The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Fox TV series

[js]

I don't know if anyone else saw it, but I watched The Sarah Connor Chronicles part 1 of the pilot episode last night on Fox, and I was very impressed. They really did a great job casting the show, and the plot and characterization were very well done. Very enjoyable. I was happy from the opening monologue, actually, and wasn't let down even for a minute. Summer Glau, of Serenity and Firefly fame plays Cameron, the good terminator sent to help them, and Lena Headey plays Sarah Connor. I'd never seen her before, but I was duly impressed. She was a good choice for the role. The actor that plays John Connor, Thomas Dekker, I also liked.

I anticipated The Bionic Woman much more eagerly than this series, but was terribly let down by The Bionic Woman--so much so that I just stopped watching it. The Sarah Connor Chronicles, on the other hand, I had only mild hopes about, but I am currently very excited about this series.

For those who want to gauge my taste to see if it might match theirs, let me first say that I don't just sit and watch TV just to fill time--EVER. If it isn't good, I've got better things to do than be bombarded by commercials and audio-visual other unwanted stimulus. However, if it's a really GOOD show or movie, I treat it just as seriously and give it just as much attention as a novel or play or book.

Some of my favorite modern (more or less) TV shows are as follows, in no particular order:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Firefly
Veronica Mars (first two seasons only)
Battlestar Galactica
Alias (first two seasons only)
Gilmore Girls

As for the Terminator movies, I liked the first two quite a bit (more the first than the second), but didn't much like the third. Which is kind of nice, in the sense that the TV series is pretending that T3 just doesn't exist. hehe.

Did anyone else watch this? And if so, what were your impressions?

(I'd also be fine with talking about TV shows or movies in general or other related topics, if that's where things go.)

 

[raggie33]

well judgeing from the other shows ya like im sure i wont like it.but then again i didnt know it was a show i thought it was the new movie.but i watched con air instead

 

[bhds]

I watched it and am recording it tonight. I'm still up in the air right now. Theres a lot of plot holes that need plugging.
:ironic:

 

[Oddjob]

I liked last nights episode and I am hopeful this one will pan out. I usually give a show 6 to 8 episodes to see if it is worth following. I too was disappointed with the Bionic Woman and stopped watching it. I was hoping it would be more like Alias was. If you like the Terminator movies and SciFi in general this show is worth a look IMO.

 

[PurpleDrazi]

I was fortunate to watch this episode last July at Comic-Con.

The "Come with me if you want to live" part was the highlight for me (being a Browncoat and not knowing what part Summer played)




Francis

 

[cernobila]

We don't have everything that you have but most of it.......in my case I boycott anything that has "Fox" in it, on it, or next to it.......don't like the person that owns/runs it, that's all.......actually I don't watch very much commercial TV at all....but that's only me.....

 

[woodrow]

When I first saw the previews, I took a quick double take and said, "There is a new terminator...and its River!"

Being a huge Firefly/Serenity fan, I could not miss last nights show, and invited a buddy over who also liked Firefly.

I was pretty impressed. Yes there were some things that required a little stretch to seem plausible...but overall, I think they did a great job.

I look forward to watching it tonight.

 

[Woods]

My wife and I enjoyed it...made Bionic Woman look as bad as it is. Looking forward to tonight......

 

[Woods]

We don't have everything that you have but most of it.......in my case I boycott anything that has "Fox" in it, on it, or next to it.......don't like the person that owns/runs it, that's all.......actually I don't watch very much commercial TV at all....but that's only me.....

Doh! C'mon now! They report, we decide....and Bill's watching out for us!
:nana:

 

[bobisculous]

I watched it. Thought it wasn't bad at all. Good thing too, cause they cut 24 till the strike is over and I am having Bauer Withdrawals...

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Well, I liked it, really liked it from the first minute to the last minute. They did really good presenting this show, considering the financial restraints compared to a movie's budget. The cast played deadly serious deadly seriously. There was even a great one liner by the evil robotic guy, "Class dismissed", as he climbs out the school window in persuit of John. I liked the non stop excitement of the show, and this show certainly fills the void left by "24" on Monday night.

Bill

 

[kelmo]

I too enjoyed it.

The gal who played Sarah Connor was also the wife of Leonidas in "300."

It was kind of weird seeing River Tam playing a Terminatrix. I was expecting her to say, "Come with me if you're not a reaver."

Did you notice her eyes flashed blue instead of red when she identified herself?

 

[dano]

It wasn't too bad, though I think I'll give it a few more episodes before I have a definite yes/no.

What really p.o.'d me was the amount of commercials, at least one break every four minutes at one point...It was way too distracting.

-dan

 

[kelmo]

The Skynet attack date was changed with the demise of Myles Dyson. Does this imply that Terminators are being sent back from different timelines to eliminate an infinite number of John Conners in an infinite number of possible futures?

 

[NA8]

+1

Liked it.
Stopped watching bionic woman.
Hate all the commericals.
The wife of Leonidas in "300" rocked.
I'd like to have a pair of those new terminator models.
Hope John doesn't whine all through the series.

 

[Big_Ed]

I watched it last night, and I liked it. The only thing I'm unsure about is if I'll end up liking the choice of actress for Sarah Connor. To me she doesn't quite seem right. Not enough like Linda Hamilton in my opinion. But I won't let that stop me from enjoying the show. It seems pretty clever, and has good special effects.

 

[js]

There are some people who get really into plot details and plausibility and realism and all that. One of my girlfriends in college had a dad who could not freaking stop himself from criticizing a show or movie as unrealistic every 3 or 4 minutes. I kid you not. There'd be a scene of three hanged dead people, and he'd be like "So, what's wrong with that? Don't know? I'll tell ya. There pants should be wet from the waist down, 'cause when you're hung your bladder lets go."

TMI. TMI.

My brother can read an absolutely AMAZING book like one of the Harry Potter books and get all hung up over one little thing that he feels is unrealistic or implausible in an action sequence, or in a strategy that the characters follow (or fail to follow). And I get so frustrated when I spend the better part of an hour talking with him about something like that, when there were so many more important things to talk and think about and enjoy appreciating.

For me--and it's just my own deal--the important things are character, motivation, emotion, change, and the relationships between the characters and how those change and grow. I like getting to know characters, characters that have some depth to them, some roundness. I feel with them; I live with them; they enrich my inner life. So, for me, I get bent out of shape when characterization and plot progression are not given the proper attention and care.

This is why I came to hate Smallville. It had so much potential there, but they kept resetting everything, going back to a status quo, returning to an earlier place so they could pull the same strings in the same way. Stand alone episodes, stand alone seasons. No rime or reason to it, except for a calculated guess at what will get the best ratings. I wasted my time on that show for two effing seasons--on DVD--and then swore it off in disgust.

You can't screw with the integrity of the characters and leave them with any depth, any reality.

But doing the opposite will cover over a multitude of sins! The first two seasons of Alias were just amazing because of the characters and how the changed and related to each other--Sidney and her dad; Sidney and her mom--wow! Powerful stuff.

Joss Whedon mentions in the Serenity commentary, when Mal and Innara escape from her orders headquarters, that various things were there to give some amount of plausibility for the viewers, to allow the continuation of the willing suspension of disbelief--like the multiple beacons which prevents the agent from being able to follow them. Joss knows it's not some carefully conceived explanation that will satisfy searing critical investigation. And he doesn't care.

There has always been this division in science fiction and fantasy. One group are the techies who are all into the technology and science of the technology and how cool that all is and how plausible it is and whether it hangs together or not and so on. Asimov and Star Trek are maybe examples of this.

Then there are the Phillip K. **** types who are a lot more interested how the different setting and world and atmosphere allowed for in Science Fiction or Fantasy enables the artist to better investigate and reveal something profound, something true, about humans and the world and so on. If the same story could be told just as well in a modern, realistic setting, it shouldn't have been made into a sci fi or fantasy story. Or so this group of people would argue.

I confess myself to be pretty much in that latter group.

So, I don't really bother myself with the question of why there aren't an infinite number of terminators coming back. I could think of an explanation--I have one in mind right now in fact--but that's not the issue. The issue is that for me, it's not really important. I'm willing to start with the world and the rules of that world, that are given to me, and go from there. If the writer(s) are worth their salt, they will unfold a consistent enough world that such things don't rear their ugly heads and bother me, which means I can focus on the world that's really important to me: the characters and the relations between them; the challenges they face; etc.

Of course, I do love the action sequences and the suspense and so on!

But, back to character, that's what Bionic Woman totally lacked--except for maybe Jamie's sister. I mean, when her first partner died, it was like the writers expected you to feel something for him, and for her loss. But we didn't! We never even KNEW him! How could he matter to us? The characterization and motives and all that were so butchered that I had to force myself to keep watching in the hopes that it might get better. They WASTED the talents of their two bionic women actresses. The show had no heartbeat, no sense of timing or meter. It was a disaster. Sad.

 

[kelmo]

I hate "Wire Fu!" It worked in the "Matrix" and "Croaching Tiger Hidden Dragon" but it is way overused! I just can't stand seeing the hero gliding through the air while chopping off the heads of his enemies.

I do like "Battlestar Galactica." The flawed heros are great. Battlestar Galactica Razor was way cool. The XO's fight with her inner demons is something I can really relate too.

I for one like picking apart the techy stuff. But I don't let it ruin the movie for me. "Live Free or Die Hard," for example. I was really intertained but the way John McClain escaped death was really over the top.

 

[lctorana]

Does this imply that Terminators are being sent back from different timelines to eliminate an infinite number of John Conners in an infinite number of possible futures?

Yup, and that's why, like Doctor Who, continuity don't mean squat.

Clever, aint it?

 

[PhantomPhoton]

I'm a sci-fi fan, so I guess I'll give the show a look. I also boycott most anything that has to do with Fox so I had no idea this was being made.


I really haven't been interested in much network television for a few years except for Stargate network reruns. Don't have cable as the cable companies can all kiss my shiny metal hind end. I just want basic local stations and stuff like Discovery channel. When they let me choose my own channels and charge accordingly instead of making me find some idiotic package I might actually buy cable. I haven't checked in a couple years to see if they offer this yet, but I doubt it.
:sigh:

I've been meaning to watch Battlestar Galactica but I haven't ever gotten around to it. Maybe I should do that while I'm traveling over the next few weekends.