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J.J. Abrams Promises 'Fringe' Will Die Fighting
An anonymous reader writes "Fringe creator J.J. Abrams has said of the show's much-maligned move to Friday nights, 'Fringe deserves to live beyond season 3. If we're going to fail, let's go down doing the most bad ***, weirdest, interesting, sophisticated version of a series that we could possibly do.' Previous announcements about the move were more defensive, claiming that Fringe's shift to Fridays was an attempt to draw younger viewers back to the 'dead zone' of Friday nights. But season three has been confused enough in tone and approach that it's no surprise to hear yet another contradictory statement about its future..." Good episodes of Fringe have been great TV. I've really enjoyed the first half of the season and am looking forward to seeing what they do with it. A lot of mediocre SciFi has been shut down recently (Caprica? SGU?) and a lot of bad SciFi continues (V?) but Fringe flirts with greatness with regularity. I hope it makes it... even though on Friday it's not likely.
I don't really care as long as it dies. Not to put to fine a point on it, but sci-fi where the fictional part is the science is not my cup of tea.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
This is one of those series that I keep hearing fellow geeks talk about (like Eureka) that I just don't get. I tried watching a couple of episodes of this show early on, and all I saw was a pretty boring, predictable, and pedestrian "incident of the week" show with some pretty silly supernatural or pseudo-scientific themes. It reminded me of the X-files in that regard (with the notable exceptions of the frickin' *brilliant* X-files episodes that Darin Morgan wrote).
So what is supposed to be so great about this series, again?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
They have to kill off good shows by moving them around as opposed to trying to build an audience. Remember "Arrested Development?"
I think he meant SyFy on that first one*
fringe is just a rehash of xfiles. By the way it's fantastic, not SciFi.
SGU, like any show, took some time to find its footing, but it had certainly started to pick up the pace.
Compared to the original two series, it was much better than the "go through a Stargate and everyone speaks English" tripe. Not that SG and SGA weren't fun, but they weren't "great scifi".
This is easily my favorite show. It's smart, fun, and Olivia Dunham is one of the best leading characters ever.
D
The first, last, and only tech news site on the net
now that was a great show
Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that
...when Hulkamania runs wild on your program schedule?
I don't see how Fringe could possibly compete with wrasslin' on Friday night. I mean, that's what hardcore sci-fi geeks are really after, right?
or even new TV series. Srsly.
Season 2 finished in May last year. It wasn't available for me to rent on DVD until September. I watched Season 1 over the summer and, because season 2 wasn't available I couldn't add it to my rental queue. I forgot about it until just now.
When I rent a DVD, the studio gets some money. There's no need to persuade advertisers that I might buy something they advertise, it's a direct transaction - I exchange money for something they've created. Very often, however, they don't even bother releasing the DVD until after they've already cancelled the show.
There's no reason for DVDs to take this long. They can produce the menus concurrently with the show and just drop in the episodes once they're done. Some shows have come out with half-season DVD releases at the mid-season break, which is great. ITV managed to release DVDs of the last two dramatisations of Sharpe the day after they were first broadcast.
In short, if you want to sell a TV show to a relatively small market, sell it to them, don't sell it to a network, who will sell it to advertisers, who will sell things to the viewers, and hope that after the two layers of indirection taking their cut that you have enough money to continue.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
After the betrayal that was "Lost", I'm no longer watching anything by J. J. Abrams. Apparently the latest model of attracting viewers is to keep throwing mysteries and questions on them, without any plan to ever answer them. This is not something I am interested in.
Compare "Lost" to "Babylon 5".
Fringe is one of my favorites, like a modern day X-files and the only show that my wife will watch on TV. I was really surprised to learn that it may be canceled, especially after it just got the 2011 People's Choice Award for best Sci-fi/Fantasy show. I guess it isn't dumb downed enough like all the other shows that people want to watch which good good ratings. I am ashamed.
Too many SciFi that needs thinking, and SciFi must absolutely require its audience to think, gets cancelled and we only end up with "Cowboy in Space" shows :-( I think, to some extent, the writers/producers are also the blame, they start to challenge less and less of their audience, meander about, and soon loose their core audience. I would so much like to see shows which are just a single 22 episode season long show, where they have thought the whole story through, its closed. But that would never fly with the studios.
**Z
After all, Leonard Nimoy had already announced retiring from acting. And without 'Spock', there's really not enough Fringe elements to continue. However, the same cannot be said about his photography career, which is still ongoing.
I rarely watch live TV anymore, as a matter of fact I cannot tell you what night anything is on since my affair with my DVR began...
WHA??? I think V is some of the best scifi to hit the streets in the last few years....
Does it really matter when shows air anymore....we all record them and watch them when we want to, and perhaps skip the odd commercial (stopping for good movie/show trailers).
Fringe Rocks ! I just see that they are beginning to close out the story looking at the trailers (next episode tonight !).
Cheesy drama is pretty much what we've come to expect from you, JJ.
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I nicknamed this show Cringe because of how I reacted every time I watched an episode. 'Nuff said.
No VCRs in those days too. It was easy to know where I was on Friday!
That's the biggest reason for the move. American Idol airs in Bones' time slot now and Bones is in Fringe's typical time slot on Thursdays. Bones gets better ratings because of the perpetual parade of buxom wenches in tight clothing being flashed across the screen. Apparently the womenfolk find that David Boreanaz fellow quite fetching as well.
I don't imagine John Noble (Walter Bishop) has the same draw with the ladies.
Besides, Fringe requires you to pay attention. You don't necessarily have to think about it because if you're patient enough, they explain it all in the course of the show. But that patience thing is a deal killer for most of the slack-jawed, mouth-breathers out there who dismiss anything even remotely based in higher subjects like math and science as boring. It's pathetic that people would rather watch garbage like "American Idol", "Real Housewives of..." or "Jersey Shore" than anything that requires you to flex some gray matter. It is, however, some high level subject matter and most superficial people I know have dismissed it without giving it any inkling of a chance as "nerd entertainment" and they can't follow it because it's all "sciency and stuff". Is that even a word?
It's a shame too because it honestly is good TV. It stands up as a drama as well as a Sci-Fi show. My girlfriend didn't give it a chance until Season 2 when I was not wanting to do anything on Thursdays so I could watch Fringe and the re-broadcast of another spectacular show, "Breaking Bad". Now she's hooked on both and is usually occupying the seat next to me on the couch, riveted to the TV for the hour or two for each show.
Thank God for the DVR though! It already records every new episode for me so even if I have to miss it, I'm still gonna get to see it! I've been eagerly awaiting the rest of the current season. If FOX cancels it like the morons they are, I think there should be another letter writing campaign on the level of the "Family Guy" debacle several years ago.
For instance, I remember when I was in high school there was this SF show on Friday nights (thus in conflict with high school Date Night as well as football). Talk about doomed! If I recall it had some goofy name -- I think it was "Star Trek" or something like that.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
I mean, fewer and fewer people watch TV live any more, except for actual live events.
Obviously, it is hard to collect metrics on DVR viewership (and it is still something they're trying to figure out), but really what matters is:
1) Are you in a conflict-heavy slot? Then you might lose if you exceed the typical number of tuners on people's DVRs (dual-tuner is getting pretty common...)
2) Are you in a slot that often gets its schedule broken? I disagree that Friday night is a "death slot" for this reason. Think "sci-fi Fridays" back before Sci-Fi became SyFy and started sucking. Sunday, however, is a "death slot" because half the time someone's DVR catches the previous show because football shifted the damn schedule back. (CSI: Miami went from "Record and watch at my convenience" to "Don't even bother recording" because of this. CSI: Miami recordings became a simple waste of hard drive space because 3/4 of them were of Undercover Boss instead.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
can comcast save scifi channel?
If i where ruining it then the WWE will moved to a other channel.
wcg ultimate gamer moved to g4
ghost hunters may there is other network then can move to.
Friday night needs to be back like the old scifi Friday.
also take some shows from the space channel.
I know what you mean, but their is no good, hard Sci Fi.
Fringe has good characters (chemistry), acting, directing, production values and writing.
But yes the "science" is eye-rolling pseudo-science nonsense that sort makes it just plain silly after getting so much right.
My other gripe is that JJ Abrams keeps repeating himself, this feels a lot like Alias. With all the body double nonsense and now it looks like they are gather Rimbaldi artifacts...
I still watch it for characters and acting, but I wish we could have had less pseudo science nonsense and less Alias rehash.
Friday is where Fox sends top-notch SF like Firefly to die (sniff). Fringe is toast.
The sci-fi aspect of Fringe is at times ludicrous, but it's always very entertaining. The cast and storyline, however, make for compelling television. The three main characters, Olivia, Peter, and Walter, played by John Noble, make up a terrific cast. They have great rapport with one another.
As to the show's over-arching plot or mythology, it is far stronger than the X-Files'; moreover, the plot is advanced far more regularly than the X-File's ever was. About every other show is a "monster of the week." The alternating shows move the overall storyline forward.
The show got its footing halfway through the first season, and has been consistent ever since. (Any show has a mediocre episode now and then.)
How a show like Star Trek: Voyager or Sliders (for cryin' out loud!) could go on for years while a show like Fringe hangs by its fingernails is beyond me.
quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.
I like Fringe. I don't love it however.
I think it has a good general premise. Parallel universes in a war, brought together by a genius scientist and his love for his son, fought by secret governmental organizations. Whats not to like.
I think they have good acting, They are generally believable, have decent depth, and are engaging/intriguing.
I don't think however the writing has been the best. There is a difference between believable, amazing, fantastical, and just stupid. They seem to like to flirt somewhere between fantastical and just stupid. Many episodes I would categorizes as just "silly". Now silly every now and again is OK, I think it is good not to take yourself too seriously, and to poke fun every now and again at what you do. Fans generally like this I think, I know I do. Stargate was good at this. However when you look silly but are trying to be serious, it doesn't come off very well. I have found that the writing also stretches the boundary of what I would call normal human behavior which make it difficult to believe and also to relate. When I am thinking about the actions of a character and the thoughts "that doesn't make any sense", or "why would they do that", or "that's not really all that consistant" or "no one would do that", it tells me that either they are not paying enough attention to the roles or the story, or they don't care.
Anyway as I said I do like the show, and I do watch it, however it isn't one of those shows that I MUST see each week, and I am waiting for the next episode. If its on and I am flicking around I'll watch it, and every now and again I will play catch up on the internet but that's about it.
claiming that Fringe's shift to Fridays was an attempt to draw younger viewers back to the 'dead zone' of Friday nights
Simply asked, are time slots and schedule still a major concern in the realm of DVR's, on-demand, and Internet streaming?
Shows like Fringe, where I haven't seen an episode, heard a lot about it and have interest in seeing it, are programs I wait for to be released mostly on DVD/streaming so I can sit and watch back-to-back episodes in order, from the start.
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
Yes, like most sci-fi & related genre shows, it's first season stunk as they tried to find their footing, but once the second season kicked in and they started actually developing the plot it's been a fairly fun and enjoyable show. I'll be sad to see it go, but Fox, like Uwe Boll, seems to thrive on the failure of its shows rather than their success.
Who cares what day any particular show is on, anymore? I DVR all of the shows I watch, and I have three DVR tuners split between two computers... so it matters not in the least to me if it's on Friday at 8PM and conflicts with two other good shows or if it's on Saturday at 1AM and only conflicts with a late night LAN party.
I mean, who actually watches live TV anymore, anyway?
SGU was a clear attempt to clone BSG. Dark set on a ship in the middle of nowhere, excess shaky cam.
But in an amateur attempt to clone the dramatic elements of BSG, they created a ship of fools, the characters were written as unlikable, incompetent, shrieking morons. That regularly engaged in reality show histrionics.
It was like the cast of big brother sent into space, where they ham up interpersonal conflict for TV, heck they even had confession cameras. They had a bunch of lame cookie cutter stereotypes, the chubby nerd genius, the teen queen who cried through every episode ....
No show can survive unlikeable protagonists. And this show made every character unlikeable and had them in regular shouting matches/fist fights with each other.
I did a happy dance when the canceled this drek.
"The Cape"? What a piece of shit show...
I watched the first half season worth of season one (7 episodes), and not a single one was good, or even not bad. Just terrible, really terrible. Painful to watch even. Did it take a radical turn for the better later on?
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
That's the biggest reason for the move. American Idol airs in Bones' time slot now and Bones is in Fringe's typical time slot on Thursdays. Bones gets better ratings because of the perpetual parade of buxom wenches in tight clothing being flashed across the screen. Apparently the womenfolk find that David Boreanaz fellow quite fetching as well.
I don't imagine John Noble (Walter Bishop) has the same draw with the ladies.
Besides, Fringe requires you to pay attention. You don't necessarily have to think about it because if you're patient enough, they explain it all in the course of the show.
It's funny, Bones is built on its character interactions, and presents actual science in time-compressed, overly-convenient (CSI'd), but still somewhat plausible manner. Fringe, which you're championing so hard, is about as science-based as a Ouija board and is basically the bad part of X-Files.
The only good part of the show is the John Noble. Everyone else could be replaced by a featureless robot and I probably wouldn't notice. Anna Torv seems to think that emotion is confined to imagining a bad smell directly under one's nose. Joshua Jackson is a complete waste as the tough-guy genius who only purpose seems to be acting as a translator from crazy scientist English to, well, English.
It would have made a half-decent mini-series but it's been going on too damn long. Let it die or kill it quick.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
While such an accusation could be levelled at season 1 and much of season 2, season 3 has been quite rigorously, carefully structured IMO.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Yes, my DVR will somehow magically care that the show moved to Friday and stop recording it.
The should could air at 2am and I'll still be able to watch it.
Sorry but SGU and Caprica were 80X better than 90% of the crap on NBC,ABC, and CBS. Yes it's mediocre to to the purist snobs but a lot of people liked it. Granted SGU's last few episodes sucked big time. Stop the damned music video crap for the last 10 minutes of the show. WTF is that?
Skiffy is dying because everyone wants gay vampires that glitter and other stupid crap that is NOT scifi but horror/ fantasy.
Get rid of the homosexual vampires and I think Skiffy can rebound.
Who's even saying it's bad, besides Syfy? I was amazed at how big an international following Stargate Universe already has, with the first season having aired across Europe. And it pulled in a lot of my friends who didn't like SGA. I think the main reason it died was just that it was a lot more expensive than the greenscreen and four actors it takes to make Sanctuary (I really tried to like that show, it has Nikola Tesla as an electric vampire, but I just couldn't get into it, which is a common theme in its reviews), even if the ratings were a lot better for SGU...
Sendou Wave Kick!!
based in higher subjects like math and science
This is Fringe we're talking about right? Cause there's very little math and science involved in the episodes I saw. Just lots of handwaving and "Quick, hire Leonard Nimoy, we're a bit thin on plot!"
I think there should be another letter writing campaign
A postcard with the words "Thank you!" will do just fine.
It will threaten the show like Red Dwarf
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Gotta say, not so keen on the one-off stories which fail to contribute to the ongoing plot-line. We don't need another X files. The story lines can be so off target it sometimes feels as if the head of the networks son / daughter / cousin or whatever had a 'great idea for the show' and the creative team have had their arm twisted to make it into an episode. Either that or they want to draw out the main plot-line as long as possible by interspersing it with the odd bit of filler.
Stick to the main story, develop it each episode, cut the BS before your time runs out JJ.
If they were moving it to Tuesdays or Wednesdays, then it's possible they were moving it to make room for something else. The fact that they moved it to Friday means that they pretty much intend to kill it. Friday night is where TV shows go to die.
Yeah, just like "Lost"... which I watched :-(
I'd be willing to give you the concession in this matter if I actually cared about the science value of it all.
I like Fringe because even though most of the "science community" feels that it's bogus, it's written with a story and plot deeper than the normal schlock on TV.
I'm not a fan of Bones because I think it relies more on shock factor and sex appeal than anything science based. Yeah, maybe they follow the typical TV conventions of what the majority of the population thinks are typical crime scene investigation techniques but it's really not based in reality for a show that's supposed to be based in some level of reality.
A better example of what I'm talking about are medical dramas. House is not real no matter how you cut it. The medical science behind it is quite real and methodically researched for accuracy but the whole idea behind it is baloney. It is, however, an interesting show that is compelling because of the plot and character interactions and development. The medical science is merely the backdrop. It provides and environment that helps describe the characters motivations and interactions. It's part of the plot device. The show is completely fictional but like Tom Clancy novels, uses real world science and contemporary situations to add a level of believability to the story which enhances the character development.
Fringe as well uses the science, which isn't wrong, just theoretical and the majority is unproven. Yeah, the premise of multiple universes is a bit out there but there is scientific evidence showing the possibility of multiple dimensions. That's unproven though. If you look at the hard science then Fringe looks completely bogus. However, like most science fiction, if you look at it as something like an Issac Asminov story, it's a "what if" kind of deal. What if there were these alternate dimensions with parallel universes? What would happen? What would it be like?
Many people have already stated that they have to suspend their belief in reality for the majority of the show. Well, yeah, so do I, duh. That doesn't make the show bogus. It's fantasy. Even Star Trek uses hard science to try and explain how some of the more "out there" premises of the show are possible. That doesn't mean the show is bogus. Many people were fine with the descritions of wormholes in Star Trek. It's the same decscription in Fringe that was accepted in Star Trek but is now unacceptable in Fringe and makes it unwatchable?
Get real. Give it a break, use your imagination and just follow the story. That's all it is. That's all any television programming or movie is. Fringe isn't a documentary. It's story time with Uncle J.J. Treat it as such and you're less likely to be disappointed. After all, it's TV. It's entertainment, not a life changing event.
Beyond that, if there is any redeeming value to this kind of TV, it will prompt people who normally wouldn't think twice about it to seek answers. It can pique interest in theoretical sciences and drives people to see what's really out there and if it's really possible. That factor alone makes it far more valuable IMO than any of that reality stuff, even things like Dirty Jobs or Mythbusters.
FOX has Glee on Tuesdays, American Idol on Wednesdays and House on Mondays. All are hit shows that bring big ratings. They aren't moving anything out of the way for Fringe on those days.
If there wasn't anything special on those days, I'd be more inclined to agree with you but Friday is the only weekday that has nothing else on the docket that would detract from the Fringe viewership or lead viewers of those other garbage shows to turn away from FOX when something with that "sciency stuff" came on. They want to retain viewers for the entire primetime segment and Fringe following Glee wouldn't do that. Glee following Fringe wouldn't do that either.
If they moved Fringe to a Saturday night then I'd say it's on the chopping block for sure. But when Fringe debuted, it was on Sundays which was where 24 started as well and you want to talk about unwatchable science shows, that was a doozy! If anything, throw out American Dad and The Cleveland Show and put Fringe on Sundays.
For a moment there I thought "Why, that is very nice of Jar-Jar...".
Then the text post-processing kicked in.
Ah well... at least it WILL die.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Who still watches live TV anymore? Personally, I couldn't tell you what night any of the shows I watch are on (Fringe included) because I watch everything on Hulu. Most of the people I work with Netflix entire seasons rather than watching shows on a week-to-week basis, and it seems rare for anyone not to have a DVR anymore. Is it time to stop using the number of people who watch the show live as a metric for how well the show does?
You've seen one or two episodes (Nimoy was in like 4 in total, maybe 6? But his character has been discussed since S1, Ep1) and you're going to dismiss the entire show on the lack of the demonstration scientific and mathematical content on that? OK, fine, dismiss all the theory discussed and presented just because nobody is writing numbers and figures on a chalk board.
I'm not even going to bother to argue. You're obviously completely convinced that you're opinion is the only one to have and I really don't want to expend the effort in trying to get you to just see another side without even wanting to convince you. It must suck being you surrounded by so many other inferior beings, huh?
So you're watching someone who knows it's a ruse play acting and ape-ing for the camera, thinking it's hysterical how they overreact? Is the humor in that some sort of commentary on those that actually believe in this stuff? Or on how audiences are so easily fooled?
I'm equally puzzled by the attraction to the play-fighting / acting on those process server / repo guy shows.
Come to think of it, I think the attraction for some is the "people are stupid" factor.
To which I reply. Yes. Yes they are.
I don't imagine John Noble (Walter Bishop) has the same draw with the ladies.
no, but Joshua Jackson does.
John Noble (Walter Bishop) has the draw of being the best performance currently airing on TV.
you forgot -- the team makes 7 diagnoses, 6 of them wrong, 2 life threateningly wrong.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Am I the only one that thinks the cancelled abc's Defying Gravity was much better than Fringe?
In my honest opinion, Fringe is the greatest television show I've ever seen hands down. Someone had to get me to watch it (the ads didn't interest me) but once I started watching I was hooked.
The characters, the "science", the plot, just the right amount of suspense & drama. In my mind they took all the good parts of Lost and ditched the junk. And if this summary is correct and happens, it will go down in history as my all-time favorite show. I loved what Dollhouse did when they realized they would be cancelled. An entire series worth of plot lines and story arcs jam packed into one action packed season.
I for one, can't wait to see Fringe to it's conclusion. Even being cancelled (and handled like this) would be good. It would prevent the Matrix sequel effect... and leave me with three top-quality seasons of a show I literally get excited for waiting for the next episode.
P.S. Why are TV execs so brain dead?
...raw corn makes for a thousands of magnitudes better food source than shit - yet you never hear someone calling their friends to: "Come over for dinner. We're having raw corn on a stick.".
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
And it doesn't prevent me from enjoying it. Are we talking about some scientific paper here or a TV show? I'm into hard SF, and Fringe certainly doesn't fall into this category. But it's one of the best shows out there, IMHO. Sometimes the ideas presented are just plain stupid but this I can stand because its compensated by suspense, great, unique characters, humour and overall story line. And to you people who comment on something that you don't like just because it does not fit your profile (without stating why it's bad, maybe it isn't, how would you know?) - STFU. If you don't like it don't watch it. But criticizing it saying that it's not pure SF is like saying 'I don't like bannanas cause they're not apples, and I like apples'. It's good in its own genre.
I like Walter, he's a hoot.
Olivia seemed to have as much personality as dishwater until recently. (Granted, if they're trying to portray her a self-sufficient, reserved character, it just doesn't make engrossing TV). Now she might actually turn out to be interesting. But it seems like the writers strangely aren't properly using things about her that they've related in the past.
For all those hatin' on "Fringe", what do you really think Fox will replace it with if it's canceled? "The Twilight Zone", produced with a cache of lost scripts written by Rod Fuckin' Serling ? At least it's not some damn overhyped reality show.
And furthermore, "The X-Files" had its share of creature of the week episodes, too.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Ever hear a young child make up a story? Notice the way they just kind or ramble and make stuff up as they go along?
To me it's cute when child does it. But, I don't understand why anybody is interested in JJ Abrams incoherent, ad-hoc, story telling.
...he meant to say that medicine is a science too.
As for House... well... you forgot the main ingredient. Hugh Laurie.
That show could probably run purely on his charisma. At times... it did.
Also... That show cheats.
Pretending to be a medical drama when in fact it is a mystery show masquerading as a medical drama.
They could just as well all be detectives solving "unsolvable cases", it would be exact same show.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Isn't the real problem here the rating system that's used to determine whether these shows are doing well or not?
I consider myself a pretty average Joe when it comes to TV choices, but over the last 10 years I feel less and less represented by my demographic.
Personally, I feel Fringe, SGU and Caprica are all great shows, well written, well acted - all round entertaining. It really stinks to find out 2 of those shows are now cancelled and the 3rd will likely follow suit.
Sure it's possible that the majority of people don't share my tastes and think these shows should rightly be canned (some of the comments here would sure support that), but what if I'm in the majority? Then those networks are throwing good money down the drain and ruining my *escape* outlet in the process.
It's even more disheartening to think we're in an age where reaching your target audience is easier than ever with the internet; how can the studios/networks continue to base their decisions on archaic methodologies?
And as alot of people have already mentioned - what about those of us that don't watch the show "over the air", but prefer to watch them on our own schedule using services like Hulu and Netflix? Dont' we count?
For me, it's getting to a point where I'm wary of investing time in any new shows that have more than an in-the-moment gratification effect; Game Shows, Reality TV, Slapstick Comedy, etc... And those kinds of shows don't typically interest me anyway!
So don't bother digging into character backgrounds or relationships or back-story, don't bother with large scale plots and twists - I don't want to know, because you'll probably be cancelled before anything is resolved/concluded - I may as well pick up a book instead.
...science fiction alternative to Big Brother and Friends? And vice versa.
Those are like... two, maybe three different demographics to start with.
Without even getting to plot and structure - which one of those you mentioned has what I believe to be a negative amount of.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
If the execs expect Friday night to be bad, then maybe getting bad, yet good enough ratings on a Friday will actually save it. I enjoy the show but plan on watching it when it's a few more years in. Its a show with a strong serial aspect and I tend to like watching those on demand rather than strung out over years.
I bet it's tough determining the true demand for shows when the realtime ratings poorly reflect the actual demand.
If you find both "shit" and "corn" to be in the category of "barely consumable food"...
Just don't ever call me to dinner.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
How can you not like a show that will go as far as to create a period-accurate 1980's version of it's own opening complete with synth-heavy music, old school computer animation and even vcr tracking bleed at the start and end?! Even the pseudo-sscience jargon in the normal sequence was replaced with current day science reality jargon that probably seemed like science fiction to most of your 1980's counterparts!
I kept that episode on my DVR for months, just because of that opening!
8==8 Bones 8==8
I guess I could see older folks still staring mindlessly at live TV while they cut up their Swanson salsbury steak on the tv tray. But these are the people who wouldn't go out on Fridays anyway.
For anyone born after 1980, there's DVR and network tv.
I only watch 3 or 4 shows a week (life is too short for mediocre tv) but if you put a gun to my head, I couldn't tell you what day they air or even what channel. Any effect this "time slot" thing still has is diminishing rapidly.
But... let's assume for the sake of argument that everything they said is true, and moving Fringe to Fridays was an attempt to increase viewership in the young demographic on a day that's traditionally dead in that age group.
Then what? Just for a moment, let's try to think less like geeks. Do the network flunkies really think that Joe Teenager will blow off his chance to get to second base with Jill Cheerleader because Fringe is on? Seriously?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I used to like Fringe in the beginning. Now it is too complex and I don't know what's going on.
Can't really argue with that. He has a laundry list of credits for production, directing, acting, education and and directorship in the cinema and stage worlds. He's a credit to Australia and it's contribution to the cultural arts.
He also made contributions to the human race by producing such vision as his daughters actress/model Samantha Noble and model Jessica Noble!
Fox pretty much lost me when they canceled the Sarah Connor Chronicles. The fscking show was just starting to get into its stride.
Shows generally end up cut when their viewer numbers - as represented by Nielsen ratings - go down, right? As I understand though, a DVR recording of a show counts towards the Nielsen ratings, as there is still a tuner watching the show.
Being as there aren't likely many fans of Fringe who don't own a DVR, it seems unlikely that the viewer numbers will suffer much. We may find that even fewer of the fans are watching it the night it airs, but that shouldn't be a big deal.
It would be a crying fucking shame, however, if it was canceled. If it went, I might not even bother watching Bones or House anymore, just out of anger towards losing Fringe.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Fringe may have the best soundtrack of any show since ... well, I honestly can't think of a show that has chosen its music as well as Fringe. I particularly enjoy the tendency to select music from musicians known for their own mental issues (Thelonious Monk is a great example here) when focusing on Dr. Bishop.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
"Lost" was great top to bottom and if you were confused and felt things were not resolved in the end, pay attention next time and maybe that won't happen to you. It was a visceral show. Get over it and keep watching that "Mad Men" garbage.
Sadly it seems "Fringe" is on it's way out. Too bad, it's a quality show.
I'm not even going to bother to argue.
And yet you did exactly that. I've seen enough episodes of the show to say "I've had it with this". I hear most people didn't make it to the first season finale. It's about suspension of disbelief, and I feel the show really fails to do that. Please excuse me for not sitting through at least 3 seasons of handwaving and not having an opinion to your liking.
your opinion
There you go, fixed that for you. But I guess that after spelling such difficult words as "slack-jawed, mouth-breathers" I should cut you some slack. For someone who watches shows that require a certain amount of intelligence with all that hard math and science, one would expect you to have a certain level of eloquence.
It must suck being you surrounded by so many other inferior beings, huh?
In other words: "Stop not liking what I like!" You mad, bro? You do sound a little butthurt about the ordeal.
Seriously though, Fringe has barely anything to do with science. Just because an elderly man wearing a lab coat draws pretty pictures that look kinda mathsy and sciency on blackboard and keeps a cow in his lab, that doesn't make it science. Fringe is to science what CSI is to forensic investigations.
Hey, but enjoy your show... while it lasts. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be writing that postcard.
Yup, I had the exact same experience!
The show is pretty terrible, and I'm not sure there is anything worth fighting for here.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
Despite understanding a lot of the impossibility of many of the premises, I still like it.
Stupid, sexy Flanders.
Also, a smart studio would let you get the Season 2 DVD in time to watch season 3 on the TV.
Buy delaying the DVD they cost themselves future ad revenue (the shield did this to me at one point too, with the DVD of a season I missed coming half-way into the new season). Instead of me renting the DVD and watching the show, I ended up renting the rest of the series. The worse possible outcome for FX and the producer (well may being disgruntled enough to not watch the rest could have been worse).
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
How can you call "V" bad? It's got sexy women in it, usually in high-heels, occasionally revealing a lot of skin. What more do you need?
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
The money's in syndication. If you release the DVD too early, you lose bargaining power when you sell the syndication rights.
is "ass" a word that needs to be turned into "***"? shit like this boils my blood to no end. please, either use a different word (or set of words), or grow the fuck up. deformed obscenities are about the only thing worse. someone writes, say, "fark" but means "fuck" and everyone that reads it knows it means "fuck", so it changes nothing. same with "shit" = "crap" = "poop" = "feces". using a scale of morality for synonyms is incredibly childish.
Now you just need to make another leap of logic involving the conclusion you just made AND the above mentioned television programmes and you'll get what I was aiming at.
Also, this might prove of use in the future.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Obvious troll post. Fringe better than Caprica? Hell, better than V? V isn't very good, but fringe is awful -- literally one of the worst written shows on TV. Its embarrassing. The dialogue is out of some alternate universe where people don't have normal conversations, but instead shout expeditionary detail at each other while desperately trying to cling to whatever cliche they are supposed to represent. None of the characters are even remotely realistic. The science, in this fiction, is non-existant -- and worst of all, the show acts like its serious.
At least Chuck and Eureka have the decency to embrace their ridiculous plots and bad hollywood cliches and try to pretend they're just good-time campy fun.
Yes, Caprica had some pacing problems, but the last 5 episodes were amazing. Action, plot, intrigue and gun-toting robots. Everything came together. It was amazing.
Friday night on Fox is the kiss of death. They have had lots of SciFi in that slot and it always dies a horrible death. I still miss The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
One of the best series on TV. If you read Slashdot what else could you be doing on Friday night except watch TV, play games and surf the web. Perfect!
What version of Bones are you watching? My wife views it religiously and I think we must be watching a different show. Not that I wouldn't prefer yours.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
I recently started watching DS9 again... Some of you call it a bad B5 copy. I disagree, but to each his own. Point is, i'm watching it again for the third time, not counting when i saw the occasional episodes on TV. I can't see myself doing that with any of the newer shows - They simply don't have any lasting value. Fringe is a good example. It's good to watch, and may even be a lot of fun, but it's only fun to watch once, since it hinges so heavily on sudden reveals and surprise plot twists. I think the studios realize this and simply delay the DVD releases to make the audience 'forget' about certain plot developments so they'll be more inclined to buy it (in answer to TheRaven64's post). I can't really explain, but somehow older SF series (like DS9 or B5) don't have to rely on that kind of shock and awe. I think it's got to do with how they focus much more on the 'science' than the 'fiction' part than later series do.