Seeing that it is the latest addition to the Terminator series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been flying under the radar.  This is hard to believe.  People, listen!  FOX is rolling out a series set in the Terminator universe.   How can this not bring excitement to the deepest recesses of your loins?  The series takes place in that lost time in between Terminator 2 and Terminator 3, a time in which Sarah and John Connor were constantly on the move, attempting to allude both deadly Terminators, but the FBI, who is in pursuit of Sarah ever since she broke out of the mental hospital.  The pilot, which screened in front of a raucous evening crowd at Comicon, was a worthy entry into the Terminator tome, and that's saying a lot.

Before I go any further, I'm going to let you down easy: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will not be seen on FOC until 2008.  This is not a lapse in faith by FOX, they just want something very strong to to act as a mid season replacement.  It worked with 24.  That's unfortunate, though, because everyone's missing out.  Lena Headey (the wife from 300) plays Sarah Connor like you'd expect Sarah Connor to be played.  She fearless, bad ass, paranoid, and ridiculously protective of John.  Makes sense.  John Conner is taken over by Thomas Dekker from Heroes, and he brings the right amount of frustrated angst and deeper understanding of the stakes that John would have after his experiences in T2.  Fan favorite Summer Glau (from Firefly) plays a Terminator sent back to protect Sarah and John.  And, of course, she kicks some ass.  Finally, Richard T. Jones plays the sardonic FBI agent in pursuit of the Conners.

Great cast, they embody their roles, and I can't wait to see where these characters go.  But, the action.  How is the action?  We can't expect anything on the level of the films, because those set pieces simply aren't doable on the relatively small scale of TV.  What it lacks in size and special effects, though, it makes up for in grittiness.  There's a lot of blood and hand to hand combat, gun fights, Terminators being hit by cars, anything a fan could realistically hope for.

I won't ruin the plot, but the producers reiterated the point: The Sarah Connor Chronicles exist in a separate timeline than Terminator 3.  You'll see why by the end of the pilot, and it makes sense.  It's also a fun idea that will give the show longevity.  At the panel afterwards, the entire cast was on hand to speak, along with writer Josh Friedman and director David Nutter.  Going forward, they said the show will be more of a serial than a one-off terminator of the week deal.  There will be an overarching storyline for the first season, and Friedman admitted that he has ideas for the second, third and fourth seasons, should the show make it that far.


Once The Sarah Connor Chronicles debuts in January, I'm sure there will be sufficient hype created by FOX to promote the show.  Give in to that hype, and watch.  You won't regret it.

- Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer