goya, who is the target of an assassin; Steve Austin (“WWE Smackdown!”) will portray Hugo Panzer, who becomes entangled in Chuck’s first solo mission; and Vinnie Jones (“Snatch”) will play Carl Stromberg, an arms dealer.

In other programming news, a special two-hour episode of “Heroes” will be broadcast on Monday, January 4 (8-10 p.m. ET) and then the series moves to its new time slot of Mondays (9-10 p.m. ET) starting January 11.

“Josh (Schwartz) and Chris (Fedak) and the writing team are doing a great job this season, and we think the loyal fan base for this show will be happy to see it back on the NBC schedule,” said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

In “Chuck,” the world’s nerdiest secret agent is back in the one-hour action-comedy series. Chuck Bartowski (Levi, “Less Than Perfect”) continues as the Buy More electronics store computer geek, who unwittingly becomes the government’s most vital secret agent. Chuck is transformed into the Intersect 2.0 after another data download into his brain. This time, he not only knows government secrets, but he is also well equipped with deadly fight skills. Chuck has the potential to become a real agent, but he has one problem — his emotions. Now he faces the battle of keeping his emotions in check in order to protect himself and the people around him.

The ever stoic Colonel John Casey (Adam Baldwin, “My Bodyguard”) returns with partner Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski, “Gone”), one of the CIA’s top agents and Chuck’s dream girl. As Chuck assumes his new role as the Intersect 2.0, Casey and Sarah need to protect him but also help him become the agent he is destined to be.

“Midnighters” Pilot at NBC

According to The Hollywood Reporter, NBC has announced a pilot based on Scott Westerfeld’s Midnighters book series. According to the trade, the concept “revolves around a group of people born at the stroke of midnight who have access to the 25th hour of each day, which they use to stop crime.” Four years ago, Warner Bros. Television attempted to mount a pilot based on the novels, but that did not come to fruition.

“Day One” Just Got Shorter

TV’s newest trend — which started about a week ago — is to take a 13-episode commitment for a series, reduce it to four episodes, air it as “event” television, check out the ratings and then determine whether or not you want to go into production on further episodes. It’s what it seems ABC is doing with V (which will present four episodes in November, theoretically the rest in March) and now NBC has announced a similar plan with the apocalyptic Day One.

According to Variety, “Move is likely a cost-cutting measure, as NBC will be able to judge the performance of the Day One mini before deciding whether to proceed with a series. Indeed, Peacock execs said Day One could still morph into a series for next season should the event perform well. Network compares the strategy to how sister cabler Sci Fi (now Syfy) launched Battlestar Galactica, which was revived as a three-hour project before being redeveloped into a new series.”

Day One is executive produced by Jesse Alexander, whose credits include Alias, Lost and Heroes.

“Persons Unknown” Coming to NBC

Although it hasn’t announced a premiere date yet, NBC has picked up 13 episodes of Persons Unknown, a Prisoner-esque series about a group of people who awaken in a town with no knowledge of how they got there and no means of escape. Created by Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects). Click below to check out an intriguing preview of the series.