29 new shows are headed for your TV

CHUCK (Mondays, 7 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5) comes to us from Josh Schwartz, the creator/executive producer of "The O.C." And its a little bit like Seth (Adam Brody) on "The O.C." suddenly becoming a super-smart spy.

Chuck Bartkowsi (Zachary Levi of "Less Than Perfect") is a nerd — literally. He works in tech-support as a member of the Nerd Herd at a Buy More Electronics store, and he's a loser at love.

His former college roommate, however, is a real-life super spy. In the first few minutes of the series, the ex-roommate sends Chuck an e-mail, which (through super-spy powers) downloads all of America's intelligence information into Chuck's brain — putting the fate of the world in his hands.

Rival agents from the National Security Agency (Adam Baldwin) and the CIA (Yvonne Strahovski) are soon protecting/battling over Chuck as he takes on terrorists and so on. All with the same sort of sly, funny attitude we've seen from Schwartz before.

What's to like? Levi is great; he and Joshua Gomez (who plays Chuck's buddy) make a great comedy team. This is a very funny show.

What's not to like? It remains to be seen home much mileage Schwartz & Co.. can get out of this premise — will it hold up in the long run?

Will it work? If "Heroes" fans will tune in to NBC an hour earlier on Monday nights, this could be at least a moderate hit.

Debuts: Monday, Sept. 24

THE BIG BANG THEORY (Mondays, 7:30 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2) is about geeks/nerds/rocket scientists — real, literal rockets scientists — who are beside themselves when a hot girl moves into the apartment across the hall. I can't argue that it doesn't sound like a dumb idea, but it's also really funny.

And there aren't many sitcoms that can make that claim these days.

Leonard (Johnny Galecki of "Roseanne") and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) are socially inept geniuses from Cal Tech. When beautiful, sexy Penny (Kaley Cuoco of "Five Simple Rules") moves into their apartment building, Leonard is smitten. Sheldon is taken aback and misses no opportunity to express his skepticism.

Because two nerds aren't enough, we also see Leonard and Sheldon's even more socially inept pals Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Rajesh Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar).

"Big Bang Theory" proves once again that it's not the format or the premise that makes a show funny, it's the execution. And this show is laugh-out-loud funny.

What's to like? If you're looking to laugh, there's plenty to laugh at here. And Parsons is a find — he's perfect in the role of the sardonic geek.