Summer Glau

Question: Sometimes I ask God why it was decided that I should be a sci-fi geek. I don’t know about anyone else, but I have been impressed with the character development on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It is clear that Fox asked the producers to cut back on special effects to save money, so the writers had to actually (gasp!) write. I think they’ve done a wonderful job. I am enjoying the development of John and Cameron the most, but also of Sarah, Derek and Ellison. And then Fox pulls a Firefly on me and moves it to Friday along with Dollhouse. I don’t understand how Fox and other networks cannot get this. Shows like Dollhouse and Terminator need to either lead to a heavy hitter or have a heavy hitter for a lead-in. It may take a little more time, but that is the best way to build viewership and grab viewers who might otherwise not watch based on the title and subject of the show alone. If you throw two shows that appeal to the same audience on the same night, the ratings will pretty much flat-line wherever they start, as new viewers will probably just not tune in. Seems like a no-brainer to me. I’ve been reading "Ask Matt" for years now, and thanks for all the insight. — Brian O.

Matt Roush: It does seem at times like the fates are conspiring against fans of outside-the-mainstream TV, doesn’t it? There’s no question that a Terminator-Dollhouse Friday line-up is going to be ratings-challenged (unless the universe does a complete 360 soon), but as I noted in my Dispatch after Fox announced its midseason lineup, I can’t really blame a network for playing to its strengths — in this case, moving House to Mondays in front on 24, instead of taking a leap of faith on Dollhouse, as originally announced. Putting Dollhouse or Terminator alongside hit shows would likely be a mixed blessing, anyway, since the disparity between the ratings for a 24/House-size hit and either of these genre cult items might actually hasten their demise, if it’s seen that they’re dragging down nights more critical to Fox’s fortunes than Friday will ever be. The most we can hope for is a decent demographic tune-in for this fantasy block on Fridays, a night that has already been established as a destination for sci-fi fans (with Battlestar Galactica returning there in January). Still, won’t be easy. And while Brian argues that lumping together like-minded shows is a recipe for disaster, our next questioner disagrees.