Three years after "Chuck" left the NBC airwaves, Zachary Levi — the guy who played Chuck Bartowski, Nerd Herd employee at Buy More, a fictional electronics store in Burbank, Calif. — is once again dealing with consumer electronics and working with the government.
In the delightful music video, "Sesame Street Explores National Parks," produced in partnership with National Park Foundation, Levi isn't so much repairing electronics as he is singing about taking a break from them. He's got a new partner, too — Bert, aka Ernie's roommate on "Sesame Street." Together, they dance through the park, encouraging others to unplug from their devices and hook up with nature.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, selfies, video games, 4G, the "cloud," weather apps and even Oculus Rift (as modeled by Grover) can't compare to a "Lovely Sunny Day," Levi and Bert sing, ostensibly to a "Sesame Street" audience not old enough to use most social media in accordance to the standard 13-years-and-older terms of service.
Nothing can stop the man and Muppet enthusiasm for sunshine — not even a cameo by selfie-obsessed Kal Penn (aka Kumar of the "Harold & Kumar" movie franchise, the ill-fated Dr. Kutner on "House," and erstwhile employee of the Obama administration).
One wonders if it's perhaps adults who are the intended audience, and whether this is some kind of plot by "Sesame Street" and the National Park Foundation to get parents off our mobile devices and on the playground interacting with our kids.
Sneaky!
Also, ironic. Even Levi can't help but quip about sharing this Internet video on eschewing technology.
Helen A.S. Popkin is Deputy Tech & Science editor for TODAY/NBC News. You can find her on Facebook andTwitter.