It’s been a good time being able to provide insight and behind-the-scenes factoids about each episode, so here’s another round for this week’s Allison from Palmdale.
It’s hard to tell but in the scene of Allison running through the cages, all of the humans are grouped by race. This elaborate indoor portion of our freighter set was actually built on our sound stage (the same one that houses ZeiraCorp) to accommodate our four featured animals: the wolf, the bear, the chimp, and the tiger called Sascha.
What’s in a name? As with titles, new characters often go through a series of various names before production actually begins on an episode. Be it for reasons of personal preference or legal issues, a character’s name can end up quite different than the original, working conception. In this episode, Allison screams out her surname (”Young”). In earlier drafts of the script, she was actually called Allison Grant. And she’s not the only one. Catherine Weaver’s first name was actually Alexandra and her company ZeiraCorp was once known as WeaverCorp. Not to mention Ellison’s ex-wife, Lila, also was initially referred to as Grace Ellison. And a little added factoid — those of you that saw the original, unaired series Pilot may remember Charley Dixon was first called Burke Daniels (then played by actor Tim Guinee). What you may not know, however, was James Ellison’s original name — Jack Van Meter.
Allison caught in the net in the ocean was actually shot on the same production day (and in the same Burbank water tank) as John/Cromartie in the ocean in The Mousetrap.
Toni Graphia, the writer of this episode, and Charles Beeson, the director, previously collaborated on our other Cameron-centric episode, last season’s The Demon Hand.
Even more ironic location facts — the hospital that Sarah brings Kacy to actually belongs to the series ER. It is also housed on the WB lot. As many of you may know, Busy Philipps (who plays Kacy) actually played the recurring role of “Hope” on that series!
Funny enough, there were different versions in various drafts of the script for Cameron’s stage direction at the end of the episode. One read: “Cameron leans her head against the window and stares out, looking at the world a little differently than before.” While another: “Cameron leans her head against the window and stares out, looking at the world no differently than before. She is after all, not human.” So which is the version that we actually shot?
Oh, and curious about Weaver the T-1001’s little redheaded daughter, Savannah? Sure you are. Well, we ain’t saying much, but this definitely isn’t the last you’ve seen of her.
I think ‘Savannah’ is just another piece of the T-1001 separated from the main machine as a device to convince Ellison that it is genuine regarding its reasons for ‘tracking’ down the T-888. Really, as we know, she wants to ensure that Skynet is created.
Quite a wily ploy for a machine!
Seconded.
At the very least, one would imagine that she’s not human.
Savannah’s got to be the world’s most traumatized child but metal? I’m thinking not so much… if Sarah Connor can have a terminator for a step-daughter, there’s no reason to think the “anti-Sarah Connor” wouldn’t have a human child…
great episode
AWESOME SHOW
WAKE UP FOX
Well, after this new post on this official blog I would think that you decided that Catherine Weaver aka T-1001 daughter it’s not human.. or maybe the original existed but the T-1001 killed both mother and daughter and replaced them…
On some forums I speculated that the T-1001 due to the double zero and double 1 could mean “mirroring” … which could reveal a new feature that the T-1001 has over the previous T-1000 on Terminator2 movie… the ability to split and have an appendix of itself or more than one. How many is anyone guess, only you there in the production know the answer right now. Is the appendix fully functioning or with reduced functionality, since the daughter didn’t speak at all? Does the T-1001 lose strenght/power when split into two or more bodies or not ?
Just some good questions needing answers…
Best episode yet. Here’s hoping we get to find out more about Cameron’s past in the coming episodes.
Or that we get to see Savannah taking a page out of her mom’s book and doing a little hands-on lobotomizing.
This show is amazing. So come on, FOX. Don’t be a moron.
I have just read on the Internet that ‘T:SCC’ may be in trouble ratings wise.
I am British and I love the show. It is so well made and addictive to boot! The acting is great and you can see that a real effort is being made by all to make something special, intelligent, acting as both accompaniment and tribute to the Terminator movies (not 3!).
Please America.. watch ‘T:SCC’ and ignore atrocious crap like ‘American Idol’ and/or any other reality shows. We have enough rubbish like that here in the UK (’American Idol’ was a British show originally, so sorry for that and Simon Cowell!).
Too many good shows are getting dumped because they aren’t performing quickly for the studios. Whatever happened to the ’slow burn’? Fox needs to let the show get in the public’s minds and it’s imaginative and compelling stories will bring in the viewers.
Let it have a few series more to grow…
So, this is off-topic to your post, but I was just reading io9.com (sf blog) and the author made it sound like the execs at fox may be making some decisions about T:SCC’s continued existence.
I realize that I have no say in financial matters such as this, but you should at least be aware that some of the facts Fox are operating on are questionable.
I write in reference to the dreaded Nielsen numbers. io9 quoted another site: “‘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.’”
I’m 26, and the only show I actually schedule around is yours. Now I know that it’s a logical fallacy to think my experience is universal, but hear me out. I don’t mention my viewing habits to contradict those facts, but rather to add credibility to my next statement.
Terminator is doing well with males between 18 to 49. It’s television *itself* that isn’t doing as well.
And, there’s the easy way to show this: bittorrent traffic.
Now I know what you’re thinking: “pirates!” And I understand those thoughts - I write for the intellectual property law journal at the law school I attend. But the one thing about bittorrent is that everything on it is tracked.
Here’s an example: go to the pirate bay’s website, and click around until you’re viewing the top 100 TV shows being traded on bittorrent currently. Many if not most of what you’ll see are recent TV shows from within the last week. T:SCC is always one of the most popular tv torrents being traded on the pirate bay at any time. Seriously. Even on a Friday, far from when the show aired and still a weekend to go before the next, it’ll be up there.
And while I know you don’t like pirates, they do represent a more niche part of society than the general public. They trend strongly towards being younger and being male. This is a strong indicator that it’s not the show that is the problem, because it’s immensely popular online.
Of course, you don’t make money off of pirates. Unless you sue them, of course.
So: I’m not arguing that you try and tap the pirate market - Hulu.com and its like will do away with file sharing soon enough, because it’s simply an unnecessary step when it’s available online, anytime, and mostly commercial free.
All I’m saying is that you should consider the popularity of Terminator online. People *like* the show. And according to current file trading online right now, they like it more than House, and Dexter, and Chuck, and Fringe, and a lot of other shows that are going after the same part of the market.
So if the show is not the problem here, then it doesn’t make financial sense to end it. The show can be popular and would be popular if something wasn’t getting in the way. I’m not the guy to say how to fix that - I’m sure Fox has experts who have been doing this for years and while those experts are certainly far from perfect, they’d probably do okay if they wanted.
So I’m not the guy with the solution. I’m a different guy - I’m the guy whose saying the show is not the problem. Getting rid of something that isn’t the cause of the problem doesn’t fix it, it just hides it.
Right now, T:SCC is an opportunity for Fox. The only way you can lose out on that opportunity is by not recognizing the circumstances for what they are. If Fox gets rid of T:SCC they’ll be replacing what was an opportunity with liabilities. From the sunk costs of production that are unrecoverable, to the unlikely possibility of having any type of show be introduced mid-season on a Monday night and managing to be successful, getting rid of T:SCC is the wrong move.
Not to mention that those people who like Firefly and T:SCC both are going to really think FOX is unwilling or unable to properly back their shows until they reach a level of success. After last time, it would just be frustrating to everyone concerned if they had to go through that again, and it would make those same viewers more reluctant to watch shows on Fox - they’d be afraid of getting attached to a show only to see it canceled out from under them.
Well, this typing went on much longer than I intended. I really hope you guys notice this post and take the time to read at least some of it. They show’s good and people like it, instead of canceling it figure out what the real problem is: timeslot, or the types of ads run for it, or whatever. But don’t cancel it.
Thanks for the additional info. As a fan it’s really fun to hear the extra insight and behind-the-scenes. Loved the stuff on the DVD, wanted more!
In the ending scene, I think it was: “Cameron leans her head against the window and stares out, looking at the world no differently than before. She is after all, not human”. There was something about that stare that was very “robot” like, although Summer is so good at doing that anyway.
But her dialog in the ending scene would make me think otherwise. That whole experience changed her thought process some.
Are you going to let us know which one it was? (I hope)
Fascinating bts stuff as always, especially that variation on the last line with Cameron. How human can a cyborg be?
As for Savannah, I believe she’s human - but I’m waiting to see a scene where the T-1001 replaced the real Catherine Weaver and what happened with that crash.
haha thanks for a lot of nothing in this post — guess we’ll just have to keep watching
One thing funny about Savannah… On IMDB she’s credit in 3 episodes, including “Dungeons & Dragons” HOW???
Well, the impression I got was that Cameron WAS looking at the world a little differently than before. I got the same feeling in VICK’S CHIP after she accesses the ARTIE system. John asks her what she saw and she says, “everything.” She’s evolving with each new experience. The future is not set!
Well done, guys. Keep up the good work.
The idea is good.It is said that fox may put an end to this play(oh! My god.)As a fan,it is discouraging.Please do not stop it…everything is bad now…
RE: the daughter. There was certainly a “Sixth Sense” aspect to the staging where the Ellison character never actually engages the child. It was a little too obvious, like the director is basically shouting to the audience: “look here, this is important!” We’ll see if it pays off. At least I hope we’ll get a chance to see.
Great Episode. The podcast with Toni Graphia and Josh Friedman was a wonderful push me - pull you between a writer and a producer. I look forward to hearing from Toni Graphia on this blog.
i want more of this show, it’s great and is the best show on tv by far
FOX.. LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE !
someone conected to show can just said something please
go here
http://forums.fox.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=foxterminator&msg=1327.1
[...] episode, “Alison from Palmdale” was amazing. Go behind the scenes with the official blog. Then read what the Internet has to say [...]
You’ve got me stumped with Savannah. She could be metal or tramatized by the “mommies different now”. Dont’ know. As for Cameron, I would hope she see’s the world different, if I had a choice, but I couldn’t get that from the scene, maybe. Here hoping the next 9 get started on soon. Love you all.
Dan above is correct - file downloads are where you get the true measure of popularity these days, much as the MPAA and the RIAA and no doubt many artists don’t like it.
I don’t have a TV, although I have cable running through the apartment. I get my episodes from Net downloads. I do try to watch episodes as possible on Hulu, because that is tracked to. But I like owning the videos and replaying them at my convenience on my PC.
And I bought the Season One DVD for the same reason.
As long as this show is doing north of six million viewers, both live and DVR, you’re looking at probably a real total of eight million viewers.
HBO just green lighted another season of “True Blood” after just a couple episodes and four million viewers. Fox needs to give Terminator more time to ramp up.
Also, as Erika at The Sarah Connor Society Web site says, Fox needs to MOVE Terminator out of the Monday night “kiss of death” slot up against football and “Heroes” and put it next to “Bones” which will benefit both shows.
In addition to what Dan was writing about taking more notice of internet streaming and torrent downloaders when considering viewers and advertising revenue… I’d like to comment that its a pain that the official download sites seem to have geographical limitations about where viewers are allowed to be. I’d love to download directly from Fox if it contributed to the viewing total and was a fair price and DRM free, and I’m probably not unique in that, but I’m prevented by the region licencing!! Can I download it from the network in the country I live in? Nope. And when my network DOES eventually distribute it, will their viewing statistics support continued TSCC production or will it be too late to influence any decision? .. I know what I suspect.
This was my least favorite episode, but Terminator is my favorite TV show right now.
And if this show is getting close to cancellation maybe they ought to pair it with and give it a lead out from the more successful Fringe. Pair the sci-fi shows together. I’m just an idiot but I figure the Fringe audience might be more interested in Terminator than the Prison Break audience.
My thoughts on the daughter? Weaver may have managed to mimic the original so perfectly that the daughter doesn’t notice anything’s wrong. However, why a T1001 would bother keeping a daughter around I have no idea - but then I also have no idea why a T1001 would bother heading a multi-national corporation…. so many mysteries!
I would like to suggest a great song: The Offspring - Fix You. It could be a good thing to hear in Sarah Connor Chronicles with Cameron in foreground. The title befits to her failures and this is a love-song. (Yeah, confusing… :P) It could be about Cameron-John vs. Riley-John.
And anyway…it’s a devilish good song:)
FOX and the other TSCC-fans like me: Listen to it and feel free to rate, how do you find it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSkGPYBNSPU
I am confused as to how Cameron went from saying she was going t otear John Coonnor’s head off and put it on a pike for the world to see, to being his protector. They didn’t show how, after she kills Allison, how she went from wanting to terminate JC to becoming his protector. I kept waiting..but nothing.
I can’t believe FOX is thinking about canceling this show. For real?! What are you going to put in it’s place? Another freaking reality show?! Another Hole in the Wall? Or how about giving Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader another night to prove Americans are retards. Geez, I can’t believe they think about doing this to such a great show.