Yahoo TV is offering a free preview of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for a 24-hour period that ends 11:59 p.m. EST Saturday. (Follow the link and then scroll down and click on the full episode.)

The show definitely keeps the feel of the Terminator movies, from the special effects to the apocalyptic dream sequences to the chronology (the show takes place between T2 and T3).

The moral: It really sucks when you grow up to be humanity’s savior and you’re constantly being hunted by cyborgs. And you thought your teens were tough.

Overall, the first episode is good. There’s a lot of good action and it does a good job of setting up the story and characters (including the lovely Summer Glau, of Firefly and Serenity fame, in another totally kick-ass role). I have to admit, there’s a certain “been there, done that” feel to it (terminator hunts boy and mom, good terminator fights evil terminator, lots of bullets fly and people run away … a lot) but I’m hoping that the setup established at the end of the episode will take it in a new enough direction to keep from getting stale.

Humanity’s future may be in question, but the midseason TV schedule is starting to look pretty good.