Rating: 
January 11, 2008
YOU don't need to be a fan of the “Terminator" movies to like Fox's new show, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," which premieres Sunday night.
In fact, if you're a real fan, you may not even like this latest version of the franchise-seeing how it doesn't have the “I'll be back" guy.
This show takes place between “Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"- after Sarah kills off the Terminator who'd been sent from the future to kill her son who was destined to save humans from the raging machines.
“Chronicles" opens in 1999 but shifts around in time -which, of course, requires a suspension of disbelief. Not as large a suspension of disbelief as you would have needed in 1999 to believe that the Terminator would be the governor of California in 2003, but that's another story. At any rate, 33-year old Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) lives with her 15-year-old son, John (Thomas Dekker). Meaning she got pregant at 17, which, in turn, means she could be a lost Spears sister. (Remember, time is flexible here.)
Sarah's quest is to keep her son alive and away from both the machine who roams the earth in the shape of a huge man-bot (Terminator), and the FBI agent (James Ellison) who thinks Sarah's a scientistmurdering maniac. Terminator meets “The Fugitive."
Right off, the man-bot (the Terminator) shows up at John's new school as the substitute teacher. Within seconds, he rips open his cyber-thigh and pulls out guns and starts shooting up the school. Now, what with the recent school shootings, you don't have to be a robot to figure that this isn't a great setting for a TV show shootout.
Luckily, John's new classmate, Cameron (Summer Glau), also happens to be a robot-and she's been sent from the future too, to be his protector!
Cameron blasts the family into the future to 2007 (which is actually the past, if you're talking about the present). But unlike the “B" movies of old where people hurtle into the future and still fit into their underwear, Sarah, John and Cameron arrive in 2007 naked and end up in the road. (Don't you hate it when you think of everything except how to keep your clothes on during time travel? Man, I do!)
They must find and stop the invention of the machine that will end the human race as we know it. Along the way they even get a lesson from a band of Mexican forgers on 9/11. Lots of action, some good fun.
If you can believe a cyborg/Mr. Universe is the governor, you can certainly believe people can blow back and forth in time and space.
Hell, I just did it just writing this column, and let me tell you, time travel is exhausting!
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