Connor Chronicles Less Serialised For 2nd Season
Written by Ian Cullen on July 16, 2008 – 12:20 pm -
By Ian M. Cullen
At the end of last season there was a bit of doubt on whether or not Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles would get a pick up for season two. They’re back – and according to series lead producer Josh Friedman they will be bigger than ever.
While talking to the UK Magazine DVD & Blu – ray review Friedman explained a little about their plans for the second season of the show. The first season was widely criticised for being to focused on the series mythology – and this is a criticism that Friedman and the team behind Sarah Connor Chronicles have taken on board.
“We had a lot of mythology last year, which I love, and the writers are Terminator fans, so it’s fun to pitch Terminator mythology stories,” Friedman notes. “But if I had a criticism for myself last year, occasionally the story got a little too labyrinthian and there was a sense where it occasionally turned in on itself in a way that was not beneficial to anybody. So, yes, there are going to be more episodes that are more cut and dried standalone, though it’s definitely not abandoning the elements that we had last year. It’s just trying to pick and choose spots. I spoke to one of the original X – Files writers and I asked, ‘How did you guys handle this?’ I was told that [creator] Chris Carter felt that you could only do six or eight mythology episodes a year, so there were 14 or 16 standalones. They had a better franchise for standalone than we do, but the truth is you can’t survive any other way. Even on shows like Lost, which is heavily serialised, the flashback structure in previous years and the flash – forward structure now, provides them with a structure to their episodes where you can say; ‘This is the episode where this happened.’ I think that’s what people asked us to do more of; an episode where you can actually summarise it in one sentence as apposed to five storylines brought in from eight episodes previously. The question is how do you balance working at that high level where you’re rewarding people who watch every week and are paying attention, and also not alienating people who are dropping in? Tough line to walk, but we’re still working on it!”
Season one of the series is due out on both DVD and Blu – ray in the US and will no doubt be followed up by the UK release a little later. During his conversation with the magazine the subject changed to DVD extras and Friedman revealed that he has a few things lined up for the DVD and Blu – ray releases.
“I’m a big believer in extras.” Says Friedman. “I enjoy it when I pull out my Battlestar DVDs and listen to the Ron Moore podcasts. I like that stuff. As a fan, it’s value added. We have an extra-extended cut of ‘The Demon Hand’ episode, which unfortunately had to be cut when it aired. There’s some audition stuff, there’s Summer’s rehearsal of her Ballet, there’s a gag reel – it’s a big chunk. Its one thing if people are going to be watching the show for free, but if they’re going to spend their money on the DVDs, it should be value added. It shouldn’t just be, ‘Here they are.’”
You can read much more of this interview in DVD & Blu – ray review which is out now. The magazine also included some pretty intense coverage about all three Terminator movies – as well as some updates on the fourth movie in the series.
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- Renewal Confirmed For Sarah Connor Chronicles
- Cast Changes Ahead For Sarah Connor Chronicles
- Galactica team plan ‘Young Adama Chronicles’?
- Torchwood Season Three Update
- Colin Ferguson On Season Three Of Eureka
Tags: Blu Ray, DVD, Josh Friedman, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
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