"Terminator" TV series?

[rallytbk]

IMHO, the future was not changed, delayed or even replaced. It is continuing to the obvious conclusion.

The original Terminator movie "which I love" included everything needed for a true trilogy (and or a series of movies/limited run tv show) leading up an obvious conclusion/decision - Kyle Reese must not go back in time.

The Terminator is/has always been a circle paradox storyline... to end the series John's father Kyle Reese must not go back in time, period.

Everything else is filler. Hence the tv show.

If this television series uses the time machine in the bank (Note - it has never been established in any of the movies where? the time machine was in the future just that after fighting the machines and getting to the time displacement equipment did the time machine actually come in to play)... to go back and forth through time during this little tv show it will either enhance the series or through bad writing ruin it (any more then what it it now???), I can see a continuation towards the end of the series offering a two hour special set in the future (or fourth movie in the franchise) battling the machines having Kyle Reese enter or not the bank vault to end the series.

What are your thoughts???

[luvB5]

Great post. I watched the show. IMHO JMS showed the way for closed arc series that a few programs followed (only one that comes to my mind right now was "Murder One" series that followed B5). I guess the studios really hope for endless, episodic series because more episodes and more years equals more -- of course -- money. Trouble with episodic series is weak finishes ala, "Gilmore Girls," "Mash," etc. My conclusion with "Sarah Conner" is that it will be a good series for those fans who "just love FX and CGI" and little more.

[Jan]

Wow...I think MASH has the second best ending in TV history with the first being B5.

[JoeD80]

M*A*S*H had a weak finale? 106 million people may disagree with you -- the finale still holds the record for highest ratings of a television episode.

[luvB5]

M*A*S*H had a weak finale? 106 million people may disagree with you -- the finale still holds the record for highest ratings of a television episode.

Wasn't talking about Nielson rating. Was talking about weak script that just said, "Okay it's over, goodbye, out."

[JoeD80]

The point is, that many people wouldn't have kept watching the episode if they thought it was a weak script. It is 2 1/2 hours long after all; to hold attention that long takes some doing. Perhaps it's not to your taste; but that's not the fault of the writers.

[Jan]

Wasn't talking about Nielson rating. Was talking about weak script that just said, "Okay it's over, goodbye, out."

I think it was an excellent script with excellent acting by an ensemble cast who did care about their show. In the context of a war, what we saw was perfectly believable. People don't hang around, they go home. With all the good will in the world, they know it's unlikely they'll do more than exchange a few letters or phone calls and that the dreadful war experience is *over*. Anything more lingering would've cheapened it, imo.

Jan

[luvB5]

I think it was an excellent script with excellent acting by an ensemble cast who did care about their show. In the context of a war, what we saw was perfectly believable. People don't hang around, they go home. With all the good will in the world, they know it's unlikely they'll do more than exchange a few letters or phone calls and that the dreadful war experience is *over*. Anything more lingering would've cheapened it, imo.
Jan

Yeah, both you and JoeD are right. It is a matter of taste. Truth be told, I thought that the show had stayed too long after year 5 or 7. Most episodic shows tend to wander after that time, characters get to stereotyping themselves, new characters that -- sometimes -- work get introduced, a whole lot of things get progressively more diluted and lose focus after a while. I don't think Mash was exempt from that general rule but, again, that's just my opinion.

[colonyearth]

Yeah, both you and JoeD are right. It is a matter of taste. Truth be told, I thought that the show had stayed too long after year 5 or 7. Most episodic shows tend to wander after that time, characters get to stereotyping themselves, new characters that -- sometimes -- work get introduced, a whole lot of things get progressively more diluted and lose focus after a while. I don't think Mash was exempt from that general rule but, again, that's just my opinion.

Yeah, I'm with Jan and JoeD on this one...the finale was incredible and the show never wandered or stereotyped its characters...that was what made it such an incredible and to this day still yet untouchable show in so many ways. The characters always evolved and revealed more of themselves as time went by. The only thing I can say about MASH that I wish had been different was that the humor was lessened over time and it became preachy from time to time.

I own most of the series and will eventually own it all. It was and always will be the only show of its kind that did what it did when it did it. History will remember MASH.

As for SCC, I've only seen the first ep so far and thoroughly enjoyed it. The time machine gimmick was supposedly (by gleening from an article I read from the showrunner and writer) a one-time deal to explain why the series will have a different future than the films'. It is supposedly an alternate timeline.

The showrunner is also one of the writers of T3 and explained that he never wanted to kill off Sarah, but since Hamilton wouldn't return they killed her off. The series is an attempt to tell her story since the writer felt that's whose story it was all along.

T3 and the new trilogy which will star Christian Bale as John Conner will not, according to the writer (I'll have to look up his name...damn) be in the same timeline...that way the series and the films can go their seperate ways.

This may be mirrored in the new Stargate feature Dean Devlin spoke of about a year ago. SG-1 and its universe will be a different one than the Devlin/Emmerich original storyline and trilogy which MGM has now approached Devlin about finishing as they originally planned it.

One will feed the other, but they're really two alternate versions and visions of their universes.

Oddly, the new TREK film will reportedly be creating the same thing...two seperate but equally valid versions of the same universe.

There are good people behind SCC, so I hope it will be good and maintain some quality.

Looked up his name it's Josh Friedman and he worked on War of the Worlds, not T3.

CE