Okay, so it’s just a comedic prototype done up by our talented Propsmaster, Scott Buckwald, as a holiday gift for the writers. And sure, there are typos and it should probably be Allison’s Prison Camp Bracelet, but who’s counting. It’s fun anyhow, and besides — what else do you have to look at the night before our big premiere?
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.
We’re sure you didn’t miss last night’s Allison from Palmdale and this recap certainly isn’t an appropriate substitute if you did, but check it out anyways.
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover in this series. At it’s most basic, it’s the story of a mom raising her son under extraordinary circumstances. But it’s also part of the epic franchise James Cameron started back in 1984 with The Terminator.
Like last season’s Dungeons and Dragons, tonight’s episode catapults us back into the terrifying future, where a scrappy band of rebels led by John Connor work to stop the deadly machines. With this story, the mythology evolves further with some of Cameron’s origin. So, who or what is this particular machine? What was she made for? And how is she different?
Weigh in with your thoughts before the episode airs. Rehash what we’ve learned thus far in the series about Cameron. Because after tonight, there’s no going back…
Tonight’s another gigantic new episode!
Allison from Palmdale airs at 8PM/7PMc only on FOX.
Trust us, you won’t want to miss it.