Fringe Episode 101 - Pilot

When an international flight lands at Boston's Logan Airport and there are no signs of life, FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham, a scientist, Walter Bishop, and his son Peter uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events.

How many stars do you give the Pilot?

MassiveDynamic.com site now LIVE!

The FRINGE viral website for Massive Dynamic launched today. The site is HUGE, and reminds me of The Lost Experience's Hanso Foundation website - with lots of information and sections to check out.

The site is broken into five main sections: Aerospace & Transportation, Biological & Medical, Computing & Communications, Energy & Environment, and Life & Leisure.

There's sure to be more there than meets the eye, so check it out, and let us know what you find!

Fringe Series Premiere Tonight!

If you weren't aware that the series premiere of Fringe was tonight... welcome to FringeTelevision.com for the first time!

We've added two new sections to Fringe Television for tonight's debut - Episodes and Screencaps.

The Episodes section will have posts for each week's new Fringe episode, where you can discuss the episode, analyze the clues, and talk with fellow Fringe fans. Check out TheLostCommunity.com for an example of how this will work. Episode posts will be available as soon as the show starts, generally 9/8c, however don't forget tonight's episode starts at 8/7c. The episode section is a spoiler-free zone, so please read the posting guidelines before you begin.

The Screencaps section will be the place to see screenshots of Easter Eggs and clues hidden in the show. As soon as the episode ends, we'll start posting up interesting frames. If you see anything we might have missed, leave a comment in the Screencap Request post, and we'll try to get to it. Head over now, to get a sneak peek at an Easter Egg from tonight's episode.

Also, don't forget to check out the original Fringe Wiki - Fringepedia.net. Fringepedia.net contains a wealth of information about the latest episode, characters, and "The Pattern". Just like Lostpedia or Wikipedia, any one can join and help contribute to the ultimate Fringe Encylopedia.

News Update: Fringe Fresh, Fringe Sunday, Fringe Fans

Listen to an interview of J.J. Abrams on Fresh Air, Life On The 'Fringe'.

TVWeek - Fox Offers Previews of ‘Fringe,’ Feature Films on Sunday:

Fox is doing everything it can to turn Sunday’s encore presentation of the “Fringe” pilot into an event—including offering viewers advance looks at feature films “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “24: Redemption” and the second episode of “Fringe.”

In an unusual move, Fox will follow Sunday’s 8 p.m. “Fringe” repeat with a broadcast of the first four minutes of the second episode of the series.

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Forbes - Q&A: JJ Abrams Talks 'Fringe':

Your work tends to generate a lot fan interest online--do you read what your viewers write? How has it impacted your story telling?

J.J. Abrams: I do read it. Not all of it, of course, because there's a lot out there. We're living at a time where if you do a Google search for a 'show, review and network,' you'll get The New York Times and Pete Billingsley from a town you've never heard of on the same results page. It's kind of democratizing the process so that everyone has access to a distribution system to express themselves.

It's amazing to me how the consensuses is no longer [garnered from] ripping open the newspaper or getting the printouts from the studio or network, but rather going online and seeing what the people--paid professional, amateur fan, casual viewer--have to say.

How does that impact where you take a story and how you tell a story?

J.J. Abrams: The experience of doing a TV show is a very unique one--and it's one of the reasons that I wanted to do a show again. Unlike a movie, which is sort of a one-off, there's an evolution, an ongoing transformation that happens when you do a TV series. You're always reacting to the stuff that you're seeing, whether it’s the stuff on screen in the editing room or the stuff on screen on your computer at home.

So I wouldn't say the fan's reaction ever dictates anything, but they are not only appreciated and in many ways the reason that we're doing the show, but also people with whom we have a dialogue. We take what they think and what they feel to heart.

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Fringe on MySpace

The MySpace front page has a Fringe theme today, with a cool fringe background, and a new video, titled "Rorschach".

There is also an official Fringe MySpace page: MySpace.com/FringeOnFox

News Update: J.J. Abrams, Blair Brown & Remote Free TV

Advertising Age - 'Remote-Free TV' Debuts With Fox's 'Fringe':

Fox's gambit will let the method stand for an entire season's run of programs. A mock "Remote-Free TV" version of "Fringe" reviewed by Advertising Age doesn't break for an ad until the episode runs for 16 minutes. Only one ad appears. The next break comes at 32 minutes into the program, with two ads. A third break, at 39 minutes, contains two ads and a single promo for a Fox show. Breaks grow more frequent the longer the show goes on; presumably, viewers who have stuck with the plot this deep into the episode will want to stick around and see how the stories end. No ad break contains more than two commercials.

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Hollywood.com - Five Questions for 'Fringe' Creator JJ Abrams:

Hollywood.com: Can you shed some light on Blair Brown’s character [Nina Sharp]?

J.J. Abrams: In the shows that we’ve been working on since the pilot, too, the question of sort of, you know, is she to be trusted? Is she good or bad? She’s sort of the kind of like guru character. She is sort of this amazing font of information and I think that the fun about who she is and what she is obviously will reveal itself as the show goes on, but what I love is the ambiguity of her character, that you think from the beginning this Massive Dynamic company sort of looks like, oh, it’s the big bad conspiracy company, but you start to get a different taste of that as the thing goes on.

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Fringe Dwellers Podcast: Episode 2

In the second "mini" episode of the Fringe Dwellers Podcast, Jen and Adele discuss their new affiliation with FringeTelevision.com, the Fringe comics, the Fringepedia.net Fringe Wiki, and the importance of ratings for Fringe's premiere, and what you can do to help make Fringe a success.

This weeks music is by Aussie Roadster.

Listen now:


You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

If you have a comment or question for Jen & Adele, you can email them at fringedwellers@gmail.com. You can also leave a voicemail for them at (206) 333-0072.

BTW, we have added a Podcast tab at the top, which will link you directly to all the Fringe Dwellers podcast.

io9: Fringe ARG/Viral Summary

Sci-fi blog io9 has a great summary of all the Fringe viral marketing that has happened so far, including the Radio ads, Case 0091, Fringe Press Kit, Fibonacci numbers, and Music videos.

News Update: Abrams and Jackson, Kurtzman and Orci

MovieWeb - J.J. Abrams and Joshua Jackson Talk Fringe:

Did you purposely, were you staying away with the purpose for the last five years of not wanting to go back to TV and try to define yourself as not that character you had played? Or was it with intent or just happenstance, I guess is my question.

Joshua Jackson: There was some purpose in that TV is exhausting. It takes a little while to recover, but I don't know. It's hard to say. I try not to live my life as much as possible defining myself against something. So I wasn't really too worried about coming back and being labeled as "Pacey" or as that guy from Dawson's Creek because that's really an actor's job. If I get labeled as that, it's probably because I'm not good enough to define myself as something else. So I wasn't purposely running from that, but I certainly wasn't looking ....

Can you tell us who is playing her boss and how soon we might see him?

J.J. Abrams: I can't tell you that yet, but I can tell you that you will definitely meet him, he'll definitely be a featured part of the show. We want to make sure that when you meet him it's something you're hungry for, as opposed to something that you're just experiencing. So the way it's going to happen, which will happen over time, but by the end of the first season you'll meet "William Bell."

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Underwire - Two-Headed Brain Trust Injects Fear Into Fringe:

Wired.com: Mythology arcs are tricky to pull off. When it works on shows like The X-Files or Lost, or Heroes during its first season, audiences get hooked. But if the serialized story line gets too dense, you risk alienating the fans. How much mythology are you building into Fringe?

Kurtzman: Each episode will be close-ended with beginning, middle and end. If you miss an episode or two or even three, you can come in and catch up immediately. That's our mandate. We are also going to dole out little bits of the mystery over the course of a long period of time.

Orci: Our ambition was to create a new formula based on where we tend to err, which is to be overly complicated, and what we tend not to have that much of an instinct for, which is classic procedural storytelling. We're trying to crash those two sensibilities together and see if we can find the tightrope that is not on TV right now.

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Commenting 101

Welcome to Episodes section of FringeTelevision.com. Please review this short guide before joining the discussion.

About: Fringe Episodes is dedicated to a "watercooler" discussion of each episode of Fringe after it airs. Episode posts will be made available at the start of each new episode, on Tuesdays at 9:00 Eastern. This will allow you to leave comments during the episode. However, this also means there will be discussions about the episode before people in other time zones have had a chance to see it. So if you are not in the Eastern time zone, you may want to wait until you have seen the episode before joining the conversation.

Spoiler-Free: Fringe Episodes is spoiler-free section of Fringe Television. What constitutes a spoiler? Loosely defined, anything about future episodes that has not been broadcast on Fox. Speculation about what might happen in the future is obviously fine, but please don't post anything you know for sure will be happening. Here are a few Spoiler-Free guidelines:

1. Contents of the US promo that airs immediately after an episode ARE NOT spoilers. (i.e. Next week on Fringe...)
2. Contents of subsequent promos ARE spoilers.
3. Personal speculations on what might happen (based solely on past episodes) ARE OBVIOUSLY NOT spoilers.
4. Information from any outside sources that mention not-yet-aired actors/directors/plotlines/episode titles/etc ARE spoilers.
5. Information from any outside sources mention already-aired actors/directors/plotlines/episode titles/etc ARE NOT spoilers.
6. Contents of Comic Books, Viral Websites, and other official "canon" content ARE PROBABLY NOT spoilers.

When in doubt, please err on the side of caution. If you have a spoiler you really want everyone to know about, send us an email, and we may create a post over at the Spoilers section of Fringe Television.

Tone: Like the sidebar says, this blog is a friendly place to discuss Fringe. That doesn't mean we can't disagree and have a "spirited debate", but what it does mean is we do so like adults. io9 has a great post on "How to Be an Opinionated Commenter and Not Get Banned", which basically boils down to: Don't insult other commenters, and don't be a troll. If you see commenters behaving badly, please try to ignore them (i.e. don't feed the trolls), and send us an email.

Etiquette: When responding to a specific comment, it is useful to address your response to the comment's author by name (i.e. @Name: ... ), and quote what you are responding to. Providing links to what you are talking about is always helpful, but please avoid spam. Last but not least, please be welcoming and helpful when someone new joins the conversation.

Formatting: Blogger supports very limited formatting in the comments section, using the following standard HTML codes:

<b>bold</b> = bold
<i>italic</i> = italic
<a href="http://www.fringepedia.net">Fringe Wiki</a> = Fringe Wiki

Thank you for visiting Fringe Episodes. We look forward to discussing FRINGE with you!

Fringe Is An US Weekly Must To The Tune Of 3½ Stars

Fringe

A star is born in this bold, eerie new drama
By: John Griffiths

Crowd-pleasing JJ Abrams, cocreator of Lost, helped brainstorm this big-budget paranormal-slash-conspiracy series, and it shows. The intrigue starts with FBI agent Olivia Dunham (Aussie newcomer Anna Torv) and her partner/love (Boston Public's Mark Valley) investigating a bizarrely horrific plane crash. After he is infected while following a lead, Olivia seeks clues to save him -- and opens the door to a world of highly guarded knowledge. Helping her: a dotty genius (John Noble) and his son (Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson, initially stiff in his TV return). To say that the opener's last few minutes threaten to overcomplicate things would be nitpicking: Thanks to stupendous twists, brainy wit and instantly gripping characters, Fringe is bound to be a thrilling ride. And with Torv, it mints a major talent. She bristles with quiet intensity and palpable curiosity.

News Update: Fringe Jumps The Shark Out Of The Gates Like Lost, And Fringe Is More ER Than X-Files

Underwire - Abrams on Fringe: Science, Conspiracies and 'the Pattern':

[J.J. Abrams] on Fringe's slam-bang setup: "When we did the pilot for Lost, we had the monster appear at the end of the first act because we wanted to say to the audience, 'We're jumping the shark now. We're not going to wait. We're doing crazy shit from the beginning.' On Fringe, we very consciously made what is in many ways a preposterous, front-end scientific story choice in order to say to the audience, 'This is what you're going to be getting on the show.' It may be more extreme in some episodes, less so in others."

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io9 - Fringe Will Jump The Shark Early And Often, Says J.J. Abrams:

It's not X-Files, it's ER

Abrams said in his own mind, he's comparing Fringe more to ER than to X-Files. "You have these ongoing relationships, these ongoing storylines, and yet week-to-week when the door first opens, you're faced with the insane urgent situation of the week," said Abrams. Looking at shows like his own Felicity or Dawson's Creek, there's nothing to interrupt the relationship drama, so the characters just deal with their issues non-stop. On ER, "if these characters were not doctors, if they were just hanging out, you would go through their emotional stories in a few episodes," but because they have fires to put out, the stories get stretched out more.

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News Update: JJ Is On The Phone. Which One? Both. Also, Mark Valley Part 1

Joshua Jackson and J.J. Abrams are on the phone with reporters, and Mark Valley, exclusively, and in 2 parts.

New York Post - J.J. Abrams Talks Big Business:

Despite the clear prevalence of a corporate conspiracy in the pilot of "Fringe," Abrams downplays it's role in the series over the long run.

"It's much more about the characters than a cliché look at corporate culture," he says, adding: "That said, I don't trust corporate culture at all."

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Reuters - JJ Abrams offers terrifying sci-fi on TV's "Fringe":

The terrifying thing, says J.J. Abrams, creator of the upcoming TV series "Fringe", is that those tomorrows are now within reach.

"The show is coming out a time when every week we read or see some kind of potentially horrifying scientific breakthrough ... We are at a time where science is out of control," Abrams told reporters in a conference call on Thursday.

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The Mayor of Television - Beyond the "Fringe":

Romance may be in the air for Peter and Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), the FBI agent drawn into a world of scientific horrors. There's chemistry between the two in the pilot, which airs Tuesday, but, as Jackson drolly noted, "It would be ... awkward to hit on a woman while her boyfriend's dying right in front of her."

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BuddyTV - Exclusive Interview: Mark Valley, from 'Fringe' - Part 1:

When you first read that pilot script, what was your reaction?

Mark Valley: I was compelled. It was very engaging. I just couldn't put it down. And I had read other scripts for television shows about science fiction things, you know, some of the usual suspects there which makes for, you know, kind of a mediocre read. But this one, for some reason, the way it delved into the characters [John Scott], the unique aspect of the cases they're investigating, the way the characters interacted - I couldn't put it down, I had to find out what was going on. It was one of those things. It was a real page turner. I said “Well, if I like it, then other people are going like it.” Also it was the only job that was offered to me at that particular time. I'm not going to go on about all these wonderful things that drew me to the pilot - the fact that I was unemployed was the most contributing factor...

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Fringe Comic #1 - Like Minds / The Prisoner

The Fringe #1 comic was released today (delayed by one day by the holiday). The comic contains two stories: "Like Minds" and "The Prisoner".

The first story, "Like Minds" details the initial meeting between Walter Bishop and William Bell, and their early work on the Synaptic Transfer System.

The second story, "The Prisoner", centers around a man who wakes up in prison, but doesn't know how he got there. Is he an unintended consequence of an experiment gone wrong?

You can purchase Fringe #1 at your local comic book store for $2.99 (if they are not sold-out already!).

The remaining Fringe comics will be available:

• Fringe #2 - September 17
  
• Fringe #3 - October 29
• Fringe #4 - November 26
• Fringe #5 - TBA
  
• Fringe #6 - TBA
  

Like Minds:




The Prisoner:

Video: Anna Torv on Letterman

Fringe Comic Book - First Sighting...

...of William Bell. Title: LIKE MINDS

Update: We've uploaded the full issue at Fringe Comic #1 - Like Minds / The Prisoner.


















Here's the detail rich article:

MTV's Splash Page: The ‘Fringe’ Cast And Crew Take Us Through J.J. Abrams’ Comic Tie-In, Plus Preview Five Pages!

If “Fringe” is the new “X-Files,” then the Fringe comic is the equivalent of having a book that shows what really happened to Mulder’s sister. Or if the show’s Dr. Walter Bishop is the new Hannibal Lector – handy to consult on cases despite those pesky mental institution surroundings – then the Fringe comic is like having Hannibal pre-cannibal.

Neither comparison is perfect – J.J. Abrams’ television series tend to be in classes unto themselves – but the point is, while the comic isn’t necessary to enjoy the show, it sure does help. “The comics are going to fill in the blanks,” said “Fringe” co-creator/writer/executive producer Roberto Orci. “There will be a payoff.”

The first six-issue series (which kicks off September 3) will focus on the history of Dr. Walter Bishop, played by John Noble as a brilliant but deranged scientist who acts as a consultant to a female FBI agent investigating cases of the paranormal, with his son, played by Joshua Jackson, acting as a conduit between the two of them. “It’s what Daddy was up to before he got institutionalized,” Jackson said.

“Walter is every actor’s dream,” Noble said. “He’s got an IQ of 190, but I have a theory why he’s unsafe to be around. I think he conducted some sort of experiment in which someone was killed, and that he was due to stand trial for manslaughter before they determined he was unfit to stand trial at all.”

Noble’s theory about his character is put to the test in the comics, which follow Bishop as a newly appointed professor at Harvard. “It’s about how his scientific career began and how he got involved in the fringe sciences,” said Zack Whedon who writes for both the show and the comic. “He’s sort of singularly focused on scientific discovery, to the point where he doesn’t really consider the consequences.”

Bishop shares a lab with collaborator William Bell, who is not physically present in the show but is referred to. “There’s a lot of mystery surrounding that character on the show,” Whedon said, “so it’s fun to get a little glimpse of who he is that you won’t get in the show.”

Besides the Bishop-Bell history, the comics will also include stand-alone stories, some of which connect to other characters on the show, and some which just add to what the show calls “the Pattern.” “They’re straight-up ‘Fringe,’ sort of ‘Twilight Zone’/’Weird Science’ sci-fi tales,” Whedon said. For instance, one involves a man who wakes up in someone else’s body, “which is terrible, especially for this guy, because it’s the wrong body,” Whedon said. “He’s now in prison.”

Where the show has to try to resolve various mysteries, the comics are free to leave some things unexplained. “Some are related to Walter’s work, some are part of the Pattern, and some are just inexplicable,” Whedon said. “And if this works out, we can do even more of them and take readers up to the events of the show. Who knows? This could go on forever.”

“We can give a richer experience to the show this way,” said “Fringe” executive producer Bryan Burk. “Because oh God, yes — ‘Fringe’ is a comic book universe.”

Thanks Mandy for the tip!

Fringe Episode 102 - Spoilers

Fox has released the title, official plot summary, and episodic photos for Fringe episode #2.

You can view see them all at Spoilers.FringeTelevision.com.

News Update: Joshua Jackson Interviews

CanMag - Joshua Jackson on Fringe:

Ah, the ever present reluctant hero. "I also liked, there's a built-in, ingrained conflict for Peter because he doesn't want to be here, period, but then he really doesn't want to be forced to confront his father. He's sort of a reluctant participant in the group. Then all of those things are his greatest faults that he can't commit to anything and that he's never really found an overarching passion."

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Josh-Jackson.net - An [Exclusive] Interview with Josh Jackson:

Mandy: It does seem great. Because everything I’ve seen so far . . . and I’ll admit, I’ve seen the leaked pilot…

Josh: Naughty, naughty, naughty!

Mandy: I know, I know! I just couldn’t resist! I had to see what all the hype was about. But it looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to see the real final results, and yes, it is like a movie.

Josh: The pilot, even though you’ve seen the leaked one, shows most of what’s there, it’s not quite the finished product; but it’s a lot of the schemes [sic], and like the music wasn’t finished, and it wasn’t a very good print of the show. But yeah, that one is like a movie. It has its own beginning, middle and end. But in size the whole universe, and that’s kinda the fun of the show; sorta piece by piece getting farther and farther to what is the fringe world.

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Fringe Music Video: Ror-Shak - A Forest

Fox has a new music video for Fringe, featuring Ror-Shak and their cover of The Cure's "A Forest".

The scenes appear to have been shot specifically for the video, but may contain plot elements from future episodes that could be considered spoilers. This still image, a scene from the Sheep Video from the CASE 0091 ARG. There is also a scene that could be related to the Fringe Preview Comic.

To see screenshots from the video, visit Spoilers.FringeTelevision.com.

News Update: With Fringe in the Home Stretch, Some Signs the Media Blitz Has Begun

With Fringe premiering next week (Tuesday, September 9 at 8/7c) it is a safe bet that fresh Fringe news--interviews, press releases, marketing ploys--won't be in short supply between now and 9/9. With that in mind, we'll do our best to provide you with comprehensive News Updates in the coming days.

The A.V. Club catches up with J.J. Abrams:

AVC: Do you want to direct an episode?

JA: Well, I'm hoping. Maybe a season finale or a season opener or something. I've been wanting to do it since the pilot. We have great directors working on Fringe, but when someone else directs something that you're involved with, it's always their vision, and the director in my head is definitely wanting to get involved.

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BuddyTV, iVillage and Television Without Pity pepper J.J. Abrams with questions:

BuddyTV: I wanted to ask you, what's your obsession with mysterious boxes? You always have a mysterious box. Do you always know what's going to be in them when you write?

JA: No. But the funny thing about the box motif is, it's just human nature, I think. You want to know, what is it? What do you see inside of that thing? I think in certain situations, it can be a really fun story point. Even in one of the early episodes of Fringe, there's a teaser at the end of one of the episodes that is kind of a magic box-y sort of thing where you're like, “What the hell?” I just love that stuff, so that's my own personal interest.

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IGN writes a comprehensive piece on Why You Should Watch Fringe:

"There's a large mythology that we all decided on when we wrote the pilot and we knew that when we went to series we were going to have to reach a certain end point," says Kurtzman. "That end point's very flexible in terms of when we get there. If they let us run for 12 seasons, you'll see it in season 12. If they take us off the air by nine episodes, you'll see it in episode nine. So there's a lot of room there."

The team adds that they were lucky to figure out what that mythology was going to be early in the process of creating the show, because sometimes on other shows it doesn't come as easily or as early, forcing the writers to sort of "find it as they go."

"This time we really do have a plan," says Orci, while noting that this was a lesson they learned while working on the sometimes convoluted Alias.

"I think we're of the opinion that shows that sort of say, 'Yeah, we know our big answer,' but they don't really… you can tell," adds Kurtzman. "You can tell because the storytelling starts to feel like it's treading water. And we knew that if we were going to go into this, given how massive it was going to be to explore this world, we had to have our end point in place."

"[Standalone episodes] was one thing that we demanded from the beginning when we all were going to sit down and do this show," recalls Orci. "We have to learn our lessons from before. We studied procedurals specifically to try and merge [it with serialized]. And it's very against our instincts to do that, but when nine of the top shows on TV are called Law & Order and CSI, you have to study them a little bit and figure out what it is they're doing that's such a satisfying [experience]."

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