Does Fox have Sarah Connor in its sights? Terminator cancellation may be imminent
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- October
- 2
I take two days off and come back to find out one of the best sci-fi shows on television is on the brink of disappearing quicker than you can say Journeyman.
SyFy Portal reports that dismal ratings could spell an early Judgment Day for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
The network has been disappointed by “Sarah Connor’s” numbers so far this season, and some executives feel that the show is dragging down numbers for “Prison Break,” which airs as a lead-out.“Audiences just aren’t responding to the show,” a Fox source tells SyFy Portal. “Our biggest surprise are the 18-to-49s [a key advertising demographic], those numbers are in the toilet.”
Fox, which has a network rep for its itchy trigger finger, isn’t likely to show much patience when its marquee Monday night offering is trailing in the 18-49 demo.
The article explains how the show was hurt by the writers strike in its first season. But the low point of season one would be a jump over the anemic viewership of this second season, which is off by nearly a third from last spring.
I blame a melodramatic approach to the title character and the way-too-slow development of John Connor from brooding emo-boy to savior of mankind. When your co-stars and secondary characters—notably Summer Glau’s Cameron, Richard T. Jones’s Agent Ellison and Brian Austin Greene’s Derek Reese—are so far outshining your leads, your show is in trouble. That’s not a knock on Lena Headey, a victim of poor writing in my opinion, but it is a knock on Thomas Dekker, who is completely miscast and unbelievable—though vastly improved—in the role.
My critiques of this show have been a mixed bag of complaints and criticisms that never kept me from praising the action, intensity and intrigue that producers had to work with. The concept is great, and the execution has been very good at times, spotty at others.
For all its faults, though, I was convinced to be in it for the long haul. Fox isn’t commenting, but the haul may not be so long after all.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 11:32 am by Brian Howard.
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I actually whole heartedly like this show too (more the second season than the first), and I did not expect to at ALL.
I think the name of the show has a lot going against it too. “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” already sounds like a snoozefest.
Alas, I must agree. Cameron is a fascinating creation, both in her back story and how she is portrayed by Summer Glau. Here’s hoping FOX doesn’t pull the trigger yet. There’s so much potential here.
Although I know CHUCK’s numbers are also down, pitting the two shows against each other makes it tough for those of us who enjoy both series. Thank goodness for the interwebs!
T he ahow is great..specially the young man and his sister. The name of the show is a problem .. there in is the problem .. at times, at the beginning o!!f my watching the show..i could not find it in the directoriys .. CLEAN THAT UP AND YOU HAVE A WINNER DONT BLAME THE ACTORS OR STORY LINE
C RAY