15 most likable TV leads

Jane The Virgin -- "Chapter Forty-Seven" -- Image Number: JAV303b_0344.jpg -- Pictured: Gina Rodriguez as Jane -- Photo: Patrick Wymore/The CW -- © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Jane The Virgin -- "Chapter Forty-Seven" -- Image Number: JAV303b_0344.jpg -- Pictured: Gina Rodriguez as Jane -- Photo: Patrick Wymore/The CW -- © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved. /
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CHUCK — “Chuck vs. The Cubic Z” Episode 403 — Pictured: Yvonnne Strahovski as Sarah Walker, Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski (Photo by Greg Gayne/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
CHUCK — “Chuck vs. The Cubic Z” Episode 403 — Pictured: Yvonnne Strahovski as Sarah Walker, Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski (Photo by Greg Gayne/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) /

13. Chuck Bartowski on Chuck

What is there not to like about an unlikely hero? Feel free to use Chuck Bartowski from the series Chuck as a placeholder for your spy, superhero, or general world saver of your choice, but he’s without a doubt one of the most lovable guys to ever grace the small screen. In the first season of the action-comedy series, retail worker Chuck becomes implanted with the government’s secrets in his brain, forcing him to step up as the CIA and NSA’s secret weapon.

Needless to say, his world turns upside down in an instant. While Chuck’s life once revolved around his desire to leave his post at the Buy More’s Nerd Herd and find the drive he’s lacked since being wrongly booted from Stanford, now he lives a double life as a government asset. Sure, he lies to his friends and family about his new professional endeavor and his relationship with his handler Sarah, but it’s for the greater good of the world. You can’t fault him there.

From learning the tricks of the trade to often being the key to taking down the assassins and terrorists thirsting for world destruction, Chuck gracefully tackles the spy life that chose him. He’s an average Joe thrust into extraordinary circumstances, but he doesn’t lose himself or his ability to be a mirror for the audience. It’s impossible to not find Chuck’s naivete or nerdy innocence that Zachary Levi plays so well absolutely charming. If you haven’t yet watched Chuck, run, don’t walk, to catch all five seasons and those final heart-wrenching moments that make Chuck so likable.