If It's Friday, It MUST Be 'Fringe'

If It’s Friday, It MUST Be ‘Fringe’
by Nicole Campos on January 21, 2011

Great Scott! It's Christopher Lloyd, John Noble and Jasika Nicole in Fringe: "Firefly"

Tonight is the night. The night that could effectively change everything…The night that in genre-TV-nerd terms would be the equivalent of the 2004 Boston Red Sox victory. (And I am sure there are some baseball fanatics out there who resent that comparison, but whatever. Cool yer jets, jocks!) If an uncharacteristic demonstration of commitment on the part of a network, coupled with staunch fan dedication and the power of the internets have their way, tonight signals Fringe’s real shot at kicking the Friday night death-slot curse. (For those who click that link, be sure to grok the exceptionally long subheading under Fox. Even if you already know the history, it’s dire to see it all laid out in black and white…)

There’s a lot to recommend in tonight’s installment of, for this nerd’s money, the best show currently on TV; as if we weren’t right in the middle of a near-flawless, utterly gripping third season, tonight Fringe offers us special guest star Dr. Emmett frakking Brown as a burned-out rock ‘n’ roll hero of Walter’s. (If you aren’t giggle-happy with glee at the idea of Christopher Lloyd and John Noble sharing screen time, turn in your “Mad Scientists Fan Club” badge) Meanwhile, the episode is also, as The Daily Beast’s Jace Lacob pointed out a while back, somewhat ominously entitled “Firefly” – obviously having no real connection to Joss Whedon’s wildly-beloved 2002 space epic, but way eerie in that Fringe’s first Friday venture evokes the title of the most notorious Friday/Fox casualty of all time.


Plenty of Fringe fans, and lovers of good genre television in general, are antsy with dread about the prospect of yet another superlative series being consigned to early retirement via its network moving it to what is popularly an out-on-the-town evening. Me? Call me crazy, but I’m remaining optimistic… for a handful of key reasons:

■The TCA Promise-plication: At this month’s Television Critics Association press event, Fox president Kevin Reilly declared right out of the gate that if Fringe were ever canceled, he’d be “heartbroken.” He also begged against “eulogizing” the show prematurely, and noted that the not-hot-for-Thursday numbers it was pulling would in fact be great Friday numbers. Essentially, Reilly’s talking points may fall short of an outright promise of unwavering support, but they seem to imply that if Fringe’s base sticks with the show – and given that the Friday move is happening after 2 1/2 seasons of densely plotted show so attracting new viewers is a daunting prospect – then Fox has no reason to consider cancellation. At this point, I’m taking him at his word, although I would also point out that ridiculing the Friday Night death slot phenomenon might not be the best use of marketing time – why not throw some of those dollars into seriously playing up the strengths of the show, and its acclaim? Remember, Kev, back in 1993 your network properly nurtured The X-Files into a hit on Fridays for its first three years.
■Enough Fan Love For Two Universes: Truly, most of the shows J.J. Abrams has had a hand in have engendered their own loyal fan bases. Given Fox’s reputation for swiftly canceling acclaimed genre stuff, however, it’s almost as though Team Fringe has struck a defensive pose from the get-go, periodically holding their breath in between bouts of cataloging Observer appearances and cracking the glyph code. Earlier in this current season, as the show kept turning up on TV writers’ “on the bubble” lists, the fandom’s grass-roots effort to drum up support actually preceded November’s Friday move announcement. Since then, however, it’s been as passionate as ever… and remarkably optimistic in tone. I highly recommend checking out the gang over at The Fringe Movement, who have so far conducted about as exemplary a fan campaign as I’ve ever seen.
■The DVR Factor: At the end of the day, many Fox Friday cancellations pre-dated the DVR era and so the wide-reaching option for folks to have their Friday night cake and eat it wasn’t part of the equation. If TiVo had penetrated the market a little faster, we might be enjoying the ninth season of Firefly right now. (Settle down, Browncoats… no tears…) In addition, indications are that at long last, despite the frustrating-for-ad-suits option to fast forward commercials, networks are beginning to weigh DVR numbers more heavily alongside broadcast ratings – a practice so many have been advocating for some time now, and one that perhaps could have saved shows like The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse if it had been taken seriously sooner. How big a role DVR numbers will play in Fringe retaining its current audience is yet to be determined, but the show would really be adrift in Reiden Lake without a paddle without them.
Sound off below! Who’s excited about curse-breaking?! Who is really relying on their DVRs? Other thoughts on Friday casualties of the past?
Source:The Nerdist

4 New Sneak Peeks: 310 "The Firefly"

Fox has released 4 new previews for tonight's all new episode of Fringe.

Remember, Fringe returns today at 9/8c on FOX.

New Fringe Fridays Video at Official Fringe Website

Executive producers Jeff Pinkner and JH Wyman discuss how they interpreted the network moving Fringe to Friday nights.
Source:fox.com/fringe and YouTube

Video: The Return of September

The cast talks about the Observer and the storyline for 310 "The Firefly"

Update #2 on "Seven Suns" by Violet Sedan Chair

JJ Abrams, you are correct. I do love a good Fringe-related mystery. And I'm convinced I am not alone.

In the last 24 hours it seems some fans did some research on the record company, 13th Tone Records, listed on the label of Kiki Kane's newly-acquired "Seven Suns" album from Violet Sedan Chair.

Check this out. On April 14, 2009 a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for 13th Tone Records(See link below). Hmm. That date ring a bell? Just 6 days before JJ Abrams' famous Wired Magazine article came out.(If you don't know what I'm talking about see my post below dated 01/17/11.) Coincidence? I think not. I think it's pretty safe to say Kiki's album is the real thing.

The trademark is owned by Constant Bickering, LLC. Now, it gets even more interesting. If you use that link below, you'll see CB has 6 records. Two are listed as "Violet Sedan Chair," two are listed as "Velvet Sedan Chair"(is the first word a typo or on purpose?), and the last two are listed as "13th Tone Music." What does that all mean to us Fringe fans? I'm not sure, but hopefully we'll find out. And the fact that the record company that put out "Seven Suns" is called "13th Tone Records"? Is that a clue to something? If someone reading this understands the significance of a 13th tone in musicalese, please enlighten us.

Also, the Side 2 songs are now available on the internet for your listening pleasure. Use the link below and share your thoughts.

Trademark info on 13th Tone Records: http://www.trademarkia.com/13th-tone-records-77713692.html
Constant Bickering, LLC: http://www.trademarkia.com/company-constant-bickering-llc-2838241-page-1-2
Entire "Seven Suns" songlist with audio(thanks to LetItPlayOut): http://soundcloud.com/letitplayout/sets/violet-sedan-chair-seven-suns-lp-side-2/

EW Exclusive: Fringe Music Video

Entertainment Weekly has an exclusive first look at a new Fringe music video, featuring music from English alternative rock band Klaxons. According to Jeff Jensen:

Fox has taken the group’s 2010 single “Echoes” and created a Fringe music video that recaps the season’s Two Olivias parallel world storyline and functions as a ‘shipper ode to the developing Olivia/Peter romance
...
Does the video contain hidden clues about upcoming episodes? I’ve viewed it twice, and I’m inclined to say “Nope”, but your Encyclopedia Brown eyes may yield different results. [Klaxons are] a band whose musical style has been described as “acid rave sci-fi punk funk,” that gives their albums names that could double as titles of Fringe episodes (Myths of the Near Future; Surfing The Void) and is prone to referencing William Burroughs andThomas Pynchon in their songs.

Check out the full article at EW.com.

An Update on the "Seven Suns" Violet Sedan Chair Albums

This story has developed so beautifully in the last few hours.
I was getting ready earlier this afternoon to post an update on the search for the fabled album,"Seven Suns" by Violet Sedan Chair, which Michael Aussiello had posted about two Fridays ago on his TV Line website.(See Dennis's post here at FT dated 01/07/11).

We were told the powers that be had made slightly different versions of this vinyl album and 'planted' them at independent record stores around the country, and "that they've been in stores for a couple of months now." Now, I happen to know that last statement is not quite correct.

On January 7th in the AM when the TV Line story hit the net, my second call at 10AM Eastern was to the popular Boston-based record chain, Newbury Comics. A man there said they had had 1 copy of "Seven Suns" by Violet Sedan Chair but it was sold a few months ago. Talk about a hit and a miss. And on the same morning a nice manager at Worcester's "That's Entertainment" store started an all-out search for "Seven Suns." Five days later he called to tell me he'd checked every single record distributor in the country and come up empty.

But I couldn't rest there. On January 11th I paid a little visit to my closest Newbury Comics store. As of that date that was the closest anyone had come to finding a "Seven Suns" copy and I wanted a confirmation. The young man looked it up in the computer but told me it was sold in "used" condition two years ago. I must have looked shocked as he proceeded to call the manager of distribution who confirmed this. So the "Seven Suns" albums by Violet Sedan Chair were placed into the record stores two years ago?! That's not quite the same as "been in stores for a few months now." This timeline also is eerily reminiscent of the famous JJ Abrams' article in Wired magazine titled, "JJ Abrams on the Magic of Mystery," which is from 04/20/09(about 2 years ago). In page 1 of the article Abrams explains that looking through the wooden bins in the music stores is a lost art, and that it's not about the ending to something but about the journey along the way. Hmm. Like looking for copies of "Seven Suns" around the country.

But I'm happy to say the "Seven Suns" update doesn't end here. We apparently have an unconfirmed winner, but it sure looks like it. A person named Kiki Kane posted today that she found a copy of "Seven Suns" by Violet Sedan Chair at Easy Street Records in Seattle, Washington. Actually, she said there were 3 of them in the discount bin and she got the last one. This is huge. If you click on the link below you can see the cover. If you click on the other link below you can listen to 5 songs form the album. And I've even included my friend Danielle's link in which she's listed the lyrics to "She's Doing Fine."

Does all this give you a happy feeling? I hope so. Does it make you want to keep hunting for the similar but different copies of "Seven Suns" that may still be out there? I hope so. And I hope that person who bought the copy of "Seven Suns" from the Newbury Comics' Boston store steps forward so we can view it . Remember, JJ Abrams wants you to come along for the ride.

Links:
Kiki Kane's photos of the "Seven Suns" album by Violet Sedan Chair: http://plixi.com/3543132
Listen to the first 5 songs: http://oliviafringe.tumblr.com/post/2801628765/velvet-sedan-chair-seven-suns-lp-side-1-audio
Danielle's lyrics to "She's Doing Fine": http://whisperingtoghosts.tumblr.com/post/2800817246/shes-doing-fine-violet-sedan-chair-lyrics
"JJ Abrams on the Magic of Mystery"(Wired Magazine) http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-05/mf_jjessay

Operations "Fringe Fridays" and "White Tulip" from the Fringe Network

Fringe fans? We need to unite. And quickly!
As we move closer to our favorite show's new night and timeslot on Friday, January 21st, it's imparative that the number of viewers watching the show while it airs is as high as it can possibly be to send the FOX execs the message that WE LOVE FRINGE!

And there are other ways to promote Fringe in order to increase its viewership.
Recently the Fringe Network hit the internet. Formed by a group of graphically-gifted Fringe fans, this group's goal is to increase the show's exposure worldwide. There are several groups within this group. The most active one is the Fringe Movement(TFM).

Currently TFM has 2 hot projects in the works:1) Fringe Fridays and 2)Operation White Tulip.
The Fringe Fridays campaign is aimed at inundating the internet with the message to watch Fringe live on 1/21. You may have seen some of the nifty new posters members have posted recetly on tumblr.com.

The second project intrigues me. "Operation White Tulip" involves sending as many postcards as possible to FOX President Kevin Reilly by January 21st, thanking him for Fringe. There is even talk of the Fringe Network staff sending real bouquets of white tulips to executive producers Jeff Pinkner and JH Wyman(Please send us pictures of this, Fringe Network people!).

How can you help? There is still time to help the Fringe Network/The Fringe Movement with both the Fringe Fridays and Operation White Tulip projects.

1. Tell everyone you know to tune into Fringe this Friday. The Fringe Network has suggestions on how to use the internet to accomplish this.

2. Click on the "Operation White Tulip" section and send an email to the Fringe Network.(See link below). They replied fairly quickly to me with a friendly note and postcard templates for the notes for Mr. Reilly. You'll also receive a monthly newsletter.

United, we fans can make the live viewing numbers go up, and therefore make a difference.

The Fringe Network website: http://www.fringenetwork.com/

"Fox's 'Fringe' not going gently into Friday night"

Christopher Lawrence LIFE ON THE COUCH

Fox's 'Fringe' not going gently into Friday night From left, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown, Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv, John Noble and Jasika Nicole star in "Fringe," which is moving to 9 p.m. Fridays on KVVU-TV, Channel 5.

Remember "The X-Files"? The guy from "Californication" and the redhead chasing little green men nearly two decades ago? That was the last time Fox made any real noise airing sci-fi on Fridays.

"Sliders." "Millennium." "The Visitor." "Harsh Realm." "FreakyLinks." "Dark Angel." "Firefly." "John Doe." "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." "Dollhouse." Since the mid-'90s, Fox Fridays have done more to break the hearts of nerds than school dances and Jar Jar Binks combined.

Yet that 0-for-15 years streak isn't keeping Fox from hoisting its critically acclaimed "Fringe" (9 p.m. Friday, KVVU-TV, Channel 5) onto the altar of bad scheduling and setting it ablaze.

At the beginning of the season, and for the first time in years, the networks were putting actual effort into programming Fridays. It looked for all the world as though there might be a renaissance on the night given all the series headed there.

But four months later, only The CW's "Supernatural" is really taking hold on its new night. Fox's "The Good Guys" bombed. NBC's "Outlaw" crashed and burned. Fox's "Human Target" and CBS' "Blue Bloods" both escaped to Wednesdays. And ABC pushed Dana Delany's "Body of Proof" from last fall all the way to March 29 just to get it away from Fridays.

So why move "Fringe" there when it was putting up solid if unspectacular ratings on Thursdays, the toughest night of the week? To make room for "American Idol" (8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Channel 5).

A fixture for years on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, "Idol" kicks off its 10th season by shifting back a day. On the surface, the move lets Fox get a bigger piece of the lucrative Thursday ad budgets as movie studios make their last-gasp efforts to reach viewers before the weekend. But it also allows "Idol" to get its performance shows out of the way of the "Dancing with the Stars" results shows, and it positions Fox to be able to blame the expected ratings drop-off on the new night instead of the loss of Simon Cowell.

Remember "The X-Files"? It was hard not to when "Fringe" launched in 2008, with its coed duo investigating seemingly impossible phenomena under the auspices of the FBI, with a taciturn, bald boss running interference for them. But the drama, from "Lost's" J.J. Abrams, has since morphed into a staggeringly complex tale of parallel universes about to go to war with each other, and it's proudly letting its geek flag fly.

"Fringe" sort of had to ease into this new direction, as it never would have survived its first episode in its current state -- assuming it would have made it to the air at all. But while the progression has been gradual, "Fringe" has covered so much ground in its two-plus seasons, it would be like "Lost" having gone from "Was that a polar bear?" to "Whaddya mean we're all dead?" in a little over a month.

A heartbreaking episode last season revealed that mad scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) lost his son, Peter, to a rare illness as a child. Looking into the alternate universe through a portal he'd designed, Walter saw that the Peter in that world, being genetically identical to his own, also was dying. So when Walter discovered the cure, he created a wormhole, traveled to the other universe and brought that Peter to our world to save him. Only once Peter was cured, Walter couldn't bring himself to return the boy that by almost every measure was his son.

Ethical issues aside, Walter's meddling created tears that are slowly destroying the other world. Worse, it emboldened that world's Walter, dubbed the Walternate, who is now actively working at the highest levels of government to destroy our universe in the belief that it will save his.

Yeah, it's pretty heady stuff. But it plays surprisingly well even for those of us who are fluent in neither Vulcan nor Na'vi.

In our world, Fringe Division seems to consist primarily of the doddering former mental patient Walter; Peter (Joshua Jackson); FBI agents Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole); their boss, Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick); and a cow named Gene. But over there, Fringe Division has eclipsed the now-defunct FBI and is a part of the Department of Defense, run by Walternate with a ruthless streak that would make Donald Rumsfeld look like the Girl Scout other Girl Scouts picked on.

It's a fascinating, emotional tale that's improving every week. And now all that's at risk after having been sent to what's commonly referred to as "the death slot." But at least "Fringe" isn't going quietly.

A cheeky promo assembled a string of media quotes bemoaning the show's upheaval, with the tagline "You might think Friday night is dead ... but we're gonna re-animate it" -- an allusion to one of the fringe sciences at the heart of the series.

And after learning of the move, producers titled this week's episode "Firefly," an homage to Joss Whedon's late, great Friday night casualty.

In announcing the decision, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly, who still champions the show, stressed that DVR use already accounts for nearly half the show's audience. So, in theory, if anybody at all shows up to watch "Fringe" live on Fridays, it could thrive there for years to come.

Stranger things have happened.

Remember "The X-Files"?
Source:Las Vegas Review-Journal

New Fringe Commercial 310: Firefly in HD

Here is the latest Fringe commercial for Firefly, now in HD.

Head over to the FringeTelevision YouTube channel (and click the "pop out" button) to watch it in full-sized HD.

Screenshots of the video are available at FringeFiles.com

For more Fringe News, visit FringeTelevision.com

Sneak Peek & Scenemaker: 310 "The Firefly"

Fox has just released a new sneak peek plus some BTS footage for next week episode.

Amazing New Promo

Here's a brand new promo of the show... Enjoy.

Fringe: Who is "He"?

The cast talks about who the Observer was talking about. Peter or Walter?

Fringe: Coming Home

Jasika Nicole (Astrid Farnsworth) and Anna Torv (Olivia Dunham) talk about Olivia's return home, and the Alt-Olivia aftermath.

Saturday Night Fringe Reruns Return This Saturday!

In an unexpected turn of events, Fringe reruns are returning to Saturday nights. The spot was previously occupied by "The Good Guys", and will give Fringe fans another opportunity to catch new episodes.

Since there is no new Fringe episode this week, this Saturday's Fringe rerun will be "Marionette". But starting next week, we will get a new Fringe episodes on Friday nights at 9:00pm, then that episode will air again on Saturdays at 11:00pm.

"J.J. Abrams 'horrified' by 'Fringe' Move"

Wednesday, January 12 2011, 10:17am EST
By Catriona Wightman

J. J. Abrams has admitted that he is "horrified" by the news that his show Fringe is being moved to Friday nights.

The drama's network Fox announced in November that the series will be pushed back to make way for American Idol.

"Oh, I'm horrified beyond belief," Abrams told Collider. "But as a fan of the genre and the show, I'm hoping that fans will tune in."

He continued: "I certainly can promise that it will be worth their while. The episodes that are coming up are spectacular. I guess you can just be hopeful and say that if the work is good enough, it will find the audience. I think they're doing better work now, even in the second half of season three, than they've ever done in the series. I'm just crossing my fingers that fans of the show show up."

Abrams admitted that he doesn't see an upside to the move because "the audience on Friday nights is harder to find", but insisted that he is still on good terms with Fox.

"Certainly, I would be lying to you if I said I'm thrilled about the move," he said. "But what I am thrilled about is that the network has been incredibly supportive and, despite its move to Friday, they've been nothing but encouraging of the show. It's still on the air in its third season and it's not easy to do that. It's not easy to get to season three of anything. They've allowed the show to become truly great, I think. The question is, will audiences find a great show on Friday nights? I pray that they do."

Source:Digital Spy

Tales from the Fringe Paperback Release Pushed to February

Tales from the Fringe Paperback Release Pushed to February By Sam McPherson on January 12th, 2011

It was originally slated to hit at the end of this month, but now it seems that fans will have to wait just a bit longer for the compilation volume Tales from the Fringe. The graphic novel, made up of the six year's of last year's eponymous comic series, was originally slated for a January 20 release. Now, it seems, fans will have to wait an additional month to get their hands on the book. A new release date, slated for February 22, has been posted on Amazon.

The most recent comic was released just this month, which is a possible explanation for the compilation's tardiness.

I'll be providing a full review of Tales from the Fringe in the days leading up to the graphic novel's release next month, but I will tell you that it's certainly worth the buy for any fan of Fringe: character backgrounds of characters like Olivia, Peter, Broyles, Nina, and Astrid are fully fleshed out, and Gene the cow has an awesome storyline himself. The 144-page novel will also be peppered with mini Fringe cases, which deal with everything from zombies to sea monsters. It's all up to the Fringe-set standard of weird, believe me.

You can pre-order Tales from the Fringe on Amazon for $10.11.
amazon.com link:

Source:TV Overmind

Fringe 3x10 "The Firefly" Canadian Promo

Thanks to CityTv, here's a new promo for next week episode.

Lance Reddick Releases Music Album

By day, Lance Reddick is the Fringe Division leader Phillip Broyles, but by night, he is a jazz musician. We got a taste of his musical ability in the Fringe episode Brown Betty, but now Reddick has just released his first album "Contemplations and Remembrances".

You can preview all the songs on LanceReddick.com

The album hasn't made it to iTunes yet, but you can buy the CD or digital download at Amazon.

If you want to know more about Lance Reddick and his musical journey, check out his interview with the The LA Times.

Fringe: A Message Of Hope

Fringe stars discuss the events of the last few episodes, and how they affect their characters. Interviews with Joshua Jackson (Peter Bishop), Anna Torv (Olivia Dunham), Jasika Nicole (Astrid Farnsworth), Lance Reddick (Phillip Broyles), and Blair Brown (Nina Sharp).