Fringe Report on Fox News Interview

FoxNews.com has a video about FRINGE, with interviews from J.J. Abrams, John Noble, and Joshua Jackson.

Sci-Fi Wire: 7 Reasons Fringe Will Rule TV

SciFi Wire has an story about the seven reasons why FRINGE will be "this fall's breakout success", which include: Anna Torv, J.J. Abrams, Mad scientist John Noble, Altered States' Blair Brown, Pacey (Joshua Jackson), Supporting cast (Kirk Acevedo, Lance Reddick, Mark Valley), and Goo!

Click here to read the full article, or visit SciFi.com/SciFiWire.

7 Reasons Fringe Will Rule TV

Here at SCI FI Wire, we pride ourselves on having our fingers on the bloody pulse of SF&F geekdom, especially the televised variety. We got the Spaced inside jokes in Shaun of the Dead before anyone knew who Simon Pegg was. We dug the new Doctor Who when Christopher Eccleston was still wearing the leather coat. And we saw the potential in Battlestar Galactica--the Lorne Greene version--way before Ron Moore turned it into a hit in its new, improved SCI FI Channel incarnation.

So that's why we think we're in the perfect position--i.e., out on a limb--to proclaim that Fox's upcoming SF drama Fringe will be this fall's breakout success: The show that will knock Heroes out of the sky and bury Lost like Nikki and Paulo on that irritatingly populated desert island.

From J.J. Abrams and his Star Trek writing team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, Fringe centers on FBI special agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), who finds herself drawn into an investigation of a mysterious aircraft disaster in Boston. Olivia's desperate search for help to save her gravely injured partner leads to brilliant scientist Dr. Walter Bishop (John Noble), who has been institutionalized for the last 17 years. And the only way to question him requires pulling his estranged son Peter (Joshua Jackson) in to help. The investigation gets weirder and weirder as Torv discovers that things--and science--are not what they seem.

Herewith seven reasons why Fringe will make you forget about Mulder and Scully and yearn for a cow of your own.

1. Anna Torv. This blond newcomer from Oz (Australia, not the Emerald City) radiates intelligence, spunk, anguish and drop-dead sexiness better than any federal agent since Gillian Anderson. And she's got one of those faces that morphs her into different people entirely, depending on the scene and scenario. One moment, she's as sunny as Without a Trace's Poppy Montgomery. Another, she's as somber as Galadriel. There's more going on in those blue eyes than in Teri Hatcher's entire body.

2. Creator J.J. Abrams. I know, I know. There's a mini-backlash against the Lost-abandoning, Tom-Cruise-loving Trek revisionist. But he's still our guy, and when he focuses his full creative powers on something, there's no one else who can better mash up genres, cook up truly scary scenarios or mix the mundane and the miraculous into such a funny, frightening, intriguing stew.

3. Mad scientist. When was the last time a show featured an honest-to-god raving evil genius? OK, Doctor Who doesn't count: Who can tell when an English person is being crazy or just English? In Fringe, the mad scientist is John Noble, another Aussie, who is best known to fanboys as the ill-fated Denethor in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Here, he's Bishop, "the Einstein of his generation." (I thought Einstein was the Einstein of his generation, but whatever.) So how crazy is he? When we first meet him, he rambles about butterscotch pudding and peeing himself. When he gets sprung, he orders a live cow installed in his lab for reasons known mainly to himself. His deadpan non sequiturs boost Fringe into a lunar orbit of its own.

4. Altered States. Really? you ask. Who even remembers Altered States, the prototype of all hyper-verbal wacko science fiction to come? It's fitting that Fringe inserts its homage to the Ken Russell/Paddy Chayefsky classic in the middle of the pilot: Fringe is a worthy successor to the 1980 movie. It's whip-smart. It's got beautiful intellectuals arguing about insane science fiction with the gravitas of Shakespeare. It's psychedelic in a way that only Ivy League mushroom-eaters can be psychedelic. And it's not afraid to take the ridiculous and make it plausibly frightening. Oh, and Fringe even features Altered States star Blair Brown in its cast!

5. Pacey. Wonder what happened to Dawson's Creek's cougar-loving Joey stealer? Joshua Jackson has matured into a handsomely grizzled adult in sharp suits. In Fringe, he functions as the exasperated Greek chorus to Noble's mad scientist and gets many of the best punchlines as a result. We won't spoil the fun for you.

6. Supporting cast. Genre pieces like Fringe may live or die by their leads, but they soar on the strength of their supporting players. Abrams, always a canny discoverer of unknown talent, struck gold with the casts of his previous SF series Alias and Lost and again assembles a top-flight cast of relatively unknown character actors who bring their own quirkiness and reality to the otherworldly story. In addition to the sinister Brown, Fringe features Lost player Lance Reddick, prime-time soap fixture Mark Valley and all-purpose street cop Kirk Acevedo in its solid supporting cast.

7. Goo. The opening frames of Fringe may at first suggest Lost's Oceanic Flight 815, but that's only until the slime begins to flow. And it doesn't stop there: There's drool. There's cow poop. There's even an edematous body, like Scully's jelly-like fireman from The X-Files: Fight the Future. Abrams et al don't soft-pedal the gross-outs, and Fox lets 'em go there, and that's why we love Fox.

See for yourself: Fringe premieres Sept. 9 and will air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Fringe Pattern: Case 0091 - Evidence 0004

The FRINGE viral website PHI (also ImagineTheImpossibilities.com) has been updated with a new piece of evidence.

Case 0091 - Evidence 0004 is an interview with one of the farmers whose flock sheep was affected by "The Pattern", which was shown in the previous evidence video.

Here is a transcript of the video:

Interviewer: Tell me about this picture of your sheep.

Farmer: Well, I’m not sure really, the sheep were going about there business, then I heard an earthquake or something underground.

Interviewer: And then what did you see?

Farmer: I’m not sure. The sheep didn’t make a sound, so I looked out of the kitchen window and saw them walking around in a circle... a perfect circle... like something was... controlling them. I've never seen anything like it.

[unintelligible voice]

UPDATE: Here is the audio of the strange voice at the end. I tried reversing the audio, but that didn't help. It really sounds like it is possibly a different language...?

Fringe Publicity Photo Shoot Video

Here is video from a Fringe Publicity Shoot for Fox, with photographer George Holtz, Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Jasika Nicole, Blair Brown, Mark Valley, and Kirk Acevedo.

By the time you watch this video, Peter Bishop may already be dead ;)

Also, check out the FOX Fall preview commercial, with clips from all the new fall shows, including Fringe, which is described as "So Engaging" and "So Fearless".

Fringe picked up in UK, Sweden

The broadcast rights for Fringe has been picked up in the UK and Sweden, which will both air the show this fall.

Guardian: Lost creator JJ Abrams' new show Fringe snapped up by Sky:

Sky1 has acquired the exclusive UK television rights to Lost creator JJ Abrams' new science fiction drama Fringe.
...
Sky said the new series, which will debut on the revamped Sky1 this autumn, would "thrill, terrify and explore the blurring line between science fiction and reality"

Variety: J.J. Abrams' 'Fringe' heads to Sweden

Sweden's Kanal 5, owned by European broadcast group ProSiebenSat.1, has nabbed Swedish rights to J.J. Abrams' produced series "Fringe."

Kanal 5 has bought the first 13 episodes to air in the fall. The series, described as a mix of "Lost" and "The X-Files," debuts in the U.S. on Fox in September.

Kanal 5 programmer Katarina Eriksson said: "This is a different genre for us, since we have a lot of series aimed at women, like 'Grey's Anatomy' and 'Desperate Housewives.' 'Fringe' is more aimed at younger men. But this does not mean that we are going to change our mix, we see this as an addition."

Fringe Comic Book Team

Comic book website Newsarama has the inside scoop on the team behind the Fringe comic book series:

... Released under DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint, the six monthly installments of the Fringe comic will be written by many of the same people who are guiding the television series, promising comics-only extras as the monthly issues work in conjunction with the show's first season.

"There are definitely hidden (and not-so-hidden) elements that will feed into the Fringe [tv] series that you can only find in the comic," said Athena Wickham, co-story consultant for the Fringe comic and TV executive for Abrams' production company, Bad Robot. While Wickham said reading the comic isn't necessary for viewers to understand what's happening in the show, "it will give them a greater appreciation of what's to come and help them uncover some of the integrated plot points."

Wickham joins quite a few other people who are making sure the comic fits seamlessly with the show. Series creators Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci (the writers behind the upcoming Star Trek movie) are co-developing the comic book story and approving all scripts and art. Then the six issues of Fringe are being crafted by TV show staff writers Zack Whedon and Julia Cho along with Superman/Batman scribe Mike Johnson, who works with the Kurtzman/Orci production company. The comic will also have contributions from other members of the television show's staff of writers, including Alex Katsnelson, Danielle Dispaltro, and Matthew Pitts.

"The writers have created such a rich and complex series that we are looking to the comic to further illuminate the Fringe universe," said David Baronoff, creative executive for Bad Robot, who is also a co-story consultant on the Fringe comic.
...
Comics artist Tom Mandrake will provide art for the back-story. "He will be joined by Simon Coleby in the first issue, with surprise artists to come in upcoming issues," Baronoff said. "Mandrake just jumped out at us with his extremely emotional and creepy art. He's producing amazing work. Coleby is a rising star whose style is perfect for Fringe."

Baronoff said the comic is being designed to visually echo the Fringe universe and the overall tone of the television series.

"We are working with the amazing team at Wildstorm so that both the artists' work and the physical book itself will be reflective of the story's place and time," Baronoff said. "Much like the series, we hope this comic will run the gamut from dark and eerie to funny and profound."
...
"It's a lot of fun and we hope it creeps out all of our readers," Wickham said.

There are also a few spoilers about what to expect in the series:

Click here to read

As the comic series opens, Wickham said the first issue "begins when the yin and yang of fringe science first meet face to face."

"The issues will consist of two parts. Part A will tell the back-story story of two of our key characters: Walter Bishop and William Bell. Part B will consist of stand-alone stories," Wickham said. "Readers will be introduced to a range of characters -- from those at the epicenter of the pilot to others who might not live to make a series appearance."

The first issue of the Fringe comics series will be available on Aug. 27th, at your local comic book store.

• Fringe #1 - August 27 September 3
• Fringe #2 - September 17
• Fringe #3 - October 29
• Fringe #4 - November 26
  

The story also has two pages from the Fringe preview comic, but without captions. You can see the entire Fringe Preview comic here.

Fringe Pattern: Case 0091 - Evidence 0003

A new piece of evidence for Case 0091 of The Pattern has been added to the PHI website - 1.61803398874989484820458683436563811.com (also at ImagineTheImpossibilities.com)

Evidence 0003 dated 8/4/08 10:41am, is crude map of coordinates from Evidence 0001 which plot out four cities in Iowa - Estherville, Cresco, Carrol, and Vinton.

Also listed is the formula: a+b/a = a/b which is called the Golden Ratio (also know as PHI.)

a is listed as the distance between Estherville and Cresco - approximately 150 miles
b is listed as the distance between Estherville and Carroll - approximately 100 miles

The equation does not quite work with these numbers, but it is close.

I'm not sure what to make of this new evidence, but I'll tell you one thing right now - I am not going to Iowa.

Fringe Preview Comic Prequel

The FRINGE Preview comic given out at Comic-con, is a prequel story to the official six-part Fringe comic-book series, which is itself a prequel to the Fringe TV show.

The graphic story details various incidents of "the pattern" - involving bears, tsunamis, missing children, navy ship coordinates, and childbirth - being discussed at a conference, by a Professor Ku from the National University of Singapore. You can find more information about "the pattern" at Fringepedia.net.

The six-part Fringe comic series will go on sale beginning August 27th, with a new issues coming out every month. Also, don't miss the Massive Dynamic ad, and Fringe character profiles that were also in this preview comic.

Fringe Preview Comic: Character Profiles

The FRINGE Preview comic given out at Comic-con, contains profiles of the main characters in Fringe (in addition to a Massive Dynamic ad, and a prequel comic ...coming soon...)

The characters Olivia Dunham, Peter Bishop, Walter Bishop, Charlie Francis, Phillip Broyles, John Scott, Nina Sharp, and Astrid Farnsworth are all profiled, with their Age, Birthplace, Education, Occupation, and quotes like this gem from Dr. Bishop: They have this... horrible pudding. This butterscotch pudding on Mondays. It's dreadful.

Fringe Preview Comic: Massive Dynamic Ad

A FRINGE Preview comic was given out at Comic-con, containing a Massive Dynamic ad, profiles of the characters in Fringe, and a prequel to the six-part comic series that goes on sale August 27th.

I have scanned in the entire 16-page comic, and will post the various sections. Here is the Massive Dynamic ad from the inside-front cover. The Massive Dynamic slogan reads "What Do We Do? What Don't We Do.", with a boy flying a toy plane, under a Massive Dynamic jet (Flight 627?) leaving contrails (chemtrails?) in the sky.


The copy at the bottom of the ad reads: [This is an advertis]ment for the Massive Dynamic Corporation. The image and text do not reflect the views of the Billboard rental company or its Affiliates. For more information regarding Massive Dynamic or Billboard rental policy please contact our head office.

The billboard can be seen briefly in the pilot, as Olivia, Peter, and Walter are leaving St. Claire's hospital.

Fringe Interviews: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson; John Noble,

Anna Torv talks about her character FBI agent Olivia Dunham on Fringe.


Joshua Jackson talks about his character Peter Bishop on FRINGE
"A really dumb, smart guy"


John Noble talks about his character Walter Bishop on FRINGE.

Fringe Interviews: J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci

Roberto Orci, Co-Creator, Writer & Executive Producer of FRINGE,
defines the term "FRINGE".


Alex Kurtzman, Co-Creator, writer & Executive Producer of FRINGE,
talks about the brainstorming behind FRINGE.


J.J. Abrams, Co-Creator & Executive Producer of FRINGE,
talks about the type of show that is FRINGE.