Terminator: The Series

Terminator Targets Tube

from E! Online

When the Terminator told us, "I'll be back," we didn't realize he meant after a word from our sponsors.

Fox has ordered a pilot for The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a sci-fi drama that will follow the character played in 1984's The Terminator and its 1991 sequel by Linda Hamilton as she struggles to raise her young son, John, and train him to lead humanity in the coming war with the machines.

Chronicles will be set during the time between 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which supposedly shut the door on the possibility of a computer takeover, and 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which opened that sucker right back up.

Chronicles will explore what happens after Sarah is forced to go on the run with her son when the government's new computer system, SkyNet, becomes self-aware. Not to mention fighting off some killer cyborgs from the future who will no doubt be making an appearance, though producers note that the show will be more character-driven and less action-oriented than the films, given the budget limitations of TV.

Hamilton is not expected to reprise her role as Sarah Connor; producers are seeking a new actress for the part.

The Chronicles brain trust has declined to comment on whether everybody's favorite robot assassin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, might turn up in a guest shot on the series. His return could hinge on whether he is reelected as governor of California in 2006.

The proposed TV series, which is aiming for a berth in Fox's 2006-07 lineup, doesn't mean the killer robot is saying hasta la vista to the movies. Producers have at least two more sequels in development.