Fox renews Terminator: Sarah Connor for second season

by Staff, Brand Republic 22-Apr-08, 10:55

NEW YORK - Fox has given the go ahead for a second season of 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles', which proved a hit for Virgin 1 in the UK.

'Sarah Connor' debuted in the UK in February and gave Virgin 1 the channel's biggest audience to date, pulling in 744,000 viewers.

When it debuted in the US, the show was the highest-rated new scripted series this season and drew an average of 10.5m viewers.

The second series will become part of Fox's autumn line-up for next season, after the go ahead was given for a 13-episode run.

The hard hitting sci-fi drama stars British '300' actress Lena Headey in the Sarah Connor role, alongside terminator ally Summer Glau.

The renewal of the show, which came late in the day suggesting some deliberation, was helped by the greenlight being given to a 'Terminator 4' movie. The film, which will star Christian Bale as freedom fighter John Connor, is set in the future as humanity fights the computer network Skynet.

Like many other shows, its production had been hit by the writer's strike, leading to a curtailed first season of just nine episodes.

Other shows, including 'Bionic Woman' starring Michelle Ryan, were not so lucky and found themselves cancelled after only a handful of episodes.

Kevin Reilly, Fox entertainment president, said: "Although a screwy year, even with the soft competition audiences rejected many other shows. Advertisers loved it and Josh Friedman did an incredible job taking a beloved franchise and finding the episodic voice of the show."

Reilly added that discussions were taking place with the director of 'Terminator 4', McG, about possible cross-promotional ideas.

He said: "We're a living commercial for the franchise. You may see some co-marketing efforts. If the show's working that's going to be a no-brainer for us in May."

He also said that 'Sarah Connor' benefited from heavy digital video recorder usage.