Fringe Friday: Quick Impressions After Thursday's Press Screening
The Lost season-four finale is all the rage with the kids today, but I would be remiss if I didn’t report at least a few of my findings from yesterday’s Fringe screening at the Fox lot.
Long story short? It’s super.
Want the long story long? Click in for what Fringe is about, why it’s great and what unanswered questions from this series are going to be torturing us come fall on Fox…
What Is It? FBI Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) finds herself entangled in an investigation of a series of paranormal crimes and mysteries. Many or all of these happenings appear to be related to the dirty work of an evil genius. To solve these mysteries and crimes, she must work with a similiar genius, only the one on her side (John Noble) is incarcerated, insane and of indeterminate moral orientation. His miscreant adult son (Joshua Jackson) is the only who can, well, “speak Walter,” meaning that he is the only one equipped to interpret the man’s mad mutterings.
Sure to have procedural elements as well as an ongoing myth arc, Fringe buffers its horror-show edge with a fair portion of comedy, an undercurrent of romance and some nice action sequences as the basis for a lot of interesting character interaction, as Dunham puts together a motley team of investigators and scientists (including the marvelous Kirk Avecedo) to help take on the bogeyman behind the curtain.
Is It Good? Have you seen the Alias pilot? How about the Lost pilot? Did you think those were OK? If yes, you’ll like this. It is of equivalent quality, if perhaps a bit less grandiose than the Lost pilot. Still, the story structure of Fringe feels perfect. All the narrative pieces that need to fit together, in the end, do. Guns placed on tables in act I go off in act III. Loose ends are tied up or are drawn out enough to be a season-long story threads. Anna Torv’s Olivia Dunham is a woman of substance and grace. Joshua Jackson, for his part, is what they call laugh-out-loud funny.
What Happens? We were asked to neither review Fringe (at this stage) nor to give away key plot points, which limits discussion topics to a certain extent, but I thought the smattering of teases below might be of interest. However, to summarize the high points, the passengers of a transatlantic 747 flight are turning into melting messes—I call them snot zombies—and Olivia, an investigator who is at odds with her disdainful superior, is sent off on a wild-goose chase that turns out to be a mission into the midst of the mystery. Now, on to those teases…
Endearments: The dialogue in this pilot is riddled with the kind of patronizing endearments that the ad men of Mad Men can get away with in 1962, but which are just pathetic and old-school in today’s work environment. “Sweetheart…honey…baby.” (Told you Olivia was having trouble with her boss.) However, even when used derisively, “Sweetheart” in the hands of Joshua Jackson or Lance Reddick (Dunham’s dismissive team leader) almost makes a girl wonder if there really is some love behind the word. Does condescension necessarily abrogate a sincere sentiment? Olivia Dunham is not naive enough to think that, and neither am I, but I won’t apologize for the wondering…kudos to the script and the actors for adding in all the layers.
Self-Storage Units Are Evil: In movies and television, self-storage units are only used by no-goodnik serial killers and thugs, and in real life, you don’t need that much crap. Which is to say: (a) Seriously, self-storage units are evil, and (b) there is a no-goodnik out there in one of those units, and what happens there sets up a chain of events that entangle our heroine personally in what’s going down. Keep your eyes peeled during this scene. You’ll want to use your memories of it at a later time.
Negative Space Is a Powerful Thing: I don’t want to outline it too closely, but there is a “stock” TV scene where two characters face a medical crisis and are rushed into a hospital. As directed and edited together here, it is easily the best and most correct that I have ever seen, both visually and emotionally.
With Apologies to All the Hot Bald Guys: Hairless mammals are creepifying. Snot zombies are grossest of all, but hairless mammals definitely make the “things repellent and horrifying” list generated by this show.
The Titles: As reported elsewhere, the location titles are awesome: Specifically, they are 3-D words in the 2-D space of the show. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like I recognize the technology from a Spider-Man movie commercial where, if I recall correctly, the text of movie critics’ blurbs hung between the buildings of Manhattan as Spidey swung through the streets. Anyway, the titles look great in general and there is one in particular that has a cute twist, but I won’t spoil it for you here.
Mildly Relevant Factoid: Of the five major branches of the U.S. armed forces, the United States Marine Corps branch has the smallest percentage of female personnel. I include this information because based on what I’m deducing about Dunham’s backstory, it may be germane.
Crossover! In terms of series style, theme and structure, there’s a lot of Alias and X-Files at work here, but there’s also a fun little Lost shout-out. Look for it in one of the FBI scenes.
Quibbles: These quibbles are perhaps unfair because this was not a finished copy of the pilot, and/or these are painfully pedantic, and/or they are intentional plot points inserted by the writers, but…
- They speak Farsi in Iran, not Iraq. You could arguably be a Farsi-speaker doing business in Iraq, but still…I quibble.
- “After human subjects, cows are the best. Unless you need milk.” Funny, but I think there are nursing mothers who would beg to differ. Maybe cows are best if you need butter and cream?
Questions: With any luck, some of these will be answered in the November 2008 sweeps episodes of Fringe:
- What was the incident in the lab?
- “What do we do? What don’t we do?”
- “Does this not concern you?”
What else do you want to know? Post in the comments.
Meet the Stars of J.J. Abrams' New Drama Fringe: Anna Torv and Some Guy
You guys don’t like Joshua Jackson or anything, do you?
Press play above to see what he and costar Anna Torv have to say about J.J. Abrams’ new Fox drama Fringe.
I get to see it for myself tomorrow (whee!). Post in the comments or email if there’s anything in particular you want to know about. I’ll keep my eyes peeled on your behalf, so check back for scoop!
P.S. To see for yourself the leaf discussed in the vid, check out the high-res promo posters at the Fringe-TV site.
Fox Reveals Pickups, Cancellations and Schedule Switchups
It's Fox day at the New York upfronts, and you know that's going to be fun. I'll bring you all the official dish from the presentation and the dirty gossip from the party later, but click in now for the word on the pickups and scheduling of the coming season on Fox…
New Series Pickups
- Fringe: Supernatural procedural from Lost masterminds J.J. Abrams and Jeff Pinkner and Transformers writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and starring one Mr. Joshua Jackson
- Dollhouse: Drama from some guy named Joss Whedon starring Eliza Dushku and Tahmoh Penikett, which I'm maybe a little excited about
- Do Not Disturb (formerly known as The Inn): Comedy starring the hilarious/awesome Jerry O'Connell and the hilarious/awesome Niecy Nash, of Comedy Central's Reno 911! and Clean House on Style, E!'s sister network
- Cleveland: Animated Family Guy spinoff
- Class Dismissed: Another animated series, this one written by Mitch Hurwitz of Arrested Development fame and voiced by several AD alums (including Jason Bateman and Will Arnett—boo-yah!)
Jack Bauer in Africa!
Fox announced this morning that the two-hour 24 prequel movie would premiere Nov. 23. "Shot on location in South Africa, Jack Bauer battles an international crisis, while here at home the nation prepares for a new president on inauguration day." Oh, that 24—always so topical! The series proper will return in January, paired with Dollhouse.
Fox Fall Schedule
Monday
8 p.m.: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
9 p.m.: Prison Break
Tuesday
8 p.m.: House
9 p.m.: Fringe
Wednesday
8 p.m.: Bones
9 p.m.: 'Til Death
9:30 p.m.: Do Not Disturb
Thursday
8 p.m.: The Moment of Truth
9 p.m.: Kitchen Nightmares
Friday
8:00 p.m.: Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9:00 p.m.: Don't Forget the Lyrics!
Sunday
8 p.m.: The Simpsons
8:30 p.m.: King of the Hill
9 p.m.: Family Guy
9:30 p.m.: American Dad
Fox Spring Schedule
Monday
8 p.m.: Dollhouse
9 p.m.: 24
Tuesday
8 p.m.: American Idol
9 p.m.: Fringe
Wednesday
8 p.m.: House
9 p.m.: American Idol Results
9:30 p.m.: TBA Comedy
Thursday
8 p.m.: Hell's Kitchen
9 p.m.: Secret Millionaire
Friday
8 p.m.: Bones
9 p.m.: 'Til Death
9:30 p.m.: Do Not Disturb
Sunday
8 p.m.: The Simpsons
8:30 p.m.: King of the Hill in January and February; Sit Down, Shut Up beginning in March
9 p.m.: Family Guy
9:30 p.m.: American Dad in January and February; The Cleveland Show beginning in March
If you have questions for Joss Whedon, Eliza Dushku, Summer Glau (I know: Faith and River in the same room, I'm freaking out, too!), Thomas Dekker, Joshua Jackson, Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Morrison or Cat Deeley (SYTYCD season four starts next week, and hallelujah!), please post 'em in the comments. I'll hopefully get to talk to them today, and will ask as many of your Q's as I can!
Fox Upfront Day: Dollhouse, Dancers and David Boreanaz!
Greetings, tuberinos! Today is Fox’s big day at the New York upfronts. It isn’t just huge fun, it’s scoopy good too.
Click in to find out what I learned from Emily Deschanel on what’s in store for Booth and Bones. Also, check out Summer Glau spilling on Cameron’s fate and Wentworth Miller dishing about Michael Scofield’s messed-up love life.
Live From the Red Carpet
Bones: From the sound of it, the finale has good stuff on the Bones-Booth front. According to Emily Deschanel, Bones is very “emotional” about Booth being shot, and it sounds like it advances their romance a bit!
Dollhouse: More on this later, but for now let me just say that when I talked to Joss Whedon about how awesome it was that two of his best Whedonverse girls (Eliza Dushku and Summer Glau) were here together, he said, “Yes. It’s such a waste. I don’t even have a casting couch. Just a chair.” Love.
Fringe: Joshua Jackson is back! The man is hilarious, and when I pried about where the series might go after the pilot, he said, “What? Do you think this is my first time at the rodeo? I can’t tell you that! I’ll be killed.” (He was being chaperoned by Bad Robot badass Bryan Burk, so perhaps his fears were legitimate.)
Prison Break: Wentworth Miller said that if he had to describe the fourth season, the phrase “the Dirty Seven” comes to mind, as all our fave guys join forces to defeat the Company. He also confirmed that Michael might finally get some action this year and that he’s getting his tattoo removed. Wentworth said that the tattoo removal is a bittersweet thing for him, since that was such a key part of the character in the first two seasons. As for the move to Los Angeles, Dominic Purcell said, “It’s about time!” Apparently the actors were promised such a move in the middle of season one, but it’s just now that it’s come to pass.
Terminator: Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau seemed extremely excited about season two of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles—not just that there is going to be a season two, but what it’s going to be about. I got the distinct impression something radical happens in the first episode. Speaking of radical, Thomas has shaved his head—he did a movie about a cancer patient—but he wouldn’t say anything about whether John Connor was having a similar style switch, because apparently that plays into the upcoming plot twists. And Summer assured me Cameron is definitely back, even though she got blowed up in the finale. I suspect that her return has something to do with that radical change…
Presentation Nearly Live Liveblog
3:53: Can someone please explain to me how it is that Joss Whedon, J.J. Abrams, Mitchell Hurwitz and WBTV boss Peter Roth are seated in the next section over from me? This seems confused and wrong. Perhaps their tickets were misprinted?
4:10: Montage, baby! Featuring, yes, Dollhouse footage. It involves three automatic weapons and Eliza Dushku. Hells yes.
4:13: Dude, Fox has all its stars arrayed on stage in lines like they’re up for Miss America. It’s very competitive to see who gets the most applause. So far? Wenty wins. And no one prepped this announcer about how to pronounce any of these names. He’s breaking his mouth.
4:13: David and Emily are doing the first intro! Emily tells David to stop lying about him picking out her shoes.
4:23: Fox boss Peter Liguori is a tall drink of water.
4:29: Kevin Reilly is definitely the most dapper network president. Kevin says Fringe is going to be the event appointment series in the fall. Ya think? “J.J. has a remarkable track record discovering ingenues.” The latest of these, says Kevin, is Anna Torv and…Yay! Preview.
4:31: Fringe looks scary and awesome! Flight 627 is the new Flight 815…but less attractive. Instead of Josh Holloway and Naveen Andrews, you get dead goo people—like zombies made of snot. Josh Jackson’s character tells Anna Torv’s character that his mad-scientist father will (eventually) kill her. Awww, in-laws are so crazy.
4:37: Dollhouse looks sexy and awesome! The music track is waaay too loud. I can’t hear all the Jossy talk, but Olivia Williams appears to be magnificent. Check it out for yourself at dollverse.com/trailer.
4:41: Prison Break and Bones come back the week of Aug. 25.
4:56: Kiefer is here! He uncynically thanks Fox and the advertisers for what he calls “the best seven years of my life,” and the audience applauds heartily. He tells us the writers had time this year to arc out a season-long map and that he believes this is the best season ever and then shows us the new-season trailer: Jack Bauer is being investigated by Congress for torture (he says he’d do it all again), Tony Almeida is trying to bring down the utility grid through the CTU computer system, and cars are falling out of the sky. What’s not to love?
5:01: According to Reilly, Idol will have primarily half-hour results shows next season.
5:05: Whee! The guy who plays Vinnie Van Lowe on Veronica Mars is in Fox’s new single-camera family comedy Outnumbered. I adore that dude.
5:11: The Cleveland Show trailer involves a family of bears and cracks about Kevin Reilly’s faaah-bulous hair.
5:15: Reilly says it’s cliché to have dancing at an upfront, but what the hey. The So You Think You Can Dance kids are here! Benji, Lacey, Sabra, Ivan, Nick, Hok, Travis and many more. They do a little of everything: hip-hop, ballroom, swing and ballet. Talked to Cat Deeley this morning and will fill you in on it all in Monday’s chat, but she says Utah is the dance hot spot of the nation.
Meanwhile, the Fox party at Wollman Rink in Central Park is the hot spot of the moment, so I have to run, but I’ll check back in later!