Fringe (TV series)

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Fringe
‎ Fringe intertitle
Format	Science fiction
Created by	J.J. Abrams Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci
Starring	John Noble Anna Torv Joshua Jackson Lance Reddick Kirk Acevedo Blair Brown Jasika Nicole Mark Valley
Opening theme	Michael Giacchino
Ending theme	Michael Giacchino
Country of origin	USA
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	J.J. Abrams Bryan Burk Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci Jeff Pinkner
Running time	approx. 50 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Original run	September 9, 2008 – present
External links
Official website

Fringe is a science fiction television series co-created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows an FBI Fringe Division team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses unorthodox "fringe" science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate "the Pattern", a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences which are occurring all over the world. The show has been described as a cross between The X-Files, Altered States, The Twilight Zone and Dark Angel.^[1][2]

The series premiered in the United States on September 9, 2008, on the Fox network. Along with Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, Fringe is part of a new Fox initiative known as "Remote-Free TV". Episodes of Fringe are longer than standard dramas on current network television. The show airs with half the commercials, adding about six minutes to the show's run time.^[3] On October 1, 2008, Fringe received a full 22 episode season pickup by Fox TV network.^[4]

[edit] Plot

Fringe follows the exploits of FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, scientist Walter Bishop, and his son Peter as they investigate aspects of fringe science (telepathy, levitation, invisibility, reanimation, genetic mutation, psychokinesis, teleportation, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, precognition, dark matter, cybernetics, suspended animation, transmogrification, etc). All over the world, a series of apparent experiments collectively referred to as "the Pattern" (e.g., a newborn baby who rapidly ages and dies within a few hours, a bus full of passengers trapped in a strange substance like mosquitoes in amber) are occurring for reasons unknown. Olivia, Peter, and Walter are in charge of investigating these strange events to determine their source. Connected to the Pattern is Massive Dynamic, a leading global research company that holds the patents for a number of new and important technologies. Throughout the first half of the first season, Mitchell Loeb, a rogue FBI agent, orchestrates some of these events as part of a larger plan to break a man out of prison and kidnap Olivia.

Unlike his other series, Lost, J.J. Abrams promises the series' story arc will be easier to follow and more accessible for those who skip the odd show. In an interview first published in September 2008, Abrams said: "Lost has garnered a certain reputation for being a very complicated show and one that you have to watch every episode. Fringe is in many ways an experiment for us, which is, we believe it is possible to do a show that does have an overall story and end game, which Fringe absolutely does… We can do a show that has that, so that there's a direction the show is going and there's an ultimate story that's being told, but also a show that you don't have to watch episodes one, two and three to tune into episode four."^[5]

[edit] Cast

• Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent assigned to investigate the spread of unexplained phenomena.
• Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop, Walter's son who is brought in by Olivia to work with his father.
• John Noble as Dr. Walter Bishop a former government researcher in the field of fringe science who was institutionalized after a lab accident.
• Lance Reddick as Phillip Broyles, a Homeland Security agent who runs the Fringe Division.
• Jasika Nicole as Astrid Farnsworth, a young federal agent and assistant to Olivia and Walter.
• Kirk Acevedo as Charlie Francis, Olivia's colleague and close friend at the FBI. He is second-in-command of the Fringe Division.
• Blair Brown as Nina Sharp, a high ranking employee of Massive Dynamic, a leading firm in science and technology research.
• Mark Valley as John Scott, Olivia's former FBI partner and lover.

[edit] Production

Co-created by J. J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, Fringe is produced by Bad Robot in association with Warner Bros. Television. Abrams's inspiration for Fringe came from a range of sources, including the writings of Michael Crichton, the Ken Russell film Altered States, and the television series The X-Files and The Twilight Zone.^[6] Additionally, Orci stated that it is a combination of a procedural and an "extremely serialized and very culty" series, quoting as examples of each, Law & Order and Lost.^[7] Jeff Pinkner was selected to act as the head show runner and executive producer. Abrams noted that he trusts Pinkner after working together with him on Alias and Lost.^[8] Michael Giacchino, Abrams' frequent collaborator, is the composer for Fringe, though Abrams himself wrote the series theme song.

The two-hour pilot episode cost a total of $10 million to create, displacing Abrams' own series Lost as the most expensive pilot in recorded TV history.^[9] A cow used in the pilot episode had to be replaced in subsequent episodes due to livestock restrictions preventing it from being brought from Canada to the United States. If viewers note the difference in the cow's appearance, the production team members have said they will paint new cows to match the original.^[10][11]

On February 21, 2009, it was reported that if Fringe is renewed for a second season the show will move production to Vancouver from New York City as a cost-cutting measure. ^[12]

[edit] Casting

The first actors cast were Kirk Acevedo and Mark Valley, who play FBI agents Charlie Francis and John Scott, respectively.^[13] John Noble and Lance Reddick, who play Dr. Walter Bishop and Homeland Security agent Phillip Broyles joined the cast later on. Charlotte Rampling also joined the cast.^[14][15] Casting of Anna Torv, Blair Brown, and Jasika Nicole, who play Olivia Dunham, Massive Dynamic employee Nina Sharp,^[16] and Astrid Farnsworth, a federal agent and assistant to Olivia Dunham, respectively, followed^[17]; while Joshua Jackson, who plays Peter Bishop, was the last main character to be cast.^[18] Jackson auditioned for James T. Kirk in Abrams' Star Trek and believed this is what impressed the producer to cast him in his television project.^[19]

On December 1, 2008, TV Guide reported that Ari Graynor has been cast as Rachel, Olivia’s younger sister, and will appear in at least three episodes. ^[20]

[edit] U.S. Ratings

The following is a table of seasonal USA rankings (based on a weighted average total viewers per episode including reruns) of Fringe on Fox.

[edit] Reception

One of many marketing posters used to promote the series featuring a twist on a common image. Pictured is a leaf with an embedded isosceles triangle.

The pilot episode was watched by 9.13 million viewers, garnering 3.2/9 Nielsen Ratings among adults 18-49, with ratings improving over the course of the episode.^[22] Ratings improved greatly for the second episode, "The Same Old Story" which 13.27 million people watched, making it the fifth most watched show of the week.^[23] As of October 2008, the show had achieved the first place in the 18-49 demographic among new shows.^[24] As a whole, the series was well received by the critics. Barry Garron at Hollywood Reporter found it promising because "it is reminiscent of battle-of-the-sexes charm"^[25] Robert Bianco, USA Today, said, "What Abrams brings to Fringe is a director's eye for plot and pace, a fan's love of sci-fi excitement, and a story-teller's gift for investing absurd events with real emotions and relatable characters."^[26] Travis Fickett of IGN gave it 7.6 out of 10, calling it "a lackluster pilot that promises to be a pretty good series."^[27] While Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle remarked that it was "boundlessly ambitious",^[28] Chicago Sun-Times's Misha Davenport called it an "update of The X-Files with the addition of terrorism and the office of Homeland Security."^[29]

The pilot episode was negatively received by the Parents Television Council, who named the show the worst of the week and denounced the "excessive violence and gore".^[30] In its 2008 Year in Review, Television Without Pity declared Fringe one of the year's biggest disappointments, commenting that the show is "entertaining" and "the cast is largely strong" but the character development is insufficient. The show's main character, Olivia Dunham is "wooden and distant, and after half a season, we still haven't gotten to know her." The untrustworthy Nina Sharp is well-acted but "one-note and lazily written" and Lance Reddick's character is also "under-developed". ^[31]

The Daily Herald comments that Fringe is promising and "it may yet develop into a worthwhile program" but has "largely been spinning its wheels".^[32]

Meanwhile, in other articles recounting the best and worst of 2008, The New York Times stated that Fringe "is the best of a rash of new series that toy with the paranormal." The author goes on to praise the cast saying that "Much credit belongs to Anna Torv who stars as an F.B.I. agent investigating bizarre murders that all appear to be linked to a powerful and mysterious multinational corporation" and "Ms. Torv is backed up ably by John Noble as a crazy but brilliant fringe scientist and his level-headed but skeptical son, played by Joshua Jackson."^[33]

Additional praise came from Entertainment Weekly, which stated "The best new show of the year took a few weeks to grow on me, but now it's a full-blown addiction" ^[34], from iF Magazine, stating that "the new X-FILES is fun, weird and has just enough questions that we aren’t re-creating LOST all over again just with new people in a new setting" ^[35] and from the LA Times, calling Walter Bishop one of the best characters of 2008, saying that "the role of the modern-day mad scientist could so easily have been a disaster, but the 'Fringe' writers and the masterful John Noble have conspired to create a character that seems, as trite as it sounds, more Shakespearean than sci-fi."^[36] Chicago Tribune states that some episodes are "distressingly predictable and formulaic" but adds that there have also been some excellent episodes.^[37]

A version of the show (edited for time) premiered on the Nine Network in Australia on September 17, 2008.^[38] The following month, Fringe also premiered on Ireland's TV3 (October 1), Sweden's Kanal 5 (October 2), and the United Kingdom's Sky1 (October 5).^[39] Nine Network later dropped the show from its primetime schedule temporarily;^[40] the show returned during the December to January non-ratings period.^{[citation needed]} In 2009, Fringe made additional debuts on Norway's TVNorge (January 1), Finland's MTV3 (January 5), South Africa's M-Net (January 8), Canada's CTV (February 3), and Germany's Pro Sieben (March 16).

Fringe has been nominated for a 2008 Writers Guild of America Award in the category of New Series.^[41] Also, the pilot episode has been nominated in the category of "Long Form - Original", for which television programs longer than one hour are eligible.^[42]

[edit] Media information

The pilot episode was leaked via BitTorrent, three months before the series premiere similar to leaked fellow FOX series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.^[43] An alternate reality game, centered around the fictional Massive Dynamic corporation, was introduced during the pilot and featured "strange symbols paired with glowing dots" appearing throughout the episode and an "advertisement" for the company shown at the end with a web address for the game.^[44]

On August 27, 2008, a prequel comic book for the series written by Zack Whedon was released by DC Comics under its WildStorm imprint.^[1][45] This was to be the first issue of a 6-issue limited series but the others were delayed until January 2009 when Fringe will be expanded to a full season. The Vice President of WildStorm, Hank Kanalz, explained the situation:

The writers of the show want to make sure the comic book is integrated into the mythology of the Fringe world, so we have decided to refocus the direction of the comic book. Unfortunately, this means that we will have some delays, but will be back in January.^[46]

[edit] Mystery

Abrams revealed in an interview that the subliminal blips in the show had a hidden meaning. "It's something that we're doing for people who care to figure it out and follow it, but it's not something that a viewer has to consider when they watch the show."^[47] He also revealed that the frogs which appeared in promos for the show, but seemed to have no real connection to it, have significance within the context of the series. "It's part of the code of the show,"^[47] said Abrams cryptically.

[edit] International Broadcasters

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website (official wiki)
• Fringe at the Internet Movie Database
• Fringe at TV.com

Official tie-in sites

• Massive Dynamic: a fictional corporation in the series
• Imagine The Impossibilities: fictional evidence regarding "The Pattern"