Honestly, I’ve been preparing myself for a while for this inevitability, so I’m really not that broken up about Terminator’s official cancellation. Yes, I will miss the show; it was one that I considered to be smart, interesting, and well-acted. Unfortunately, as the ratings showed, not enough people agreed with me. Certainly, the unexpected renewal of Dollhouse helped to ease the sting, but I wonder why Dollhouse got a reprieve and Terminator didn’t. Add in the fact that Terminator Salvation is opening this summer and it seems like FOX could have taken a chance that the movie might have sparked interest in the show.
It’s been a bizarre renewal/cancellation season. As I mentioned, Dollhouse was renewed after having ratings even worse than Terminator. The word on the street is that Scrubs will be coming back after their perfect series finale. Even Zach Braff is going to be back for six episodes. The odd ABC renewals continued with a welcome pick up for Better Off Ted, even though the ratings for that show sucked the big one too.
To finish this bizarro world series of events, I can only assume that Reaper will get canceled, even though it was regularly pulling down better ratings than 90210… while it was opposite American Idol!!! I don’t get it. More and more it seems like network executives are just throwing darts a board of shows.
To add insult to injury, have you seen what’s taking over Terminator’s time slot? Is it some great new ambitious sci fi show that will be a perfect lead in to Dollhouse? Some action packed show that might fit well? Oh, no. It’s a couple of sitcoms: Til Death, which is taking the title from According to Jim for most inexplicably still on the air, and a new show starring Michael Strahan. Yes, that Michael Strahan.
I… I just don’t get it. Not one little bit.
Clacked by Bob Degon
on May 19, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
Terminator wasn’t that great, I enjoyed it but I think more because I wanted to see where they were going with it rather than because where they went was entertaining. I’m like that with genre series, the same can be said for Chuck, it sounded cool, but they’ve not done a huge amount with it. I’m still more pissed of about Life which was both mainstream (cop show) and quirky (ongoing arc and zen).
As good as Terminator was when it was good, it had some really, REALLY bad moments too. The ‘Sarah Can’t Sleep’ episodes really almost turned me completely off to the show. The Riley plot line never worked, probably even less so that we understand everything.
I hate that the show won’t be around. I think it deserved more of a chance than some of the other shows that got renewed, but I do sort of “get” why it won’t be.
In hindsight, probably not such a good idea to finish the season with a cliffhanger, was it?
Another dead fork in the “Terminator” mythology.
Terminator got its second chance and got bad ratings (Fox’s own fault for putting it on Mondays then Fridays). Now they are giving Dollhouse a second chance but the show will get cancelled after next season as well (Because Fox is keeping it on Fridays).
AC is right – T:TSCC was overstaying its welcome. The first renewal was a surprise for me and Dollhouse apparently got renewed because EP 13 was done on the studio’s dime and showed that it could still be a high-class show at a fraction of the cost.
You know in the UK shows often enough only get a season – take it for what it was, a nice ride, and maybe you’ll get another show in the Terminator Universe that’s going at it differently. I liked season one but stopped watching after five episode in season two and I don’t really miss it. But then again “Lie to me” got renewed too so honestly I don’t really get some of those decisions either.
It’s all about money. Sarah Connor was too expensive, and Fox royally screwed it by moving it to Friday. Better Off Ted is a great show, but it’s apparently cheaper to produce than an established show like Samantha Who? (just how much were Applegate and Smart making per episode that ABC wanted to trim $500,000 per show?!?!). Ted (and Scrubs) have sets, cast and crew in place, so there’s no added expense in building and hiring. If Reaper gets the ax, at least ABC Studios is still interested in bringing the show to syndication which could actually work in its favor. I find it of interest that ABC/Disney wants to keep the show alive considering that was one of the properties they sold off to Lionsgate for DVD distribution because they couldn’t be bothered with it!
Bob, you asked the Interweb “why was this great/my favorite show canceled?” Of course you’re going to get back “because it sucked!”
Spelling nitpick: you accidentally typed “one that I considered to be” in your second sentence. I think you meant to write “one that was inarguably.”
We knew two days ago why Dollhouse was coming back, and hence why T:SCC would not. Apparently FOX Television (and Whedon) took a massive pay cut from the network and the show’s budget will be slashed. Unfortunately, that may mean losing more actor(s) than Acker. Worse, it’ll be someone other than Dushku.
Apparently, Chuck has similar issues, and as glad as I am to see that show come back, I’m not looking forward to even more product integration, especially from Subway.
I read a rumor that the only reason we got the back nine on T:SCC was that the WB basically considered it advertising for Terminator: Salvation, so there’s no reason for them to continue it at these numbers. If that was the case, then we were lucky the series finale wasn’t “Earthlings Welcome Here.”
I had to laugh at Kevin Reilly’s comments on the two shows’ ratings. FOX felt that T:SCC “wasn’t going in the right direction ratings-wise” (bottomed out on Fridays, starting to rise), but apparently Dollhouse was (fell each week, even dropped below Terminator, don’t know if we’ve hit bottom yet). Unless there’s a lot of geek outreach and word of mouth over the summer, I can’t see it even completing its second 13 episodes.
Even with its numbers, we knew Reaper would be gone because it doesn’t specifically target the young female demographic the CW wants now.
Better Off Ted is a smart, outstanding show and the lone bright spot for me this week. Actually, after watching the Star Trek reboot, the Smallville season finale, and the official termination of T:SCC, it’s been a pretty crappy week.
I bought the T:SCC Blu-rays and multiple DVDs for gifts and proselytized it to all my friends, so I’m at peace with the matter. My only regrets are that I know we’ll see all these talented actors again in other shows, but never all together at once and that I will have no reason at all to engage my brain next season (don’t watch Lost).