Fringe Pilot (not the script) Reviewed, And Reviewed Again

Televisionary, who reviewed FOX's "Fringe" Pilot Script, has now posted a review of the actual Pilot as well. It's a long and detailed review and a bit spoilerish, so beware. For those who want to avoid any spoilers, the opening two paragraphs of the review pretty much say it all anyway:

Every once in a while a pilot comes along that is so perfect, such a shining indication of what the final series will be, so perfectly cast and directed, that it's impossible to look away.

That pilot, ladies and gentlemen, is definitely FOX's phenomenal science-tinged drama Fringe. ...read more.

But Televisionary's isn't the only review out there. As I mentioned yesterday in the forum, Nick's Pix also claims to have seen the Pilot and his review is less enthusiastic:

I expected more from FRINGE (**1/2), the latest big-budget TV series from LOST and ALIAS mastermind J.J. Abrams, who developed the series and wrote the pilot script with TRANSFORMERS writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for FOX. Directed by TV vet Alex Graves (THE NINE, WEST WING, SPORTS NIGHT, JOURNEYMAN), this extended episode (82 minutes) felt less like a true pilot and more of a middle-of-the-season-episode. ...read more.

Those two reviews don't exactly agree, but there's still something to be gleaned from both: a) you're going to need to watch/judge for yourself; and b) don't be surprised if you end up loving it or hating it.

Edit: The Futon Critic also has a review of the Pilot up today as well. Read it here.

So There IS A Viral Marketing Campaign On For Fringe

Yesterday we posited that if there was a viral marketing campaign for Fringe then chances are it was already underway and the fans just hadn't found it yet. Today, Future on Fox leaves little doubt that our guess was on the money with this response to NY Mag's question, "Hey J.J. Abrams, Where's the Viral-Marketing Campaign for ‘Fringe’?":

Hey, NY Magazine
You haven't looked hard enough. -- Future on Fox

If that's not an invitation to play, I don't know what is. Now, where to look?

Will Fringe Come With A Viral Element?

And if it does, will it be any good?

That is the question being asked by RopeofSilicon, NYMag and an as yet unknown number of Fringe/Abrams fans who are lining up to trying to find and connect disparate, cryptic and quasi clues to who knows what (read: The Pattern). But the kicker is if there is an Abrams style viral campaign in the cards, chances are it's already afoot, and the first clues to its existence have already been sprinkled among the teaser trailer and sneak peeks and/or posters. In fact, history being the best predictor at this stage of the game, chances are good that there's a Fringe related viral website already up and running just waiting to be found.

Harkening back to campaigns of old for more clues, both those that predated my interest (apparently there was some Alias related stuff on the web), to those I've only paid peripheral attention to (LOST), to the mother of them all (Cloverfield), the first question I have to ask is while these are all Bad Robot productions, is JJ Abrams really responsible for any of these campaigns or are they really just the products of the respective marketing divisions of the various parent studios (Paramount) and networks (ABC)? And if that is the case (and I think it is), are longtime aficionados in for a real treat as FOX's edgy marketing department takes "viral" to the next level?

What do you think? Will the marriage between JJ Abrams and Fox redefine viral marketing?

Fringe - FOX Sneak Peeks And Websites

Welcome to the Fringe fansite Fringe Television. If you're looking for the latest news and information on Fringe on FOX, or a community where you can to share your thoughts and opinions on the Fringe TV series, this is it. Click here for the home page where you'll find the latest headlines and most active discussions, or see the sidebar to the right for other useful links.

Fringe: Sneak Peek #1 Sneak Peek #2 Trailer Alternate Trailer at /Film

Program Information: http://www.fox.com/programming/shows/new/fringe.htm
FOX's Fringe Official Site: http://www.fox.com/fringe/

Fringe Cast Photo and FOX's Description

FRINGE (Tuesdays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT): From J.J. Abrams ("Lost"), Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the team behind "Star Trek," "Mission: Impossible III" and "Alias," comes a new drama that will thrill, terrify and explore the blurring line between science fiction and reality.

When an international flight lands at Boston's Logan Airport and the passengers and crew have all died grisly deaths, FBI Special Agent OLIVIA DUNHAM (newcomer Anna Torv) is called in to investigate. After her partner, Special Agent JOHN SCOTT (Mark Valley, "Boston Legal"), is nearly killed during the investigation, a desperate Olivia searches frantically for someone to help, leading her to DR. WALTER BISHOP (John Noble, "Lord of the Rings"), our generation's Einstein. There's only one catch: he's been institutionalized for the last 20 years, and the only way to question him requires pulling his estranged son PETER (Joshua Jackson, "Dawson's Creek") in to help. When Olivia's investigation leads her to manipulative corporate executive NINA SHARP (Blair Brown, "Altered States"), our unlikely trio along with fellow FBI Agents PHILLIP BROYLES (Lance Reddick, "The Wire"), CHARLIE FRANCIS (Kirk Acevedo, "Oz") and ASTRID FARNSWORTH (Jasika Nicole, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent") will discover that what happened on Flight 627 is only a small piece of a larger, more shocking truth.

WRITERS: J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman

DIRECTOR: Alex Graves

CAST: Anna Torv as Olivia Dunham, Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop, John Noble as Walter Bishop, Lance Reddick as Phillip Broyles, Kirk Acevedo as Charlie Francis, Mark Valley as John Scott, Blair Brown as Nina Sharp, Jasika Nicole as Astrid Farnsworth

Future Fox Has Fringe Stuff

The Future On Fox Blog has posted 5 posters for Fringe. It looks like the TV Week headline Fox 'Fringe' Marketing Starts ... Now! isn't kidding. According to that article, if you're in New York City, keep an eye out for: "...two dozen cows to heavy traffic locations in Manhattan. The bovine billboards will be accompanied by street teams handing out all sorts of "Fringe"-themed merchandise, from T-shirts to apples. . . street teams will ride around town on Segway scooters or moving on foot. . . Fox will hand out more than 5,000 "Fringe" items around the city. . . a full-page ad to run on the back cover of Thursday's New York Times Arts section and a 1⁄2 page ad in the New York Post. . . printed special editions of the Post wrapped with four-page "Fringe" ads. Street teams will hand out the special copies of the newspaper at commuter hot spots such as Grand Central Station. . . advertising heavily on a jumbo screen in Times Square, as well as more than 40 digital billboards attached to subway entrances. . . And once the sun sets, random video projectors set up around New York City will beam "Fringe" ads on the sides of buildings and other public space."

Press Release: FOX ANNOUNCES PRIMETIME SLATE FOR 2008-2009 SEASON

FOX ANNOUNCES PRIMETIME SLATE FOR 2008-2009 SEASON

TWO NEW DRAMAS, THREE NEW COMEDIES AND ONE UNSCRIPTED SERIES JOIN SCHEDULE

HIGHLY ANTICIPATED J.J. ABRAMS DRAMA "FRINGE"...

New York (Thursday, May 15, 2008) Peter Liguori, Chairman, Entertainment; and Kevin Reilly, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company, today unveiled the FOX primetime schedule for the 2008-2009 television season speaking before the national advertising community at New York City Center.

"Broadcast television needs a jolt. We feel it's our responsibility, as the No. 1 network for the last four seasons, to provide that electricity," said Liguori. "The goal of our business is entertaining viewersthey're our lifeblood, and it's incumbent upon us to make sure their first and favorite entertainment destination is FOX."

Reilly added, "We're going to make plenty of noise and yet potentially have more stability and success than we've had historically in the fourth quarter. We'll be focused in the fall with two new series one comedy and one drama and then use our big assets in January to launch an even more powerful second season."

The new event drama premiering this fall is FRINGE, a fantastical thriller from acclaimed writer/producer J.J. Abrams ("Lost"), Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman ("Star Trek," "Mission: Impossible III," "Alias"). Joshua Jackson ("Dawson's Creek"), John Noble ("Lord of the Rings") and newcomer Anna Torv star as an unlikely trio who uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and realize they may be a part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.

...

FOX kicks off the new season with special two-hour premiere events the week of August 25 including: ... FRINGE Tuesday, August 26 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT);...

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: FALL 2008

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM HOUSE
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE

First Images From Fringe Pilot

The NYT and USA Today have images from the Fringe pilot accompanying their stories on FOX's upfront presentation at Gotham's City Center today.

My guess is that these images were part of a press packet. Hopefully one of the lucky recipients of said packet will see fit to post all the material or they could forward them to us and we'll put them on the web.

The accompanying blurb from the NYT story:

The network is hoping that “Fringe,” the drama created by Mr. Abrams, among others, will have better luck. It is the story of an F.B.I. special agent (played by Anna Torv) who is called upon to investigate a mysterious Boston plane crash. For assistance, she seeks out a brilliant scientist who has the disadvantage of having been institutionalized for the previous two decades.

About Fringe TV & Site Map

Where to begin? I should probably start with who I am (but I'll keep it short). I had a real blast blogging about another JJ Abrams project, Cloverfield. I enjoyed it so much that, for a time, it became all consuming. As Cloverfield began to wind down I came to the conclusion that my time was best spent all consumed (read: I find what I want to do when I all growed up). With that decided, the only thing left to do was to find a new project worthy of my obsession. That particular quest was short-lived since soon after I started looking I came across this Wired article about Fringe. I was intrigued, and as I dug deeper into the story, I discovered that Fringe was exactly what I was looking for. A show that's been described as a cross between X-Files, LOST and House, and with an overarching mythology to boot. Yeah, it was safe to say I'd found my new reason for being and the seed for fringetv was sown.

Fringe TV is designed to have something for everyone, or alternatively, everything a fan of Fringe could want. But mostly, it is designed to be a collaborative site because in my experience, those are the best kind.

Site Map:

Fringe TV Blog. This is the masthead or the hub of the site. It is where you'll find the latest news about Fringe from around the web, as well the latest community happenings. A good place to start and yes, if contributing to the blog is your speed, you can.

Fringe TV Sideblog/Forum: A forum is, without a doubt the key ingredient of any fan site. It is where the best discussions take place, and more often then not, where the latest news is first reported.

Fringe TV on Facebook: There's a reason Facebook is all the rage. Join the FOX's 'Fringe' Fanclub & Network Group on Facebook, or use Fringe as an excuse to join Facebook and then join the group.

Fringe TV on Flickr: A group image pool where you can browse images from the show or the set, or add those you've taken or found.

Fringe TV Wiki: An in-depth wiki dedicated to the show, from individual characters and episodes to themes and theories and whatever else might prove relevant.

If you're interested in collaborating or contributing in any aspect of the site, feel free and make yourself at home, or you can contact me regarding higher levels of participation at: editor@fringetelevision.com