'Sarah Connor Chronicles': 'T3' Rebooted

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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

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You also need writers: people like Josh Friedman (the guy Steven Spielberg hired to co-write his 2005 adaptation of War of the Worlds) and veteran showrunner John Wirth (The District, Ghost Whisperer). On the set at the moment, though, the canvas chairs reserved for those people remain empty, along with several others. Their former occupants are not far away; in fact, you can wave to some of them as you pass the picket line while driving through the studio gates. ''One day the writers just weren't on the set anymore,'' Headey says, describing the impact of the strike. ''Nobody turned up. It's been pretty confusing without them. I find myself lost without Josh — he's the one who knows all the timelines and all the secrets. When you have a question, he's the guy you go to.'' Adds Glau, ''It was hard enough when the writers weren't striking — we were always asking them to come to the set to answer questions. But now the writers are completely absent. It's been an adjustment.''

The strike hasn't required many adjustments to that new Terminator movie — a script has been ready for two years — although a lawsuit filed by the producers over distribution rights did hold things up for a while (MGM had been claiming it had contractual first crack at distributing, though now Warner Bros. will end up distributing; nobody is commenting on the deal that has presumably been worked out). In any case, the movie now seems ready to start filming in April. The idea, Middleton says, would be to set the plot shortly after Skynet had annihilated most of mankind, in that postapocalyptic future the previous movies (and now TV series) only hint at — you know, gleaming robot feet marching over mountains of human skulls. In this version of the Terminator timeline, Christian Bale will star as an older John Connor and McG (Charlie's Angels) will be behind the camera directing. If all goes according to plan, the accelerated production should wrap before June, just in time to miss the actors' strike that may be looming next summer.

If there is one upside to the current strike, it's that the lack of original on-air competition should help The Sarah Connor Chronicles pop on the schedule this winter. Other than a handful of other new series (ABC's Cashmere Mafia, NBC's Lipstick Jungle) and returning shows (Lost, Medium, Jericho), the broadcast airwaves will be mostly clear of scripted fare these next few months. ''That's sort of like saying, 'You're the prettiest girl in the bar,''' sniffs Headey. ''But yeah, that's true. The show probably will get noticed more.''

Back on the set in Burbank, an evil Terminator has finally materialized and is looking for John Connor. As fate would have it, the robot just misses the boy as he marches stiffly through the high school hallway. He's not at all like that older, more familiar Cyberdyne T-800 model. For one thing, he's wearing a business suit, not a leather motorcycle jacket and dark shades. For another, he speaks with a decidedly American accent. ''The challenging part about playing a Terminator,'' says Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood), the actor chasing Sarah and John Connor in this episode, ''is learning to divert all your energy from your face. You watch Schwarzenegger do it in the movies and you realize how much time he must have worked on it. It's not as easy as it seems.'' Especially when you have the weight of both a franchise and a strike-saddled network on your cybernetic shoulders.

Throughout the season, don't miss Whitney Pastorek's morning-after TV Watch recaps of each episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles