Chuck is an American action comedy spy drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck Bartowski, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded email from an old college friend now working for the CIA. The message embeds the only remaining copy of a software program containing the United States' greatest spy secrets into Chuck's brain, leading the CIA and the NSA to assign him handlers and use him on top-secret missions. Produced by Fake Empire, Wonderland Sound and Vision, and Warner Bros. Television, the series premiered on September 24, 2007, on NBC, airing on Monday nights at 8:00 p.m./7:00 p.m. Central. The opening theme song is a wordless edit of "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" by the American rock band Cake.

Fake Empire is the production company that was formed in 2010 by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage to develop and produce television series and feature films. Their most notable productions include the series Gossip Girl, Chuck, Hart of Dixie, The Carrie Diaries, Dynasty, Marvel's Runaways, and The CW shows Nancy Drew and Tom Swift. The company was formed to focus on television projects and produce films, with the intent of branching out into online series, music and books. Schwartz formerly operated under the banner of College Hill Pictures, Inc., which folded in the making of Fake Empire. In 2010, the company developed a first look deal with Paramount. In 2013, Fake Empire was moved from Warners to ABC, which was followed by a deal with Universal in 2014.