http://slyoyster.com

I wanted to wait until the morning after FOX’s two-night premiere to post some thoughts on the much hyped Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Instead of doing a full blown review for you, I’ll just say that I found the show fairly entertaining to watch a few more times before deciding to axe it from my life.

Truth is, however, I wonder if I would have even watched it if not for the writer’s strike. Yes, it’s action-packed in that lame sorta television way. The special effects are certainly better than I expected them to be. But there’s something lacking overall with this whole affair.

Besides the stunted dialog, the very competent cast is just left stranded with what seems to be a show without any heart or grit. We pick up with Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) and her son John (Thomas Dekker), who for those that haven’t seen any of the Terminator movies is supposed to be the savior of the human race, in 1999. They are on the run and trying to survive after the events of Terminator 2.

Strangely though, the show seems to ignore T3 altogether since in that movie Sarah dies of cancer in 1997. Here in the show we learn she dies in 2005. Continuity aside (ok I’ll cop to it this is a huge problem for me as it will be for many fans of the first two movies but it wasn’t a problem for my girlfriend who just wanted to watch a good show), this show offers some pleasure, especially with the new Terminator model sent back to protect John. As played by actress Summer Glau, the new Terminator “Cameron” is both pop culturally awkward and a killing machine. So much so, that the Terminator sent back to kill John Connor is afraid of her on sight. This will probably be one of the show’s central mysteries – to discover what’s up with the new model.

On the whole, this show is far from perfect and probably would have benefited from being on HBO or Showtime, there’s that much potential.

One caveat: in the movies Sarah Connor, as played by Linda Hamilton, is a stone cold bitch. She’s a warrior and a survivor. In fact, I think I was more scared of Sarah in T2 than I was of the liquid metal T-1000. For whatever reason, in this show, they’ve neutered her character. She’s neither warrior nor survivor. Instead she’s like a desperate soccer mom on the lamb in a bad Lifetime movie. I’m not sure why they’ve made the change but it certainly wasn’t for the better. Sarah Connor, as a character, is only motivated by protecting her son at all costs. That’s it and for whatever reason, the producers here have either ignored that or forgotten it all together.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on FOX

Fox TV is trying to revive the Terminator franchise as a television show. The show should be part of the fall lineup for Fox. No, The Guhvahnator is not attached and won’t be a part of the show and neither will Linda Hamilton. So, why would anyone watch The Sarah Connors Chronicles?

Good question. Because it’s still about Terminators and that’s cool. But the real reason is because it stars Lena Headey as Sarah Connors. Headey is an actress who deserves a starring role. She’s flirted with fame, in movies as diverse as 300, Imagine Me and You, The Brothers Grimm, and The Cave. She’s intensely attractive and a dang good actress to boot. She plays strong women and that will certainly help for this project. Playing John Connor, the hero to human civilization, is Thomas Dekkar. Who is he? Well he plays Zack on NBC’s “Heroes.” Terminators.ch has a first look at Headey and Dekkar on the show.

Love that photo of them. I think Headey is going to ably step into some pretty big shoes. From Variety:

Andy Vajna and Mario Kassar’s C2 Pictures, which produced the most recent “Terminator” feature, has pacted with Warner Bros. TV and scribe Josh Friedman (”War of the Worlds”) for the tentatively titled “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” Skein will focus on robo-warrior Sarah Connor and her savior son John Connor.

Friedman is aboard to pen the pilot and serve as exec producer-showrunner of the series, which will take place in the fictional time frame between the second and third “Terminator” features. Vajna and Kassar will serve as exec producers, with C2 senior veep of development James Middleton also producing.

Middleton said the series will explore what happened to Sarah Connor after the end of “T2,” when the character went on the run. “She has the weight of the world on her shoulder and she also has to raise a 14-year-old son who may be the salvation of the world,” he said.

Friedman said his “challenge is trying to figure out how to reinterpret (Connor) for television.”

Because the “Terminator” franchise involves time travel and alternate futures, Friedman believe he’ll be able to take a few plot liberties in the series — emphasis on “few.”

“The last thing I want to do is take a title and exploit it,” Friedman said. “The show needs to stand on its own while still being respectful of the franchise.”

Unlike the features, “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” will not be non-stop shoot-’em-up or chase scenes, in large part because of the reduced budgets of television.

“There’s going to be a healthy dose of both (action and family drama),” Friedman said, noting that the “Terminator” mythology “has a lot of big ideas in it that don’t cost you a dime to explore.”

Sounds interesting. But the show rests on some pretty big and popular shoulders. Here’s to hoping the expectations don’t crush this show because the premise of it is pretty neat. Especially given the potential stress and drama on Sarah Connor and her son, John, on the run from terminators.

We just wish something this ambitious was given the HBO, Showtime, or FX treatment. Instead of the mind numbing FOX treatment. Especially given that FOX has shown they have no idea what to do with their best shows. See “Arrested Development,” “The Inside,” “Firefly,” and “Wonderfalls.” Any others I’m missing?