episodes quickly jump back in, with higher stakes and sharper jokes." The Star-Ledger Alan Sepinwall calls Chuck "the most purely entertaining show currently on television, whether you're talking network or cable." He states that "what makes Chuck so special ... is that there's a fundamental warmth and humanity underneath the jokes", with "a cast of appealing characters played by very good actors." Going into 2010, Aaron Barnhart of the Kansas City Star described the show's premise as "fresh, appealing and limited", expressing concern that "a lot of TV shows overstay their welcome" and fearing that in its third season the show is "about to run out of new, workable ideas". USA Today called the show NBC's "best scripted hour". In an article in The Journal of Popular Culture, Joseph J. Darowski recognizes the series' exploration of technology's impact on individual identity. He discusses the series' themes as a natural progression of the popular culture tradition of man-made technology encroaching first into nature, then into human bodies, and finally into human minds. Awards and honors Season 1 of Chuck enjoyed much formal recognition. The program was mentioned multiple times in IGN's 2007 year-in-review awards. Along with winning the honor of Best New TV Series, Sarah Walker won the award for best TV character, and Chuck and Sarah as a couple won the "Couple That We Rooted for the Most" award. Chuck was also nominated for "Best New TV Comedy Series" at the 2008 People's Choice Awards, which aired on January 8, 2008, but lost to Samantha Who? The series stunt coordinator Merritt Yohnka won the 2007–2008 Primetime Emmy for "Outstanding Stunt Coordination". Chuck was also nominated for "Outstanding Main Title Design" in 2007, but did not win. Merritt Yohnka also won the 2008–2009 Primetime Emmy for "Outstanding Stunt Coordination", back-to-back wins for the same award. Campaign for series renewal, 2009 Despite being one of the first series to be renewed by NBC for the 2008–2009 television season, Chuck was classified as a show "on the bubble" between renewal and cancellation in April 2009 after NBC decided to delay its decision on its renewal for a third season until early May. The show's second season did not improve on or maintain the audience numbers received in the first season and consistently obtained low ratings, making it one of the least-watched shows in its Monday 8:00 pm ET timeslot. Concerned that the show