Note: Many moons ago writer Natalie Chaidez chimed in with her breakdown of the Badass Writer Chicks of Sarah Connor. Well, here’s her long-ago promised take on the men of the writer staff now ready for your reading pleasure…

Well guess who got their tighty-whities in a bunch because I didn’t blog about them? The boy writers of SCC, who, in the interest of equal time for all candidates, will now get a few choice Chaidez comments about them.

Friedman. Genius screenwriter dabbling in one-hour drama and making all us seasoned TV pros look like amateurs in the process. Right now he’s rocking this circa 1976 Coppola shag, which he keeps threatening to cut but secretly I think he’s quite fond of. Josh is an awesome boss, and honestly the worst thing I can think of to say about him is that he, like every showrunner I’ve ever worked for, has developed some odd dietary quirks since his series began. For instance, he no longer eats Pop Tarts for breakfast, which in hindsight I suppose wasn’t the healthiest start to an exec producer’s day.

John Wirth, or “J Dub” as he is affectionately known here at SCC, is our other commander-in-chief. Wirth is the O.G. of the staff, and was brought on by the studio and network to teach Freidman the ropes of running a TV show, with his 800 years of production experience. In addition to his mad writing, on-set and editing skillz, he’s a raconteur extraordinaire. The man is a born story-teller. The staff’s favorite tale involves Don Johnson, two strippers in nurse get-ups and a ‘titty-whacking”. Need I say more?

Supervising Producer John Enbom is a worthless traitor who abandoned us for the petty task of running his own TV show. It’s a huge loss as he was both the classiest and funniest writer among us. His last episode (Alpine Fields) married a Cheever-esque critique of repression in WASP culture with an awesome killer robot plot. Which, in a nutshell, just about sums up Mr. Enbom himself.

Writing team/producers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are the fan-boy whiz kids every great sci-fi show needs. Ashley used to be a computer programmer, working for the military, which basically means he was building SkyNet. Zack can recite by memory the plot of every Star Trek episode, if you give him the title, and has a degree from Stanford in Soviet Cinema. They play Dungeons and Dragons every month, and Ashley actually demanded Comic-Con as a religious holiday. Again– need I say more?

Our SCC “new media” writer is Mr. Hadley Klein. If you took about a dozen cans of Red Bull, stirred in a couple double espressos and topped it off with a hit of crack, you just might have half the energy this kid has. Hadley is a lanky bundle of charisma, charm and hustle, poured into the world’s tightest pair of skinny jeans. It behooves me to only say kind things about him, as it’s quite clear that he will soon be all of our bosses.

Last but not least are our two staff writers, Ian Goldberg and Dan Thomsen. Ian wrote the brilliant season one finale, What He Beheld. Ian, like Friedman, is a Johnny Cash afficiando. He looks like a young, cuter version of the Clash’s Joe Strummer. Dan, on the other hand, looks like that shaggily hot blonde actor Sienna Miller was dating for a minute. He gets this thousand yard stare sometimes in the writers’ room, as if mulling over some deep, dark personal tragedy, which usually turns out to be just a lame plot point we pitched. He wrote the season one episode, Vick’s Chip, which was my fav because it implied Mr. and Mrs. Vick were having… yes… Terminator sex. The annoying thing about both these guys is that they’re so damn young and so talented.

Which, minus the damn young part, basically is how I feel about all the SCC guys.

…round of awesome behind-the-scenes factoids, that is! Get the scoop on last Friday’s To the Lighthouse right here and catch up before this coming week’s new episode.

We traveled west for this episode, shooting the actual lighthouse and beach/dock in two separate locations (they were cut together to appear as though the dock was right outside the lighthouse). The dock is located at the Cabrillo Beach Youth Waterfront Sports Center in San Pedro, CA but the lighthouse is actually the Point Vicente Lighthouse, owned by the State of California, and located in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Obviously, this episode marked the return of Dean Winters as Charley Dixon. But did you notice what else was back? Flashbacks to Sarah and Young John Connor (played again by John Devito) in the Nicaraguan jungle haven’t been used since all the way back in Queen’s Gambit. These scenes were shot in the Warner Bros. woods on the backlot.

Oh and speaking of returns — Derek and Cameron had a pretty important conversation in this episode, didn’t they? After Cameron rescued Derek he asked her why she came for him. “You know the location of the safehouse. John’s location.”

But Derek responds, “That would would never happen.”
“It has before,” she reminds him.

But what exactly does that mean? Master of all things T:SCC (see: Josh Friedman) has given me permission to confirm that it indeed does imply that Derek was tortured and gave up John’s location some other time. Yes, then.

In To the Lighthouse we discover that John Henry has a “brother”/shares code with another AI birthed from another descendent of Cyberdyne (we already know John Henry/The Turk’s creator, Andy Goode, interned for Myles Dyson). John Henry flashes a picture of Miles Dyson up on the screen — the first time we’ve seen him since the photo in the Pilot. What you may not know is that we originally shot a different opening for one of the episodes in the first season in which Sarah had a dream that Dyson confronted her with dynamite strapped to his body. Hence the mysterious photo that some of you may have seen from FOX last season.

Speaking of scenes that never made it into the episode, there was originally a scene to take place earlier in To the Lighthouse that featured Sarah, fresh from the shower, examining all her recent wounds and discovering the lump in her breast. It was shot but cut in post-production.

For the religious fans out there, many Christians believe that Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1 when he exclaimed, “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” in Matthew 27:45-46. This is exactly what John Henry said when plugged back in by Murch in this episode. Thoughts?

Sarah’s voiceover returned this week compliments of writer Natalie Chaidez, who is quite fond of the technique. In fact, every one of her episodes (Queen’s Gambit, Automatic for the People, Earthlings Welcome Here, Some Must Watch…, and To the Lighthouse) feature voiceover. Most also feature the classic Sarah Connor tank top. Nat’s a purist and we love her for it.

Friday’s all-new episode is entitled To the Lighthouse, borrowed from the amazing novel by Virginia Woolf. Are you familiar with it?

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:
“A landmark novel of high modernism, the text, centering on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920, skillfully manipulates temporality and psychological exploration. To the Lighthouse follows and extends the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel Proust and James Joyce, where the plot is secondary to philosophical introspection, and the prose can be winding and hard to follow. The novel includes little dialogue and almost no action; most of it is written as thoughts and observations. The novel recalls the power of childhood emotions and highlights the impermanence of adult relationships.”

And here’s what I have to say about our To the Lighthouse:
“A landmark episode nearing the end of season two, centering on the Connor family and their journey away from their old house. While we always explore psychological ramifications (we like layers), the plot of this episode is not necessarily secondary to philosophical introspection (this one’s got both), and the prose is not winding nor hard to follow (so get everyone to watch it!). This episode includes both dialogue and action and (as always in this series) recalls the power of childhood emotions and highlights the impermanence of adult relationships.”

To the Lighthouse was written by Natalie Chaidez (Some Must Watch…, Earthlings Welcome Here, Queen’s Gambit, etc) and directed by Guy Ferland. It airs this Friday at 8PM/7PMc on FOX.

Seems it became a hit last fall when we posted little known facts and trivia following each new episode. Since you were all so fond of our first three, Sarah-centric, episodes back, we’ll start with a little combo version of interesting tidbits and facts about The Good Wound, Desert Cantos, and Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep.

As you may have researched, the title Desert Cantos is also the title of a Richard Misrach photography book. If you were a loyal follower of our video podcast, you may have even noticed the Misrach photo hanging on the wall in Josh’s office — a dead cow in the desert! (Oh, and of course you saw the actual dead cow model he’s gotten “living” in there too). Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep, meanwhile, was borrowed from the text of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Props to those that identified that beforehand.

Longtime CSI: Miami helmer, Scott Launtanen, made his Sarah Connor directing debut with last week’s Some Must Watch…, in an episode co-written by Natalie Chaidez and Denise The. Unfortunately for Launtanen, he was cursed with the additional challenging of shooting the entire episode with laringytus and couldn’t speak above a whisper!

Speaking of the Some Must Watch… cast, the very talented Julie Ann Emery (who played “Nurse Hobson”) was previously a serious contender for the role of “Catherine Weaver” at the beginning of the season. When it came time to casting the role of this sort-of-Terminator nurse, her name came was one of the first mentioned! Likewise, Brit comedic actress Michelle Arthur (Sarah’s fun-loving roommate, “Dana”) originally read for the role of “Diana Winston” in Desert Cantos before thinking ahead and realizing how perfect she was for “Dana.” They brought her in and the rest was history! Michelle is also a series regular on Starz’s comedy Head Case and previously starred in Lena’s directorial debut film, The Sophisticates.

Some of you pointed out that the empty house Sarah investigates in Desert Cantos was the Connor’s home last season (and the location Thomas toured in the video podcast) — but that is incorrect! However, that location has been seen on the series before. It is actually a practical house that sits on the Warner Bros. Ranch (a secondary lot down the street) and was used as little Marty Bedell’s home in Goodbye to All That. It was also Danny Glover’s house in the Lethal Weapon film series. We then moved to shoot the secret underground tunnel and surveillance room basement Sarah finds on one of our sound stages.

The Good Wound gives us good perspective on John Henry’s mental maturation, as he explains to Ellison about his Bionicle toys. Bionicles are made by Lego (our second, free promotion for that company in the series!) and are the favorite of quite a few of the writers’ young children.

As we’ve previously mentioned, our writers often pen notes in the scripts that may or may not translate to the screen. In The Good Wound script, the return of Kyle is introduced with “Just as we remember him from The Terminator” but then Ash/Zack continued on even further in their descriptions to note, “Oh… and we forgot to mention it… Sarah Connor? The one who drove into the desert? Not the one who drove out of it. This is T2 Sarah. Dangerous Sarah. Crazy Sarah.” Clearly both of these are callbacks to the original films. But did you notice Kyle’s wardrobe was precisely what Sarah would have remembered him in from The Terminator? Right down to the shoes. Big props to our talented wardrobe designer, Amanda Friedland, for putting in the good work and small details. Oh, and while we’re on the small details — many of you have complained about Sarah’s scar on her shoulder. Thought most of you believed it was a mistaken reference to the T-1000 wound from the second film (but on the wrong shoulder), it actually wasn’t. Sarah’s referenced wound was actually from the gunshot in the series pilot.

With two storylines taking place in medical facilities in the episode, production was forced to “create” the look of two very different hospitals in one practical location. As opposed to the Sarah/Kacy scenes in Allison from Palmdale (which were shot on the ER set at Warner Bros), both sets of these medical scenes were shot at the in-use St. Mary’s Hospital in Long Beach, CA. Even the morgue is a real, working morgue. Gross!

FOX officially announced four more episodes (though they mis-titled one) this morning. But you already knew those ones. And now we’re here to give you the exclusive heads up on what the rest of the season looks like. Go on and scratch it into your calendars…

Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep
Friday, February 27
Written by Natalie Chaidez
Directed by Scott Lautanen

Ourselves Alone
Friday, March 6
Written by Toni Graphia and Daniel T. Thomsen
Directed by Jeff Woolnough

Today is the Day (Part 1)
Friday, March 13
Written by Ashley E. Miller & Zack Stentz
Directed by Guy Bee

Today is the Day (Part 2)
Friday, March 20
Written by Ashley E. Miller & Zack Stentz
Directed by Guy Bee

To The Lighthouse
Friday, March 27
Written by Natalie Chaidez
Directed by Guy Ferland

Adam Raised a Cain
Friday, April 3
Written by Toni Graphia
Directed by Charles Beeson

Born to Run
Friday, April 10
Written by Josh Friedman
Directed by Jeffrey Hunt

As if you could forget, we return with an all-new run of episodes in just a few weeks! Lucky for you, here’s a peek at part of our upcoming air schedule (complete with titles!)…

The Good Wound - Friday, February 13
Written by Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz
Directed by Jeff Woolnough

Desert Cantos - Friday, February 20
Written by John Wirth & Ian Goldberg
Directed by J. Miller Tobin

Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep - Friday, February 27
Written by Natalie Chaidez & Denise The
Directed by Scott Lautanen

Earthlings Welcome Here wraps up our fall run and fall fun, but it isn’t the conclusion to this chapter of the story — it’s only the beginning. What did Sarah see in the sky? Was it real? February will tell, but in the meantime here are some fun facts about the controversial fall finale to hold you over for a bit…

First thing’s first — the ending. Perhaps Natalie’s script can shed some light on the final shot? Here’s exactly what she wrote: “Something hovers in the sky. The only thing she can make out for sure are 3 BRIGHT LIGHTS– like three suns blazing down over her… There’s the outline of a craft; Drone? H-K? Hallucination? Whatever it is, it’s hers…”

Cameron checks Riley’s pulse under the guise of wanting to feel her tattoo. But did you catch what Cameron told John she was thinking of getting tattooed on her body? “A tiger. Or a wolf.” Animals, you might remember, that were specifically held captive on the freighter ship Cameron tortured Allison on in the episode Allison from Palmdale…

The role of “Eileen”/”Alan Park”/”Abraham” was, as expected, difficult to cast. In session we read both male and female actors, eventually lucking out with the extremely talented Dinah Lenney. Unrelated side note, her blogger pseudonym “Abraham” was originally scripted as “Isaac,” and was only changed right before production.

Earthlings Welcome Here is, at it’s core, a character study of Sarah Connor. Even within the episode, Sarah sees manifestations of her old selves — the pre-John waitress Sarah Connor (the first Terminator film) and the Pescadero Mental Hospital patient Sarah Connor (T-2). One scene in particular is a specific and direct homage to the second film: Sarah scribbles “No Fate” on the diner table, much like she does in the film outside of Enrique’s.

Ellison finally revealed a little bit more about his relationship with his ex-wife, Lila, in conversation with the Pastor. For all those keeping track out there (quiz-goers), James admits that his marriage fell apart when she got pregnant but September 11, 2001 made her question it, so she terminated it.

The Riley/Jesse flashback of her first day at school was shot at the same exterior location that doubled for the school in the first season, but was filmed during the course of this episode to match. John’s long hair is the wig he wore throughout Samson and Delilah (before he cut his hair) and his clothes are from his season one wardrobe (so this scene takes place some time before John/Riley’s first meeting in Automatic for the People).

Earthlings Welcome Here was our first episode directed by veteran director Felix Alcala, and the second time he has worked with Stephanie Jacobsen (Jesse). Felix previously directed her in the Battlestar Galactica spinoff movie, BSG: Razor.

At the beginning of production on this episode there was still uncertainty as to our fate — would we receive an order for more episodes to complete the season? As it turns out, we learned the good news on the last night of the episode’s production — Friday, October 24th! After hearing from FOX and WBTV, the producers informed the cast and crew on the set during the shooting of the future scene in which Jesse first finds Riley in the tunnels.

Since much of this episode took Sarah out into the desert in search of a link to Skynet, we had to find one location that could triple for the exterior of Eileen’s trailer, the factory/warehouse Sarah finds (where she gets shot), and the Desert Pie Shop. Funny enough, we actually shot at Agua Dulce Airpark, an airport outside of Los Angeles, used previously in films such as Space Cowboys. EXTRA SPECIAL, SPOILERY TIDBIT: This is not the last time you’ll be seeing the factory/warehouse this season…

Did you catch the name of the man Sarah battled with? His company — Desert Canyon Heat and Air — badge listed him as Ed Winston. He was played by Ned Bellamy, an actor some of you might recognize from his recent and memorable appearance in the film Twilight. Hit film and awesome TV series? Seems like things are looking up for him right now.

“You’re a mother. You’re a seeker. You’re a soldier. You’re everything but you’re nothing.”

Who is SARAH CONNOR?

Thanks for tuning in to last night’s big fall finale. While the episode may have left you in a strange and surprising place (didn’t we warn you!?), there’s nothing to fear — we’ll be back. Friday, February 13th, in fact. And all…will…be…revealed.

In the meantime, check out what Executive Producer Josh Friedman and Writer Natalie Chaidez had to say about the character study that was Earthlings Welcome Here.

Oh X-Files, how do we writers adore you? Let us count the ways. Number one: the seamless melding of sci-fi and procedural plot, which has rendered oh-so-many inferior imitators. Number two: the awesome flash-light illuminated action sequences through spooky/cool Canadian locations. Who knew Vancouver had such topographical diversity? And number three: one of the most iconic sci-fi ships of all-time, between a laconic porn-loving crusader for Truth and his red-headed, trench-coated doubting Thomas of a partner… oh Mulder and Scully. Catch monsters! Uncover alien conspiracies! Exchange witty quips and amazing scientific snippets during playful and sexually-charged scenes in low-rent motel rooms! Oh X-Files… <3 <3 <3

My latest SCC episode, Earthlings Welcome Here, is an homage to one of the writers’ room’s all-time favorite shows. I’m not claiming it’s as good as Chris Carter and co’s best eps, and no Duchnovy of course (sigh…), but it’s our humble peek into UFO sub-culture, and its surprising intersection with Killer Robots From the Future.

I began the process of writing the script, as I often do, by doing some real life research. Wanting to know more about “Experiencers,” as those who have encountered E.T.’s call themselves, I attended a meeting of a group known as M.U.F.O.N. It was at this meeting, held in the sanctuary of a church in Studio City, CA that I learned about the process of hypno-therapy to recall lost or repressed memories. It was a fascinating event, and I incorporated my findings into the show.

I’m sure many of you will be wondering exactly what Sarah finds at the end of her quest for the three-dots. That answer — at least part of it -– will be revealed by the end of Earthlings. How are aliens and Terminators connected? Tune in tonight (and on Fridays at 8PM starting February in 2009).

The Truth is… well, you know the rest…

TUESDAY UPDATE: Love you, bloggers. Hate on my eppy or love it, we’re all playing together in the same imaginary playground — writers and fans alike — your close attention to detail and thoughtful, interactive viewing make creating T:SCC hecka fun..

How astute of a viewer are you? Here are some things you may have missed and a few extra easter eggs for you from last night’s Automatic for the People.

Scattergood Generating Station in El Segundo, CA actually stood in for our Serrano Point Nuclear Power Plant. As the plant is not actually a nuclear plant, the nuclear towers seen in the establishing shots were added in digitally during post-production.

Sarah’s story takes a scary turn when she learns she wasn’t actually ever “crapped up,” not unlike a certain Meryl Streep film. Is it a coincidence that the alter-ego Sarah gives Greenway is “Karen” (as in Silkwood)?

Very pregnant Kacy introduced the Connors to their new home in this episode. This house is actually the Baldwin Hills Oil Field House, a location made famous at the end of the film, LA Confidential. While incredibly secluded and private, a few nearby houses include the family’s mansion in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and the Huxtable’s home in The Cosby Show.

Director Jeffrey Hunt also directed last season’s epic Dungeons and Dragons episode. Jeff made his television directing debut on the series CSI. Natalie Chaidez, the episode’s writer, previously wrote the fifth episode of the series, Queen’s Gambit, and may be known to sci-fi/action fans from, among other things, her stint on the first season of Heroes.

Pay attention to the name of the local bar near Serrano Point — it’s actually called The Busted Atom! Funny enough, this bar set was built in the same space that previously occupied Maria’s dance studio in last season’s episode, The Demon Hand. It is located on the Warner Bros lot and you may be seeing it again…

Automatic for the People briefly operated under the working title “No Good Deed.” It was changed before the episode even began production. Many times episodes are given a preliminary title at conception and are retitled before the episode begins shooting.

Sarah’s neat waitress/smoke trick is actually also an illusion of post-production. The smoke was added as CGI in post-production, as were the balls on the pool table during Cameron’s hustling of Bob.

Anything extra cool that you noticed?