Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Debuts This Weekend On FOX

While The Blot has no idea if it’s going to be good or not, I wanted to remind readers that the new Terminator television show, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, debuts this weekend with a two night premier on FOX. The first episode is this Sunday, January 13th at 8/7 Central and the second episode is Monday, January 14th at 9/8 Central.

The show picks up after events in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (commonly referred to as T2) and unfortunately does not star the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger. The new show stars Lena Headey (300) as Sarah Connor (the role made famous by Linda Hamilton), Thomas Dekker (Heroes, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) as John Connor and Summer Glau (Firefly, Serenity) as Cameron Phillips, a reprogrammed Terminator from the future sent back in time to protect John Connor by any means necessary. Since it hasn’t premiered yet we’ll have to just go with FOX’s description of the new show:

At the end of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Sarah vanquished the Terminator sent from the future to kill her teenage son, John. Sarah and John now find themselves alone in a very dangerous, complicated world. Fugitives from the law, they are confronted with the reality that still more enemies from the future, and the present, could attack at any moment.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles reveals what happens when Sarah stops running and goes on the offensive against an ever-evolving technological enemy bent on destroying her life, and perhaps the world. Her son, 15-year-old John Connor, knows that he may be the future savior of mankind, but is not yet ready to take on the mantle of leadership that he's told is his destiny. John finds himself inextricably drawn to Cameron, an enigmatic and otherworldly student at his high school, who soon proves to be much more than his confidante - she assumes the role of Sarah and John's fearless protector. On their trail are not only threats from the future, but an intelligent and tough FBI agent, James Ellison (Richard T. Jones), who soon becomes a powerful ally. (link)

Psych – Fake Psychic, Real Detectives

Shawn, Gus and the rest of the Psych crew return for the start of their third season tonight, Friday January 11th, on the USA Network at 10/9 Central. For the past two years Psych has really entertained The Blot with its unique brand of mystery and goofy comedy (and was ranked eighth on The Blot’s Top 10 Cable Television Shows of 2007). In fact, Psych might just be one of the funniest detective shows on television, if not ever. If you haven’t yet started to watch the great original programming of the USA Network you really need to try out some of their shows. They have quietly grown a stable of shows that continually outshines every other cable network and almost rivals the cable pay channels of HBO and Showtime.

I originally started watching the show because I am a huge fan of Dule Hill from his days on the hit NBC show The West Wing, but quickly found myself returning to watch week after week because of the well rounded ensemble cast. The show stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer and Hill as Burton “Gus” Guster as a pair of childhood friends who, after Shawn convinces the Santa Barbra Police Department that he is psychic, start a psychic detective agency appropriately named Psych. The catch, and where most of the comedy comes from, is in the fact that Shawn has absolutely no psychic abilities and yet is now considered the Santa Barbra Police Department’s resident psychic. In reality he just has incredible observational skills from years of intense training as a child by his father, retired policeman Henry Spencer played by television star Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law, Major League).

What ensues each week is your typical detective show crime but without any of the typical solving of the case. As the ads for Psych put it, it’s “All the Law. None of the Order.” Each week a new crime occurs and Shawn and Gus have to somehow work their way onto the case by convincing Police Chief Karen Vick, played by Kirsten Nelson, that their rare skills are desperately needed. More often than not, they’re paired with Detectives Carlton “Lassi” Lassiter, played by Tim Omundson, and Juliet O’Hara, played by Maggie Lawson.

There is a real love/hate relationship between Lassi and Shawn, and Lassiter doesn’t hide the fact that he “would sooner arrest Shawn than follow any of his psychic visions.” (link) But, more often than not Shawn saves the day and catches the bad guys with his so-called “visions.” Psych is just fun television and isn’t serialized like most popular TV is these days, so you can catch episodes as you please without missing a beat. If you’re home tonight with nothing to do or have space on your DVR for one more show, set the TV to USA and catch up on some Psych.

The New Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Movie Poster

Here is the newest movie poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Unlike the first movie poster (seen here) which was intricately painted by long-time Lucas collaborator Drew Struzan (Star Wars Episodes I-III&VI, the first three Indiana Jones films, the Back To The Future trilogy), this teaser poster is solely a photo of Harrison Ford’s silhouette sporting Indie’s trademark fedora and holding his classic bullwhip.