Glau gives FOX a killing.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles clocks up 18.3 million viewers, making it FOX's most watched premiere of a scripted show since Malcolm in the Middle launched in 2000. So it is possible to launch a show on FOX with proper marketing.
[ edited by gossi on 2008-01-14 23:56 ]
[ edited by zeitgeist on 2008-01-15 00:29 ]
January 14 2008
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@theonetruebix | January 14, 17:49 CET
jam2 | January 14, 17:50 CET
Simon | January 14, 17:51 CET
theonetruebix - I've reworded it to clarify.
gossi | January 14, 18:00 CET
The Dark Shape | January 14, 18:01 CET
I think this was the highest rated premiere on any network for the last three years. I'll check my numbers and confirm.
According to Variety the demo rating of 7.6 was the highest of any new show premiere in three years.
And yes, the ratings will be lower tonight with the free falling Prison Break as the lead in, how could it not?
[ edited by TamaraC on 2008-01-15 00:06 ]
IrrationaliTV | January 14, 18:02 CET
[ edited by Harmalicious on 2008-01-15 00:46 ]
Harmalicious | January 14, 18:03 CET
zohrael | January 14, 18:09 CET
MySerenity | January 14, 18:21 CET
QuoterGal | January 14, 18:22 CET
zeitgeist | January 14, 18:28 CET
Heh. My thoughts exactly. Drive had a huge marketing push behind it, but it wasn't based on a hit franchise.
I like the original title better, but I agree that adding the word was probably beneficial to getting people to tune in. Though, honestly, how could you know about Terminator but not be pinged by "Sarah Connor"?
Unlikely for it to go up from 18 million viewers, many of whom probably wanted something to watch after the football game. It's only a matter of how much it drops off (and, like you, I hope that word-of-mouth and good reviews make up for the casual viewers who don't tune in).
Polter-Cow | January 14, 18:30 CET
1) Big-interest competitive football game as lead in
2) Dearth of other (scripted) shows for a few weeks
3) Lack of alternatives (I wouldn't have watched the GGlobes, but others might)
4) Base the show on a pair of interesting, popular movies
5) Be willing to put money into the show for good-looking production value
6) Relatively smart (although not Whedonesque) script with actors who can work it
With all that said, I'll be back for more. Interested in what happens as a season-long story arc after the 2-hour pilot. (Will Glau's Terminator start fighting crime, like the Incredible Hulk back in the 80s? A "Terminator-of-the-week" to match up with Smallville's "Krypto-freak-of-the-week"?)
OneTeV | January 14, 18:33 CET
Better than Bionic Woman, but this isn't a word-of-mouth smash.
[ edited by The Dark Shape on 2008-01-15 00:41 ]
The Dark Shape | January 14, 18:40 CET
PC, I think the majority of people who watched the Terminator movies wouldn't be able to tell you the name of the "Linda Hamilton character." Only hardcore fans remember that kind of detail.
IrrationaliTV | January 14, 18:42 CET
I think they've already indicated this is not the plan.
@theonetruebix | January 14, 18:43 CET
People are stupid.
Polter-Cow | January 14, 18:49 CET
crazygolfa | January 14, 18:59 CET
Those are the same people who didn't watch Firefly and thought Buffy was a teeny-bopper show. We don't like them.
IrrationaliTV | January 14, 19:03 CET
Well, we'll see how much it falls tomorrow (or today, or yesterday - whenever)
Pumps | January 14, 19:17 CET
mister0 | January 14, 19:24 CET
redeem147 | January 14, 19:57 CET
flakbait | January 14, 20:35 CET
One guy was even complaining because Summer Glau is too frail looking and that she should be more like a professional wrestler (because that would be subtle). That's about it really. Most naysayers just have issues with canon and continuity, nothing a Whedonesquer would ever bother with. ;)
IrrationaliTV | January 14, 20:49 CET
embers | January 14, 20:54 CET
Sunfire | January 14, 21:25 CET
C. A. Bridges | January 14, 22:03 CET
I just got a lovely image of one those American Gladiator women trying to blend in during geometry class. Thanks for that. :-)
jcs | January 14, 22:04 CET
And now I'm confused. Are they now trying to work this into Terminator 3? Because, yeah... My head. Explosion. Coming soon.
The Dark Shape | January 14, 22:11 CET
JerrodBalzer | January 14, 22:13 CET
palehorse | January 14, 22:14 CET
I'm enjoyed tonights episode...the show isn't perfect but hey, at least its scripted TV :) and its got Summer, which NEVER hurts...
You too? :D Now where am I going to hang it? Next to the Serenity poster or is that too lame?
[ edited by lax01 on 2008-01-15 04:52 ]
[ edited by lax01 on 2008-01-15 04:52 ]
lax01 | January 14, 22:50 CET
JerrodBalzer | January 14, 23:12 CET
I'm thinking the crazy high ratings are mostly due to the fact that it's pretty much the only show on television right now.
RaisedByMongrels | January 14, 23:22 CET
The Dark Shape | January 14, 23:25 CET
LOUiE | January 14, 23:25 CET
Gotta store that. Might just use that one day.
and
C. A. Bridges, wasn't that "Please remain calm." fantastic!
And on continuity and timeline, Captain Janeway messed that totally up a long time ago.
As Dr. Karros said in White Noise: The Light "Keep your eyes open, bubba, you're in uncharted territory. There's a very good chance you're gonna be seeing some wacky stuff."
Anonymous1 | January 14, 23:25 CET
Next year this time: Dollhouse.
By then the strike should be long over, and they could at least have the first set of episodes pumped out.
It will live! LIVE I SAY!
dog13000 | January 14, 23:43 CET
This is presuming that the Joss/Eliza deal for Dollhouse isn't amongst the "force majeure" development deal axings that came down from FOX today. See here and here. (It all comes down, in part, to whether FOX considers Dollhouse an "active" project for their purposes.)
@theonetruebix | January 14, 23:58 CET
Just my guess.
mister0 | January 14, 23:58 CET
As for the SCC, I'm really liking the show. I thought the first half was a bit predictable but I still enjoyed it but I really liked this second half and thought Summer did an excellent and believable job as a terminator. I loved how she was able to run at top speed and still keep a blank, robotic look on her face and also doing that in fight scenes.
Firefly Flanatic | January 15, 00:36 CET
There's some very good scenes and lines every once in awhile, mostly Summer and her quest to mimic/learn humanity. As long as you're willing to ignore the multitude of pink elephants in the plot, it's enjoyable.
The elephants having nothing to do with "canon", btw.
[ edited by Muggi on 2008-01-15 06:51 ]
Muggi | January 15, 00:47 CET
cabri | January 15, 01:01 CET
Our numbers will grow. Browncoats unite, and welcome the new recruits.
I'm not saying that everyone who sees Terminator:SCC will do this. But ask other people if they've been keeping up with it. If they have, ask who their fav char is. Most like it's Cameron/Summer. Then...Do your magic. XD
chaoswurm | January 15, 01:31 CET
Muggi, the Terminator head probably annoyed me the most. The clothes and weapon don't make it through, as is supposed to happen, but somehow a fleshless robot head comes flying along with them. Then you have to wonder about how the headless body made it out of the bank in the past without causing some kind of an issue (this being after it stormed in and tore the safe's door up with no concern of how many people witnessed it). Yep, just walked right out and hunted for a junkyard to bury itself in. No one followed or anything.
Then there was the resistance fighter's safe. Since the judgment day that the Connors knew of didn't happen, why would that date work? Wouldn't the fighters have a different judgment day in mind when programming the lock?
That, along with the "I charge so much because I'm extra paranoid of being caught, but I'll make illegal cards for you because my uncle -the informant- sent you" bit really bugged me.
I was able to forgive that Cameron didn't have to follow John's orders because she only follows the future John's orders (totally contradicts T2), because maybe she was programmed with stricter guidelines.
END OF SPOILERS
That said, I'll still watch next week. I'm hoping that when they face the old terminator, there might be some logical explanation. Plus... regardless of my rant, it's SUMMER GLAU! Heheh.
JerrodBalzer | January 15, 01:37 CET
I don't think anyone missed this notion. I think people are just trying to focus on Terminator/Summer in and of themselves rather than trying to make everything about Firefly. ;)
@theonetruebix | January 15, 01:44 CET
And don't put so much stock in the football game lead-in, out here on the Left Coast, the show was hours after the game had ended. It gives Fox another way to advertise the show, but it isn't going to make a silk purse if this becomes a sow's ear.
Kyrax | January 15, 01:50 CET
I'm going to be posting all the pics I took at the LA Con by tomorrow in this set. But I had to upload this one right away because it looked so cool.
danregal | January 15, 02:05 CET
cabri | January 15, 02:05 CET
bytheshoreline | January 15, 08:23 CET
Let's take a shot.
The clothes and weapon don't make it through, as is supposed to happen, but somehow a fleshless robot head comes flying along with them.
Yeah, that's a problem. Possible that there was still flesh on the head, being blown off by the explosion, that was enough to get it through before disintegrating, but that's really forcing the issue.
Then you have to wonder about how the headless body made it out of the bank in the past without causing some kind of an issue...
Only works if you assume that the explosion really tore up the door and surrounding area and that the wreckers just picked up the door and Terminator as one big pile. Kinda unlikely.
Then there was the resistance fighter's safe. Since the judgment day that the Connors knew of didn't happen, why would that date work? Wouldn't the fighters have a different judgment day in mind when programming the lock?
This one I'm willing to wait for. We don't know that day still isn't significant.
That, along with the "I charge so much because I'm extra paranoid of being caught, but I'll make illegal cards for you because my uncle -the informant- sent you"...
That didn't bother me, possibly because I didn't get the impression that making the cards was any kind of hardship for him and that while his uncle might have ratted out someone else, his nephew knew he wouldn't rat out family.
I was able to forgive that Cameron didn't have to follow John's orders because she only follows the future John's orders (totally contradicts T2)...
Why? Not the same Terminator, not the same future John. If I was future John I wouldn't tell an unstoppable killing machine to follow my whiny teenage self either.
END SPOILERS
C. A. Bridges | January 15, 08:48 CET
helcat | January 15, 11:53 CET
cabri | January 15, 13:42 CET
This is presuming that the Joss/Eliza deal for Dollhouse isn't amongst the "force majeure" development deal axings that came down from FOX today. See here and here. (It all comes down, in part, to whether FOX considers Dollhouse an "active" project for their purposes.)
The trades have printed two more of the canceled deals at Fox, bringing the total to 10 out of 15 (or 14, reports vary). Still not Joss - so far, so good.
dreamlogic | January 15, 14:44 CET
SPOILERS:
The clothes and weapon don't make it through, as is supposed to happen, but somehow a fleshless robot head comes flying along with them.
Sarah shoots and the head flies off just as the field forms so maybe it still has its flesh on when it enters the field, which may be enough to fan-wank that one away on its own. It's dodgy though, would've been better if they'd still had some flesh on the head as it bounced out of the field, just to make it clear.
Then there was the resistance fighter's safe. Since the judgment day that the Connors knew of didn't happen, why would that date work? Wouldn't the fighters have a different judgment day in mind when programming the lock?
This one is more clear-cut. In episode 1 Cameron says "The Skynet missile defence system goes online April 19th, 2011" i.e. after Sarah's actions in T2, Judgement Day has moved but it still happens. I'm happy to assume John just used that date when opening the safe (Sarah is bound to tell him I think, even if he didn't overhear it himself) but really dedicated nit-pickers are welcome to frame by frame through the safe opening scene to see if they can tell which digits he presses ;).
That, along with the "I charge so much because I'm extra paranoid of being caught, but I'll make illegal cards for you because my uncle -the informant- sent you" bit really bugged me.
There're a few options here. The nephew may indeed know his Uncle wouldn't rat out family or, as Sarah ponders, maybe the nephew didn't actually think $20,000 was that much for three whole new lives, maybe he was just getting whatever he could before Enrique sold them out ? Or if the fake IDs were a honey-trap of sorts then the nephew may well be allowed to operate with impunity while the feds took their pick of the criminals he serviced.
I was able to forgive that Cameron didn't have to follow John's orders because she only follows the future John's orders (totally contradicts T2), because maybe she was programmed with stricter guidelines.
To which CA Bridges said: "Why? Not the same Terminator, not the same future John." and with which I agree completely. The time-line has changed. Paradoxes aside, Cameron doesn't have to do anything the same way the T-800 did in T2 - apart from anything else we already know she's either a different model or has been programmed differently because we see her exhibiting what you could call empathy. And Jesus, I certainly wouldn't trust 15 year old me - in fact, current-me's first order to Cameron would probably be "When you see me, give me a good slap" ;-).
If you give them the single time-line and you give them the possibility of paradoxes (which I do and which we must even in order to accept the films) then there really can't be "contradictions" in this sense.
The Terminator body is the only one I can't quite give them. It's an explosion during a bank robbery in which a federal agent is already interested - there is no way I can see the scene of crimes people missing a hulking great headless robot body which is decades ahead of current technology, the whole place would've been gone over with several fine-tooth combs.
(maybe if the body is actually also caught in the field and is therefore also transported into the future but owing to not being fully within it, ends up landing somewhere
convenientelse, like a dump. Pretty frikkin' thin though ;)END OF SPOILERS
Liked it in general, maybe a bit more obvious than the pilot but some nice lines and some nice stuff from Summer. And I liked the reminder that she's cute and she's funny and you can play dollies and dress up with her but at the end of the day, "it can't be reasoned with, or bargained with, it doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear ... and it absolutely will not stop. Ever." ;).
Saje | January 15, 15:19 CET
[ edited by lax01 on 2008-01-15 21:34 ]
lax01 | January 15, 15:33 CET
I think that's also maybe not being completely fair to the show lax01 (though each to their own of course ;). We've still to see how they'll play it but there's a lot they can talk about regarding for instance being human or not and where the line between lies that's actually pretty similar to what BSG talks about. And questions about pre-destination and free-will are virtually woven into the fabric of the Terminator universe.
So far, in other words, I haven't seen much to indicate that it's necessarily less clever than either of the shows you mention.
Saje | January 15, 15:59 CET
Yeah and I suspect he isn't among them, personally. The studios do seem to be concentrating on people with development deals within which said people don't currently have any projects pitched. As opposed to the Dollhouse situation, where there's clearly a project that's been tapped.
It is, of course, Hollywood, and I'm not a part of it. So who knows. But anyway, my suspicion is that Dollhouse is safe.
@theonetruebix | January 15, 17:37 CET
This has probably been pointed out before, but does it strike anyone as funny that a character named "Cameron" has come back in time to make sure that the events of T3 don't take place?
Perhaps we can have an Aliens show where a character named Cameron wakes up Ripley from a long sleep, and explains to her that the events of Alien 3 and Resurrection were just a bad dream, and Newt and Hicks are still alive!
Arsenal | January 15, 21:36 CET