REALITY CHECK: How to Live like NBC's Chuck, King of the Geeks

It's official: geek is chic. The popularity of NBC's action comedy "Chuck," which follows the adventures of a nerd turned super spy, has made it hip to be square. Chuck (played by Zachary Levi) may spend his free time playing video games, but he also manages to save the world each week.

Fans may envy Chuck's life, but reality is a different matter. Being Chuck isn't easy, but there are steps you can take to get there.

BUILD UP YOUR NERD CRED
Chuck isn't just a geek - he's an uber-geek. His condo is decorated with framed comic books and a "Tron" poster hangs in his bedroom. Being a good geek is more than comics and video games, however. Geekiness is a state of mind. It includes having one useless skill, like naming every planet featured in the "Star Wars" films. An annual trip to the geekdom's mecca, the San Diego Comic Con, will put you in the right frame of mind.

LEARN A CIA SKILL
Being an expert video game player is not a skill the CIA needs, so becoming a CIA spy will require some effort. Join the military or get a college degree and specialize in a foreign culture to become a CIA analyst. Either that, or find a way to download government secrets into your head like Chuck.

FIND ONE OF BURBANK'S BEST CONDOS
To live like Chuck, find a nice Burbank condo with a private courtyard. Crack that wallet open, because it will cost about half a million dollars for such a condo in the Burbank market.

SUPPLEMENT YOUR MINIMUM WAGE JOB
Chuck works at Buy More (a Best Buy clone), but the reality is you'll need a lot more money to live like Chuck. Government pay for spies is lousy, so consider selling comic books on eBay.

FIND A HOT AUSTRALIAN GIRLFRIEND
There aren't many women on the planet like Yvonne Strahovsky, who plays Chuck's girlfriend and CIA handler Sarah Walker. You might want to search Strahovsky's home country for a girlfriend. Since Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Emile de Ravin and Strahovsky all hail from Australia, there must be a village of blond supermodels there somewhere. All you have to do is make one fall in love with you.

Even with these steps, you're not "Chuck" yet. You must find time for spy work (good luck getting time off like Chuck does), have a military operative like Casey (played by Adam Baldwin) watching your back, and not get killed when on a mission. The question now is: are you "Chuck" enough?