Classic Sci Fi TV: Our ongoing look back at many of the classics of science fiction and fantasy television.
What Is It? A Joint Federal Task Force known as the Fringe Group is put together to investigate fringe science and strange occurrences known as “the Pattern”. Ultimately they discover a parallel universe and find themselves at war with their own counterparts.
Aired: FOX, 2008-13, 5 Seasons Totaling 100 Episodes
Starring: Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Jasika Nicole, Lance Reddick
Created By: J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci
Is It Must-Watch Sci Fi? Perhaps. It is definitely worth watching because it delivered a well-written science fiction TV series with interesting characters and good world-building. Whether it counts among the upper echelon of genre shows is up for debate.
The Skinny: Fringe showed up on television at a time when the networks were scrambling for the next big series that could capitalize on the Lost phenomena. J. J. Abrams–co-creator of Lost–was enlisted for this one and he also brought onboard Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci who would go on to become frequent collaborators. The show started out with very much of an X-Files vibe, though with more of a group dynamic as opposed to the Mulder / Scully point-counterpoint approach. By its second season, the show diverged from its case-of-week formula to a degree as the alternate universe was introduced along with all the implications it presented. From that point, the show became more arc-driven (though it did still have some stand alone episodes) as we learn more about Walter Bishop’s connection to the alternate universe and how it has impacted both timelines.
This show was very much about the characters with John Noble upstaging much of the cast with his frenetic and endearing portrayal of Bishop, though Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Lance Reddick, and the rest did a good job of holding their own while playing mostly straight-man to the eccentric scientist. The Peter Bishop character made a notable change from early in the series where he was originally portrayed as more of a rebel. He eventually become one of the more stable characters and a central figure in the series along with Torv’s Olivia Dunham. Overall, Fringe put together a pretty good sci fi drama with well-developed characters and good stories to match its first-rate cast (including occasional appearances by Leonard Nimoy). Some might debate whether it can be counted as a sci fi classic, but it deserves a mention among the genre TV greats and is definitely worth checking out. If you don’t care for the procedural format in the first season, stick it out to see if you like the show better once it hit its stride in its second year.
>Buy Fringe the Complete Series on DVD from Amazon.com
>Buy Fringe the Complete Series on Blu-ray from Amazon.com
Cancelled Too Soon? No, and some notable kudos should go to FOX–the network that killed Firefly, Almost Human, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and more–for sticking by this show. It delivered respectable ratings in its first season, but saw those drop notably when it was shifted to Thursdays in its second year and went up against the high-rated ABC dramas on that night. FOX still renewed it for a third season, but then shifted it to Fridays mid-year which seemed like a death knell for the show. But despite the ratings drop, the network decided it performed well enough for that low-viewership night and kept it going through a fifth and final season, giving it the chance to wrap up its storylines.
Should It Be Rebooted? No. Fringe is a really good sci fi series and it told a pretty complete story over its five seasons. While it might be interesting to have a TV movie or a mini-series that checks back in on the characters, a revival would likely only dilute the series and a reboot with a new cast would be completely unwelcome.
Interesting Facts: Before each commercial break, a glyph would appear and collected together these would spell out a thematic word for the episode. The technology site Ars Technica broke the code by discovering it was a simple substitution cipher. During the first season, the Observer was spotted in other FOX shows such as American Idol and on the sidelines of sporting events aired on the network.
Where Can You Watch It? The entire series has been released on DVD and Blu-ray, and it is also available to purchase VOD at sellers like Amazon.com. The show is currently streaming on Max.
Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com
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Even though Fringe was wrapped up really beautifully, I would welcome a spinoff or a show that explored the Fringe universe. That would be fantastic. Maybe a story that jumps even further into the future or more stories that took place in an alternate universe! 🙂