Originally posted by CHUD.com

---

Earlier today I got on the phone with Black Dahlia screenwriter Josh Friedman*, and one of the topics of conversation ended up being The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the newly greenlit Terminator TV show he is executive producing and writing.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles takes place between Terminator 2 and Terminator 3, which has left fans wondering what the heck is this show going to be about anyway? Is it just going to be Sarah and John Connor as mom and son, sort of an Alice with rocket launchers instead of Mel’s Diner? Will there be any Terminators in the show? Friedman was as cryptic as possible, but did let loose some tantalizing hints.

“I would like to be able to explore as many different avenues of Terminator mythology as possible,” he told me. “I think to do a show that is a completely Terminator-less environment would probably not be, in the long run, a wise move or the most interesting thing.”

Ever since the success of 24 and Lost serialized dramas have been the networks’ latest fascination. Friedman says that while he likes long story arcs, he’s not bringing the show in that direction. “I always go back to The X-Files, which I think did a good job of balancing close-ended stories with mythology stories,” Friedman said. “The show will certainly not be a close-ended, procedural adventure of the week show. I would say it’s going to be a hybrid. It’ll be somewhere in between – it’s not going to be a Terminator of the week show, but it’s also not going to be soap opera.”

And Friedman knows you're paying attention to this show, and he has only one thing to ask of you. "I read the talk backs, and people are pissed. They don’t want you to mess with it. The internet has a love/hate thing with the properties they love – they want more and they want it done well, but they hate it if Cameron’s not involved. All I ask is that people withhold judgment until they see it. I think it’s pretty fucking cool."

* I’m not allowed to review The Black Dahlia until next week (I already begged to go early, but no dice), but I’ll tell you now that it’s a very good film. De Palma is at the top of his game here, bringing us a noir thriller that’s so of the era in which it’s set – the late 40s – that it feels like it should be in black and white. And Friedman’s script, which does a fantastic job of keeping the spirit and grit of James Ellroy’s novel while maintaining a tight pace, may very well end up getting the nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

---

Originally posted by Rogue

---

A few people on different entertainment sites have already commented that they would be more excited about this if the RoboCop TV show didn't suck so much.

If it's anything like the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, I'm on board.

---

Originally posted by Xeodeus

---

There was a Robocop TV series?

---

Originally posted by Sci Fi Wire

---

Headey Reveals Connor Chronicles

Lena Headey, who stars in the the Fox SF drama pilot The Sarah Connor Chronicles, told SCI FI Wire that the show will begin with a confrontation between Headey's title character; her son, John Connor (Heroes' Thomas Dekker); and two new Terminators: a female model, played by Serenity's Summer Glau, and a male one, which she called Cromartie, played by Owain Yeoman. One is good and one is bad; she didn't say which is which. (Glau's character is named Cameron, an apparent nod to Terminator franchise creator James Cameron.)

The pilot, which picks up the story from the end of the feature film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, begins in the desert, and "it ends with them landing in L.A., having run and escaped. Or maybe not," Headey said in an interview at WonderCon in San Francisco on March 3.

"We just finished [shooting]," Headey (300) said. "We were in Albuquerque [N.M.] for a month. And it was very intense, because TV is crazy. I mean, it's long days. It's like boom, boom, boom. You don't get any respite. But ... I think it's going to be great. I don't know if its going to be picked up, because it's only in pilot stage right now. But I learned to shoot many weapons and how to recognize a Terminator. So it was a good experience."

The pilot "begins, and it's them basically running, hiding, trying to live," Headey said. "Trying to carve out a normal life for themselves, but always being watched and trying to locate Skynet, trying to stop [it]. But there are many, many issues in their way." —Patrick Lee, News Editor

---

Originally posted by Rogue

---

HI seriously believe the storyline between 1 and 2 would be better. I'd like to see Sarah sleeping around to give John a broader background in warfare, technology and such.

Let's also see how she got into that asylum.

But yeah, all these movies and they're still just teasing at the actual war with the machines.

---

Originally posted by MasterSylar

---

A "good note"?

---

---

Former producing partners Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna have sold the merchandising, licensing and film rights to The Terminator to another pair of partners who are just now dipping their toes into the movie biz. (The price tag was not mentioned.) According to Variety, a company called Halcyon now owns the property, and they're planning to re-ignite the franchise without the involvement of James Cameron or Arnold Schwarzenegger. A pair of people who are still connected to Terminator 4 are screenwriters Michael Ferris and John Brancato, who also wrote Terminator 3 and have the T4 script already finished and under lock and key.

In related news, that Sarah Connor Chronicles series, which is also an offshoot of The Terminator, is still moving along quite well. Word is that Fox might announce the pick-up sooner rather than later. But back to the movie stuff: It looks like the fourth Terminator movie will focus on a thirty-ish John Connor as he struggles through a bleak future while inspiring people to fight back against the amazingly evil robots. But John should already know that, only a few years down the line, he'll be sending Michael Biehn back in time to protect Linda Hamilton from The Terminator. Yeah, so between the new TV series and this proposed movie trilogy (yes, trilogy), I'm guessing we'll have a lot to talk about, Terminator-wise, over the next few years.

---