Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

[robstyle]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

Its Terminator, it shouldnt be big budget. Go to the basics, cat and mouse chase, machine is hunting, someone running, someone trying to alter the pre-set future, easy to get right isnt it? Why try and bring in characters that dont work. The writing and stories were terrible. Ive seen quality shorts damn near prime time ready shot for $650 chock full of CGI and action up the ying yang that blow this show away. Its just mind blowing how the people behind this train wreck let it get past casting.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

Terminator as a series just felt like baddie of the week kinda deal. Anything up to the end of the future war, you really shouldn't see any terminators at all. Everyone and their mother just want terminators everywhere. They were the latest new tech when Reese was sent back in time... something to fear... not something from the beginning and not something that showed up on every street corner in past LA. Hell... wonder why they haven't gone the Matrix route and have every citizen in LA be a Terminator to hunt John Connor. It's stupid and brings the whole thing into the ridiculous. T1 was the one and only attempt that made sense as it was a desperate attempt that had really no chance of success. All the rest is just... meh in comparison. Like it just chucked thousands of terminators back through time at any given intervals to hunt and destroy the Connors.

The first one was tragic in the sense of desperation. The others are just mindless action.

I was disappointed by the show. Sure, you could do a tv-series about the troubles of John Connor becoming the man he is in the future, but it would be pretty damn boring. I was similarly disappointed by Smalville...

 

[allosaur176]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

The show was much better than T3, so I will accept it!

 

[cayman shen]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

LOVED it.

 

[Roger Ramjet]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

I think The Terminator could be a great TV show... but as a high-end HBO or SHOWTIME series where you don't have to worry about language and have fewer episodes and more money to spend on action. That's how I'd do it, anyway.

I totally agree. To try and bottle this genre into family viewing time was not the way to go. I was hoping one of the major cable or satellite companies would have stepped up and taken control of the series but it was too late for the show was already doomed by the failing storylines. Another missed opportunity IMOP.

 

[SSgt Burton]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

I thought the first season was great, and I'm a tough audience. The 1st season finale was amazing!

I also thought they butchered the second season until maybe the last couple of episodes. I can see why it was cancelled.

However I was sorry to see it go; I would still have watched a third season.


Kevin

 

[BDK]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

I've tried to get into it and watch. Even bought season 1 used someplace just to motivate me a bit more but just haven't been able to. Sometime I'll finish the disks though, not giving up at least making myself watch it once yet.

I saw part of a later season 1 or early 2 episode last night that wasn't bad, had the emotional tug to it but still not as good as the first movie.

If there was going to be a show, it should have been around the Salvation era with the war beginning and John accepting his destiny, Skynet consolidating its forces and starting to build what would become the 800 series.

Not this time travel war that actually makes some of Star Trek's time travel stories make sense in comparison. :lol

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

If there was going to be a show, it should have been around the Salvation era with the war beginning and John accepting his destiny, Skynet consolidating its forces and starting to build what would become the 800 series.

I think that would have been a very expensive show. It would certainly have been very different and if done right, could have been downright scary and thrilling/bone-chilling. Survival in the aftermath of nuclear war, where you not only have to find shelter and find enough food to support yourself and have to fight other people for what's left, but also to hide from the ever present threat of being found and killed, or worse, captured and put in camps by the machines, never to be seen again.

It would probably be too edgy and downbeat for what these tv-series producers have the balls to do. It would basically be a Band of Brothers in the future... but no, we are brushed off with children's fares and "cool new baddie of the week".

 

[modeljag]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

I think it was really cool that one of the terminators got sent back in time way too far, back to the 1920's. He used star position to calculate what year he was in and thus a temporal error. He then started building a real-estate empire so he could hide in the wall of this building and wake decades later to assassinate some dude.

It was awesome.

 

[Nataku]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

I liked it. I'd take Terminator over just about everything on TV right now.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

With all the terminators that have been sent back in time to kill just one man and failed, I am personally beginning to wonder why anyone in the future would be scared by the terminators. Hell... they seem pretty run-of-the-mill baddie that's easily overcome at the end of the episode.

All you get from the sequels and tv-series is a decrease in the lethality and danger of the machines. They are supposed to be true horror. Undetectable, unstoppable, lethal - they can be anyone and even with the right weapons you'd be hard pressed to take one down. But... how many attempts have Sarah and John Connor survived now? With inferior firepower to boot. Way to go to kill a character... and I'm talking about the threat of the terminator.

 

[Apollo]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

Loved it!!!

It was a guilty pleasure!

 

[terryr]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

The fanboys liked the Bop-anator.

It had nothing else going for it. And it couldn't. They couldn't do anything important like cut off Sarahs leg or scar John.

But any discussion was always countered with 'it has a cute gurl'. Not cute enough to keep the show on.

 

[Solo4114]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

That's a bit unfair. I mean, I accept that the TV show didn't fit perfectly with the film storylines (which are so screwed up at this point that I hardly think it matters), but it had an interesting concept of a "war through time", and the acting and writing were actually pretty good. Thomas Dekker and Lena Headey both did admirably, even when the scripts got weak, and I was pleasantly surprised by Brian Austin Green's acting as well.

Was it perfect? Nah, not by a long shot, but for what it was, I thought it was pretty good. Room for improvement, but killed off before it had a chance at that.

--EDIT--

One thing that got me thinking, though, especially with regards to this show, HBO/Showtime shows, and Life on Mars is the concept of the shorter season. Most TV shows run for about 22 episodes a season nowadays (even with the "mini season" stuff like BSG did where they break in the middle). But the first season of TSCC was only, what, 8 eps? 10 maybe? HBO shows frequently run only for about 13 eps a season, and then it's off for a year and on to the next show. I find I MUCH prefer that because (A) it forces the writing to be tighter, and (B) I think it forces the production team to think really hard about where they want things going in a given season instead of simply meandering about.

Same can be said of the first season of Twin Peaks, which was only 7 episodes. These seasons are short, compact, and give you the right balance of development and brevity. I think that's a big part of why the first season of TSCC was regarded as much better. Plus, the production values seem to be higher in shorter seasons. I guess because they don't have to budget out for more episodes? I dunno. The production side's a mystery to me.

 

[Apollo]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

C'mon Rob you know you're hatin because BAG was in it! :lol

 

[BDK]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

I think that would have been a very expensive show. It would certainly have been very different and if done right, could have been downright scary and thrilling/bone-chilling. Survival in the aftermath of nuclear war, where you not only have to find shelter and find enough food to support yourself and have to fight other people for what's left, but also to hide from the ever present threat of being found and killed, or worse, captured and put in camps by the machines, never to be seen again.

It would probably be too edgy and downbeat for what these tv-series producers have the balls to do. It would basically be a Band of Brothers in the future... but no, we are brushed off with children's fares and "cool new baddie of the week".

Thats exactly what I wanted something downright chilling. Horror from the fact of being a survivor, comming to grips with humanity's savior, these machines that keep building up to T-800, and the point where Connor and the resistance smash into a concentration camp and he meets Kyle.

Thats what I've wanted since I saw the first movie though still ain't got that wish.

 

[JiminSTLouis]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

how did that concept and even then, after the horrible pilot, after the re-edit and re-shoots, being still terrible, did it get picked up, and then, continue to air?

Answer:

 

[allosaur176]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

Yeah but it wasn't just Sarah and John, they also had a terminator helping them, plus Derek Reese who fought them in the future

 

[Nataku]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

Answer:

Works for me!

 

[robstyle]

Re: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, paiiinful

C'mon Rob you know you're hatin because BAG was in it! :lol

As fate would have its cruel twist, he wasnt chain smoking and not a spaz.


JiminSTLouis,

My words in pictures exactly, terrible casting. Go for who is right for the role not right for the horny fan boy. Nothing worked about this show. Was it seriously in an alternate universe from the films? If so, they should have ditched the Connors all together, picked up at T3 and focus on John's future higher ups on the run from something they dont yet comprehend or understand. Then bring in the Connors to start an organized militia as now others have been through the same thing... Now the focus isnt the Connors but others involved . Its simple, writes itself, modern day... Set the time line as T3 but extend it 24 style.

You see? You see? Your stupid studio higher up minds! Stupid! Stupid!