‘Chuck’ ending literally painful for Vik Sahay

Published 4:00 am Thursday, January 26, 2012

“Chuck” 8 p.m. Friday, NBC

PASADENA, Calif. — For five seasons on “Chuck,” Vik Sahay and Scott Krinsky played Lester and Jeff — the most strung-out and silly buddies since Bill and Ted went on an excellent adventure.

That ride comes to an end Friday with the two-part series finale of the NBC comedy about a computer geek (Zachary Levi) who becomes a super spy.

The show found a following because of its odd cast of characters. Sahay’s character — one of Chuck’s fellow computer geeks — had only a couple of lines in the first episode of “Chuck” when it debuted in 2007.

“They let me relentlessly improv in that episode, and all of it was cut before it aired,” Sahay said. “But, there was something that stuck with the producers, and then they saw some chemistry between me and Scott that they liked.”

The weird pair have been dropped into shows to play everything from rock stars to cage fighters. They finally got brought into the inner circle of the spy world in last week’s episode, turning the duo into a mix of Steve Jobs and Rambo.

Sahay describes the show’s culmination as odd.

“Other than the expected sadness, nostalgia and shock to the system, this past few weeks has almost been an exorcism of letting Lester bleed out of me,” Sahay said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a non-Lester reality, and now it’s merely Vik Sahay and I’m a little wobbly on my legs. I feel kind of raw and exposed.”

“Chuck” survived five seasons despite low ratings because of a very loyal fan base. Sahay expects those fans will always see him as Lester, but he’s ready to try something different — preferably in movies. But, he would returns to TV if he finds a series as creative and fun as “Chuck.”

The end of the show was very painful in one way for Sahay.

“I broke my finger on one of the last episodes we were filming,” he said as he showed off the cast covering his pinkie. “I broke it in the middle of a scene.”

Along with the finger cast, he also took home his uniform and a sign from the Buy More electronics store where Lester, Jeff and the rest of the “Chuck” cast worked during the run of the show.

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