Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Great new TV - "Fringe"

If you know me at all or read this blog regularly, you know I'm pretty much addicted to TV. I look forward to the start of the new seasons and particularly new shows. I've also learned that there is usually a HUGE difference between a "pilot" and the series they create later, so judging a show solely on its pilot is rarely a good idea. The "pilot" is usually created to sell to the network and the advertisers rather than the audience they want to attract. That said, I LOVED the pilot for J.J. Abrams new show on Fox "Fringe". It's sort of like "Bones" meets "The X-Files" with a little bit of the conspiracy mystery of "Alias". Here's what I learned from the premiere, not that it will hold up as the series goes on. Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is an FBI liaison officer investigating a freaky incident on a plane from Hamburg. Basically everyone on the plane liquefied and left only their skeletons. To cover up the really freaky terrorism, they burn the plane, but continue investigating. John Scott (Mark Valley - I went to high school with his youngest sister!) is another FBI agent helping her find the people responsible for the technology/chemistry that caused the terror. He gets blown up when they find the lair of some people possibly responsible. However, he doesn't die, but his skin become see-through (VERY cool effects all the way through the show). Our innocent Agent Dunham does some ruthless things to find the cure - and blackmails Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson) into returning to Boston to free his "fringe" scientist father (John Noble) from a mental institution so he can figure out how to save Agent Scott. Lots of action, excitment and all kinds of weird implausible science (that Jackson comments on to hilarious effect). There's a great moment when Dr. Bishop is asking for various things to supply his lab, and one of them is a cow, and he says "The only thing better than a cow is a human. Unless you want milk, then you pretty much need a cow." While it's not a comedic show, Joshua Jackson does a great job being the super-smart ne'erdowell son making fun of his father and the FBI. I really liked it and can't wait for the real season to start!

Large Association of Movie Blogs

4 comments:

The Nerdy Fashionista said...

I loved Mark Valley in Keen Eddie (with Sienna Miller, before we all found out how obnoxious she was). Ogdensburg in the HOUSE!

Ryan McNeil said...

I've really gotten into watching this show, but the pessimist in me is saying "Yeah- now that I'm digging it, they're going to cancel it at any minute"

Jess said...

Yeah, but the ratings went UP for the second week - nearly 50% jump. So it's doing pretty well so far. And all of J.J. Abrams shows have gotten at least a few seasons.

Anonymous said...

4 weeks in and I'm still not convinced by Fringe.
I'm still seeing X Files rip off, and is it just me or does it annoy anyone else that the crazed doctor guy always knows the answer or is at least clued to the answer. Each week seems to have the same base formula to solving it...

That being said, it's still fairly good TV. So I'll probably keep watching.