So tonight’s a big night for me (and probably many other sci-fi geeks as well). Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has returned with its second half of season two. And I’ll now take a moment to thank my lucky stars it’s returned at all. For those who don’t know, when TSCC premiered this time last year, it had an amazing debut (over 18 million viewers tuned in). By the end of the season, though, that had trickled down to just over 8 million. Now, it is important to note that what the networks really care about are the different demographics but, alas, since I don’t really understand how all of that works, it’s best if I don’t try to digress into it.
Anyway, as season two began, things seemed promising but again, the ratings trickled off. Sure, I could go into a fan rant about why that happened but I’ve done that already on earlier blogs. The fact is that towards the end of the mid-season there were heavy talks about the shows possible cancellation — and many wondered if Fox would even pick up the back nine episodes…
But here we are now, the final episodes of the season officially ordered and a new, less competitive time-slot as well. To say that I’m nervous about how the ratings will look tomorrow is, well, about like saying Cameron Phillips could possibly take me in a fight. My nerves are shot and I can only hope things turn out okay. TSCC is a good show: solid writing, solid acting, and just solid entertainment all around. Why more people haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, I’ll never know. There’s action, drama (both finely mixed) and eye-candy galore (for girls and guys) — that’s probably why Joss Whedon loves it.
That’s right, I went there! I shelled out the Whedon-bump! And really, if you’ve ever loved anything about his shows, the smart money says you’ll enjoy TSCC.
This, of course, leads me to remind you of what you probably already know by now.
Tonight is also the premiere of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, as well as the man’s dramatic return to the small screen. There’s already been several reviews posted of the Eliza Dushku starring pilot (and show, of course). Reviews seemed to be mixed but what is generally the accepted notions, to me at least, is that it’s everything we’d expect from Mr. Whedon. I’d rather not go into too many details as to what the premise is; I’d rather you all just tune in and check it out for yourselves.
I will, however, probably be writing up several reviews for it (and TSCC) afterward (either tonight or tomorrow).
From what I’ve heard about TSCC‘s second half, well, it’s gonna be a doozy. The mid-season ended with Ms. Connor encountering what can only be described (again, by me) as an H-K prototype. Oh, and there was also the drama of John’s new flame, Riley, trying to off herself. In recent interviews, however, stars of the show, including Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau, and show creator/writer/producer Josh Friedman has said that things have only just begun to get twisted and that compared to the first half of the season, the second is much more serialized with far less stand-alone episodes (something that fans had begun to detest).
So if you’re looking for some solid Friday night entertainment from your television, then do be sure to tune into Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles starting at 8 P.M. EST on FOX, followed by Dollhouse at 9 P.M.
Tell your friends.
Tell everybody!