'Chuck' readies for return -- too bad about the timeslot

Traditionally, advent calendars count down to Christmas, but I’m considering adding a few more days onto mine it counts down to Chuck. Because I am so, so excited.

Holy Chucking hell, does that look awesome. Except for one thing: Chuck will be on at 8 p.m. on Mondays, against The Bachelor, How I Met Your Mother, House, One Tree Hill, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. (I can’t believe I’m factoring in that teen pregnancy schmaltzfest, but I am — it gets 4 million viewers.) Pssst. NBC. This timeslot is not working for Chuck! It was bad news bears last year, and NBC has even less clout now; can Chuck survive another ratings struggle?

In my imaginary fairy princess world of candy and symbiosis, Chuck could nudge out The Jay Leno Show one glorious night a week and take a 10 p.m. slot, but I know that’s not going to happen. Marginally more realistically (though still under the authority of whimsical royalty), what about Sunday nights? Once football ends in February, I’d put Chuck on instead of two hours of The Apprentice.

Are you as stoked for season three as I am, PopWatchers? And what do you think would be Chuck‘s magic timeslot?