The Sarah Connor Chronicles - A look at the pilot script

[jetsetter]

When I heard of this new series coming to FOX, I had mixed reactions. I'm a big fan of the Terminator franchise, so first there was a feeling of excitement. That feeling quickly changed to fear when the premise was revealed, which changed once more to my just not giving a crap anymore.

I recently got the opportunity to read the pilot script for this show, so I went from not caring to mild curiosity. Could this show pull off a worthwhile addition to the Terminator series of movies? I was about to find out. I should warn you, though -- big spoilers ahead, so tread carefully.
In case you're not up to speed with the premise for The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I'll give it to you briefly. The series picks up sometime between the second and third movies, with Sarah and her future humanity-saving son, John, on the run and in hiding from, well, any Terminators that might happen to be coming back after him.

Having the series pick up that void between the last two movies makes sense, though where the series has to be careful is how it works its way into what would eventually become the third movie. One would hope that won't be a problem, as the series is developed by the same people who produced the Terminator movies.

A pilot script for a science fiction series is tough to fully review, as you're left to your own imagination with the effects, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. I will say the script does a great job of selling the show to the reader, giving you a sense of excitement and awesomeness of what you're "seeing" unfold.

One question I had going into this read was whether the show would feature on something other than Terminators entering the scene again. I can tell you that they're definitely in this series in a big way. And much like the movies, we've got both a terminating Terminator and a protecting one, and the protector isn't Arnold -- far from it. In fact -- and here's the spoiler -- it's a hot, female classmate of John's! (Update: Old TVSer Ryan tells me this must be the role meant for Summer Glau.)

The pilot episode of course features John, Sarah and Terminator trying to flee the big, bad Terminator out to destroy them (all of which, as far as I can tell from the script, are nothing more than T-800/850 models). As I read the script, I started to wonder if this was it -- just another cat-and-mouse chase, only this time lasting 20-some-odd number of episodes.

It's not until the final moments of the pilot that you realize there's going to be more to this series. In a way that I'll leave for you to find out for yourself, Sarah, John and girl Terminator make a time jump from 1998 to 2006 -- naked. It's there where the trio hopes to track down the true source of Skynet's activation and hopefully change the fate of humanity, but don't we already know what happens having seen T3?

Even with the cool twists here and there, I'm not sure about this one. There's a possibility we've got more surprises planned for later episodes, but so far I'm not sold -- and I shouldn't be, as this is just a pilot script, one that will very likely be retooled. The show's success is going to depend a lot on what time slot it appears in and whether casual viewers are going to be OK with the Governator not being in it. There's also clearly going to be a time commitment for people -- this isn't a show you'll easily be able to jump in and out of without feeling somewhat lost.

No doubt we'll eventually see a pilot screener and we'll have a better idea of how this will play out on screen, but at least so far I'm definitely willing to give that screener a chance.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/04/17/th...-pilot-script/

Could be interesting if it is done right. Episodes are being shot right now and you can check out the first pic released at the link.

[Blind_Io]

Summer Glau will be in it as an ass-kicking killer cyborg?

Ok, I'm watching.

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

Summer Glau will be in it as an ass-kicking killer cyborg?

Ok, I'm watching.

Yeah, I thought you might like that.

[Vltros]

Big fan of terminator too!

Hope the series will be true to the movie spirit (except for the third one, which in my opinion was a bit diappointing).

Hope to see finally the future and the resistance fighting Skynet once for all.

[Buba]

Haha... For a moment I thought this was about the singer...

[zenkidori]

Originally Posted by Vltros

Hope to see finally the future and the resistance fighting Skynet once for all.

hope on:

The series picks up sometime between the second and third movies, with Sarah and her future humanity-saving son, John, on the run and in hiding from, well, any Terminators that might happen to be coming back after him.

I'm skeptical.

[KaJuN]

Another Terminator franchise? Who's trying to get elected this time?

I'm actually kinda interested in this. I hope it's good!

[D-Fence]

Originally Posted by Buba

Haha... For a moment I thought this was about the singer...

Double that

[Blind_Io]

I'm just worried that Summer Glau will get the same treatment she did in Firefly and Nathan Fillion re-experienced with DRIVE. I just don't understand why anyone continues to risk working for Fox.

[Devon]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

I'm just worried that Summer Glau will get the same treatment she did in Firefly and Nathan Fillion re-experienced with DRIVE. I just don't understand why anyone continues to risk working for Fox.

Has Drive been axed or something?

EDIT - Never mind I just read about Fox axing it...

[jetsetter]

Trailer

+ YouTube Video

Clips

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

The trailer starts out a little slow (with the exception of Summer of course) but then woo!!!.

[Vltros]

OMG!!!OMG!!! Now I'm really happy!!!!!!

Looks really promising (if they don't screw it up like they usaully do). I loved the scene with the nuclear explosion and the Terminator walking towards Sarah and John while exposing it's endoskeleton. Coool!!!! And theres a terminator bodyguard girl too!!

[Alasondro Alegré]

I read the other day that the Terminator franchise has been sold to some other company. Pre-production has begun of a new movie. They've only said that it won't feature Arnie, and that Cameron won't be involved in any way (no surprises there)

[otispunkmeyer]

who are they going to get to replace arnold?

i mean those a pretty big shoes to step into...the man is basically known as the terminator, his microsoft mike austrian accent and his robotic acting style were simply perfect for the roll

[jetsetter]

The pilot episode has been leaked online and I was able to take a look at it. All in all it was fairly good. You felt like you were in the Terminator Universe. Add that to many sexy Summer Glau shots and I will be watching this series when it comes out.

[Vltros]

Leaked????

Where Where????!!!!

LOL

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by Vltros

Leaked????

Where Where????!!!!

LOL

Just look around in the usual spots and you should be able to find it.

[Janus]

I thought the first episode was quite good and enjoyable. Had some nice action and set it up with me wanting more in the actual series. Sadly I'm still a little unsure how the series will play out in the long term as they can't fight a Terminator every week so I'm not sure how they are going to make it interesting week to week.

Originally Posted by The Associated Press

Fox to Revise Sarah Connor Scenes
Source: The Associated Press
July 23, 2007


Scenes of campus violence in Fox's upcoming "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," based on the "Terminator" movies, were filmed before the Virginia Tech shootings and will be revised.

The series, scheduled for midseason, follows Connor (Lena Headey) as she tries to safeguard her 15-year-old son, John (Thomas Dekker), who may be destined to save mankind from technology gone amok.

Even before a gunman killed 32 people and himself at Virginia Tech in April, executive producer Josh Friedman carefully explained his reasons for the segment in which John comes under attack at high school, Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori said.

Friedman painted it as central to the show's theme, he said.

"This woman is charged with protecting and preparing her son to be the future leader of the resistance. The one single place a parent has to give up control of their child is school," Liguori said.

Friedman was the first to acknowledge the scene should be revamped after the Virginia tragedy, Liguori said. He didn't detail how extensively it would be changed.

[Vltros]

Checked the usual spots and found it!

I'll comment as soon as I've seen it!

[jetsetter]

Had some nice action and set it up with me wanting more in the actual series. Sadly I'm still a little unsure how the series will play out in the long term as they can't fight a Terminator every week so I'm not sure how they are going to make it interesting week to week.

The producers actually commented on that worry and said that this will not be a "Terminator of the week" show. Unfortunate about the scene change but eh.