fit" for the character during the first casting session. Relative newcomer Yvonne Strahovski was chosen for the female lead role of what was then CIA officer Sarah Kent in the same month. Casting continued throughout March with Sarah Lancaster, Joshua Gomez, and Natalie Martinez landing the parts of Dr. Ellie Bartowski (Chuck's older sister), Morgan Pace (Chuck's best friend), and Kayla Hart (Chuck's neighbor and love interest), respectively. The Kayla Hart character was dropped before filming because creators Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz found it unlikely and too complicated to the storyline that two women would be pining over Chuck. Morgan's surname was later changed to "Grimes" and Sarah's surname was changed to "Walker". Filming locations Although Chuck's apartment was set in Echo Park, the pilot was shot in El Cabrillo in Hollywood. After the series was picked up, the apartment and the building's courtyard were re-created on a Warner Bros. soundstage. Aerial views throughout the show combine shots of Echo Park and El Cabrillo. The exterior shots of the Burbank Buy More where Chuck and Morgan work are of a former Mervyn's store in the Fallbrook Mall in West Hills. The inside of the Burbank Buymore was also built on the Warner Bros. lot. Marketing In May 2007, NBC announced that their official website would launch "MyNBC" allowing users to be more interactive with selected shows. MyNBC would allow fans to delve inside Chuck's "brain" which will host hot spots of top-secret government information that the title character possesses. It will also had bonus video features. In addition, NBC further announced in July 2007 that tie-in micro websites where fans who log onto Buy-More.net would be directed to NerdHerdHelp.com giving them access to exclusive content of the show and a blog written by the title character's best friend and sidekick, Morgan, would be launched in September 2007. NBC was expected to spend about $8 million in total promoting the show. Reception Ratings Despite heavy promotion from NBC and positive critical reviews, Chuck suffered in domestic ratings due to stiff competition from established hits from ABC (Dancing with the Stars), Fox (House), and CBS (How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement) in the Monday 8:00–9:00 pm ET timeslot. Its ratings were also affected by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike in the first season and President Barack Obama's prime time news conference that led to the show being