Jeffster - Jeff Barnes

Jeff Barnes

Jeffrey "Jeff" Barnes (frequently called Jefferson by Lester) is a member of the Nerd Herd. An alcoholic in his forties, he was champion of Missile Command in 1983 and is significantly older than his coworkers, aside from Casey and assistant manager Big Mike. Jeff can be seen as the Buy More employee of the month in the episode "Chuck Versus the Three Words" despite his actions and attitude towards working there (Chuck, the usual recipient, was away at spy school). He has a ferret named Roscoe as a pet. It has also been revealed that he only has eight toes and does not pay for toilet paper. His father is evidently part-Native American, allowing Jeff to satisfy a quota at the Buy More. His mother is in prison, and his sister works (at least part time) as an exotic dancer and performed at Devon's bachelor party. Jeff reveals he is deaf in his left ear in "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II." He shows pyromaniacal traits, frequently suggesting that he should burn down the Buy More as a response to solving any store-related problem.

Jeff's best friend on the show is Lester, and the series frequently involves the two scheming together. In "Chuck Versus the Marlin" he was responsible for the theft of Big Mike's fish, Norman, with Lester which contained a FULCRUM bug receiver. He and Lester frequent the Bennigan's bar across the street from the Buy More, presumably picking up women there. Jeff is frequently shown to be a pervert. He once left his underwear in the back of a company Nerd Herd vehicle, and because of this, the assistant manager pulled all the Herders out of use to have them re-upholstered. Several episodes have shown that Jeff is attracted to Anna Wu, calling her his muse, but the feeling is not reciprocated; he made a musical montage of Anna featuring several candid (i.e. stalker-like) photos. In addition to Anna, Jeff frequently targets (and repulses) other attractive women at the store, but also indicates preferences for the "dumpy housewives" and heavily pregnant women. Jeff has on several occasions expressed a disturbing obsession with Chuck, starting when Chuck interviewed Jeff for the position of assistant manager (the details were not disclosed but were so disturbing that Morgan picked up Jeff's resume napkin with tongs to dispose of it and both Chuck and Morgan refused to allow the interview to go any further, additionally stating that Jeff playing footsie with him was unwelcome) and even going so far as describing Ellie as a "dream come true" because she's "like Chuck, but with lady parts." Commenting on the accurate rumor of her pregnancy, he asked a disgusted Ellie, "Is there room in that womb for two?"

The majority of his Buy More paycheck is spent on alcohol, and spy gear used to outfit his van. "Chuck Versus the American Hero" reveals he has named his van "Loretta," and that Jeff and Lester are such skilled stalkers they were even able to tail Ring operatives — professional spies — without being detected. Jeff also has an "office" set up in stall 2 of the Buy More employee men's room in which he takes a daily nap from 3pm-5pm. His "office" was first shown in "Chuck Versus the Predator," and contained a toilet used as a cooler for his alcoholic beverages along with an easy chair, lava lamp, and various wall decorations. Jeff carries keys to the store (at least up until the NSA and CIA rebuild the structure as a secret base) and, according to Morgan, is the only employee who knows how the store's registers work. When interviewing with Chuck for the assistant manager's position he reveals he was the store's first employee.

According to the card Jeff carries which reads, "My name is Jeff and I'm lost", his address is 1629 Handley Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601. Dr. "Woody" Woodcomb mistakes him for the late Sam Kinison.

In Chuck Versus the A-Team, Jeff is said to be psychic. When trying to find the Orion laptop, he predicts that it is with the CIA (dismissed as the name "Cia"). The CIA did indeed have it when it was revealed to be in the NCS section of Castle.