Kyle Brady: Blog » “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”

The Triumphant Return of Sarah Connor [OpEd]

Kyle Brady — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:05:08 +0000

…maybe.

Potentially legitimate rumors have surfaced that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will be returning to television, presumably with cries of joy from around the world, starting with a direct-to-DVD release prior to the next chapter in the Terminator movie saga, and a TV show potentially following – all starting some time in 2010 or 2011. The network sponsoring the direct-to-DVD process isn’t clear, although the WB was mentioned several times, not to mention the total silence on whether the TV show would appear on FOX. Either way, it seems that the important people in this dance listened to both the praise and wails of fans.

This news, if true, could prove to be a gamechanger for the future of television – TV networks that actually produce intelligent, thought-provoking, and deep shows that fans want, even if they don’t achieve the hyper-success of idiotic nonsense like American Idol. If the WB is the network for the future of Sarah Connor and her band of rebels, which includes one humanoid robot, FOX will be highly embarrassed should the show do well, but if FOX somehow manages to hold on to the baby they threw out the window, they will still have dirt on their face at the end of the day, and be subject to the emotionality of a rabid fanbase.

Even if the show continues thematically mostly on its own, despite rumors of being intertwined with the upcoming movies, TV as a whole will be all the better for it, and so will the Terminatorverse – Terminator: Salvation was a good action movie, and a halfway decent Terminator film, but it fell flat on the expectations of a smart and highly complex film that many hoped would have more in common with TTSCC than T3. The cast itself is critical component of the show's brilliance: Lena Headey is a much better Sarah than Linda Hamilton ever was, and Thomas Dekker has evolved from a whiny “emo” teenager into a very believable and intensely brilliant John – not to mention the characters played by Summer Glau, Brian Austin Greene, Richard T. Jones, and Garret Dillahunt that make a beautiful small-screen ensemble and help set the tone of the show.

Regardless of the acting prowess of Christian Bale, the simple fact is that barring an extreme change of pace and tone in the upcoming T5 movie, the Terminatorverse is likely to have a longer, smarter, and better future on television. All of that changes if the network behind the TTSCC decides to place demands on the writers, restrict the show’s budget, or act in other stereotypically ignorant behavior that is so often seen at FOX. However, if the show returns in “same or better” form than when it was canceled, fans will flock in droves to any network that cares to finance the triumphant return of Sarah Connor.

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Note: apologies on being a day late - on vacation and couldn't write this in time for early Monday.

Update (8/10/2009 12:20am PST): Reposted with permission at the Inquisitr.

Update (7/15/2009 11:10am PST): Another source confirms this, unrelated to the original by Lanie, courtesy of Lanie herself.

What’s Next for “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” [Self]

Kyle Brady — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:28:13 +0000

The word on the street is that "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" has been canceled. As much as this absolutely sucks and is in line with the entire history of anything good FOX has ever produced, it was semi-expected because FOX is a network that cares more about obscene big-ticket ratings than the value they put out.

The way I see it, TSCC as a collective has three options for their future:

Suck up to the FOX execs and hope things change at some point in the near future, maybe coming back in Spring '10. While this has happened in the past (Family Guy, anyone?), it's similar to betting all your money on the exact time and date Jesus returns for the Coming of the Apocalypse. I'm not saying it's (Jesus) ever happening, but still.

Find a bunch of money from a group of rich people, self-fund a full production of Season 3, and release it to DVD. I think this is a great idea, and would pave the way for the further collapse of the TV network paradigm, assuming they could raise enough money to continue the same level of writing, production, special effects, acting talent, etc. However, realistically, this is improbable. Unlikely, even. (Pink Panther nod!) We're talking about a huge amount of money spent from idea to DVD printing, and the series would sell for $50, at most, per copy. The number of copies sold would have to be astronomical to even break even.

Pull up the tent stakes from the FOX battleground, and shop the idea to other networks. TSCC has proven to have a nothing-if-not-loyal fanbase, just not with the gigantic numbers that could compete with brain-addling crap like American Idol that is so inexplicably popular among the low-to-average IQ range of American citizens. HBO and Showtime produce shows for a much smaller audience (comparatively), but seem to have no problem doing so, presumably because they produce revenue directly instead of being "OMG we need a larger audience!"-advertising dependent. Writers, acting talent, and everyone else could move over... as long as FOX will release the rights to its production, which is the biggest "if".

Option 3 is likely the one with the best outcome, and I really hope it happens. NBC could even potentially be approached for another season, since they have their fair share of violent "speculative fiction" shows already, and have a history of being more tolerant in ratings swings.

Here's the takeaway:

TSCC Crew, please talk to some other networks about immediately continuing production for their network, without any changes. We will follow you to your endpoint, even if it's FX.

FOX, give up the rights to the show's future. If you don't want to do another season, at least be reasonable about it, and let someone else who cares about the people that are considered their customers.

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Update (4/15/2009 2:50pm PST): Apparently TSCC's producers are saying it isn't canceled yet, and that the information floating around the 'net is faulty... and the "reporter" has a history of bad-mouthing TSCC. Let's hope.

“Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles” Finale Thoughts [Self]

Kyle Brady — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 07:22:36 +0000

I've been backlogged for the last few months with the shows that I follow, and spent this weekend catching up on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles in between coding for my new and secret project, as well as school projects. And, yes, I'm still behind on Smallville.

Anyways, I just finished watching the Season 2 Finale - full episode on Hulu. Even if you don't watch the show, I'd recommend it to anyone that's a fan of the Terminator series in general, and knows at least the cursory continuity of the Terminatorverse. I'm not going to give away anything about the plot, but wanted to share a few thoughts on both this episode, and the series overall.

Shellshocked

"Shellshocked" is a good way to describe how I'm feeling right now, and maybe even a little sad. So many things happened in the last episode that were "gamechangers", and I'll be extremely upset with FOX if Season 3 doesn't air. Extremely upset.

Anyone who's discounted the show previously for occasionally being slow or having tangential/semi-irrelevant plots have now been proven as unworthy critics. There were "moments" in Season 1, but Season 2 was building to a physical and emotional crescendo throughout, with one staggering plot twist after another. The last episode does not disappoint.

Show Value

The Terminatorverse is notoriously difficult to understand, follow, and, perhaps most importantly, sift through the continuity. The TV series has turned out to be truly no different, despite early criticisms and some individuals not including it as part of the canon. As it turns out, there is supposedly a connection between the show and the upcoming movie with Christian Bale... it remains to be seen how large or important this is.

But the takeaway is this: the TV series has allowed fans to become closer to the central characters in a way the movies could never allow, and made the universe seem that much more real. We see how their lives are wrapped in fear and constant vigilance, when in the movies we only had glimpses of this between the overarching plot.

We've seen the beginnings of how John Connor evolves into mankind's savior, a topic which the movies have left untouched (Salvation excluded for the moment). More importantly, we've seen why John Connor is the person that becomes a future savior for the whole race, and it's not just because he was raised that way. His personal connection with Cameron, the live-in robot defender, goes deeper than we could have imagined any robot-John relationship could have been without the show.

Storyline

The show is not just gunfights and battle scenes, nor is it only about awesome computer graphics and life-like robots. These occur frequently, yes, but the overall story is one of the resilience of humanity and the will to survive, not just as a people, but individuals.

Do you see this in many other shows currently airing? House? America's Top Model? American Idol? Desperate Housewives? No. You can see it in shows like 24 and Lost, but that's a topic for another day.

Between the good-guy robot, mother-son duo, visiting future uncle, and the other wide cast of characters, a complex plot is woven that wholly ensnares you. The characters are believable, set in a universe close enough to our own that we can identify with them. And the silly robot shenanigans make you smile.

FOX

Claims were made recently that this show will live on FOX for awhile longer, hopefully meaning at least one more season. This is not a show that can be strung out indefinitely, because the timeframe in which they operate has a definitive beginning and end... it must. The nature of the continuity defines how things will begin, and how they will end, but now is the time to discover the middle pieces.

The upcoming movie trilogy is bound to cover much of that ground, albeit with an older post-Judgement Day John Connor. But the show has turned out to be invaluable in filling the holes in the timeline. If FOX were to cancel the show, without another episode airing, they will have done a great disservice to the world of fiction: it is a capital crime in worlds like these to begin a story and leave it without an end...

In this case, the end of the show would merely be the beginning of another chapter, but that transition should be smooth, flawless, and beautiful.

If you haven't taken the time to watch the show, do so before the movie. Your heart and soul will thank you.

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Update (4/15/2009): FOX apparently canceled the show, and I have some thoughts on what could happen next.

Update (4/15/2009 2:50pm PST): Apparently TSCC's producers are saying it isn't canceled yet, and that the information floating around the 'net is faulty... and the "reporter" has a history of bad-mouthing TSCC. Let's hope.

Update (5/5/2009 10:15am PST): Hmm. It appears as though Josh Levs over at CNN's blog read this and thought "hm, great idea!" More details, and updates as they come, over here.

Hulu Letter Update [Self]

Kyle Brady — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 23:04:08 +0000

I got back a response from "Rebecca" at Hulu, in regards to my email to them:

Hi Kyle,
Thanks for your email. It's good to know our users are still pulling for shows
like TSCC and Dollhouse. Hulu provides viewership reports to all of its content
partners. Our partners can view this information on demand whenever they like --
so, in other words, viewership on Hulu should be taken into account when networks
determine the next steps for their series.

We're fans of TSCC and Dollhouse ourselves, so we'll continue to do our best to
support the shows by promoting them on our home page and TV page.

Thanks,
Rebecca

An Email to Hulu [Self]

Kyle Brady — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:00:36 +0000

I just sent off an email to many different contact email addresses to Hulu because there are already whispers that Dollhouse's premiere "tanked" and the return of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles "fell"... with complete and utter disregard for the fact that a large portion of the very immense, and devoted, audience watches the content through methods that are not on a "live TV" distribution schedule.

I believe it is Hulu's duty, as the first legitimate and popular, online TV distribution system to convince the networks that the online viewers are no different than those who watch it when the network believes people should.

Otherwise, shows will continue to be canceled despite large audiences and cult followings, and regardless of the high quality of the show itself.

The email:

I wanted to point out something obvious, in case you guys haven't thought of it.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" is one of the best TV shows in existence right now, let alone the fact that it's SciFi. But TV networks are full of retards who jump off a bridge at the first sign of a non-mainstream audience.

And for shows like "Dollhouse", and "Terminator", a majority of the viewers are nerds. Which also means you're probably seeing very high views through your service on each new episode within, say, a week of it's premiere on TV.

What I'm getting at is this: FOX has moved "Terminator" to Friday nights, and "Dollhouse" started on Friday nights... they're not even giving the ratings a chance. But in addition, I don't believe they include the viewership from legitimate services like their online distribution, or Hulu itself. And people are already whispering about how "Dollhouse" "tanked" in the ratings, and "Terminator" "fell". I bet your stats would disagree.

This needs to be something that you impress upon your content suppliers. Not only should you provide them statistics, weekly, on what is watched, and by how many people, but you should also be constantly repeating that these viewers count no less than the "live TV" version does. If a network cancels a show because they don't get enough live viewers, when a large part of their audience actually watches it online, that's complete crap.

Networks need to realize that the future of video media is not schedule-based TV, but rather "on demand" content, with the Internet as a viable and legitimate source. And by continuing to kill and maim, intentionally, some of the best shows, they are reinforcing the Old World media mindset that nothing but the-night-of views count.

Which, again, is crap.