Is Fringe any good?

[superstring01]

Is Fringe any good?

My favorite show.

~String

[Gaith]

Starbreaker wrote:

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You can't give tell someone not to watch something because it sounds like you've never seen it.

My mistake, pardner... I thought the free expression of ideas was encouraged on this board. (It's not as though I concealed my ignorance of the show in question.)

Samuel Walters wrote:

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You do realize that The Wire is a "cop procedural" show, right?

From what I've read (I haven't seen it yet, but I intend to), it gives more or less equal time across its several seasons to the cops, the criminals, the school system, the local government and the media. If so, while the "cop" sections might have procedural elements, that hardly makes puts the overall show in that genre. To be as much of a procedural as The Wire, then, Fringe would have to give more or less equal time to several different factions, which above posters say only happens from time to time. Or am I not adequately informed?

[Starbreaker]

Okay.... you can express ideas but you can't say that Fringe is a bad show and that The Wire is a good show when you haven't seen either. That's just weird. No offense to you.

[sidious618]

Fringe is great and it's not going to get cancelled. It's the best performing show FOX has had in that timeslot in years. It'll be fine.

[Gaith]

None taken.

I didn't say Fringe wasn't good; it might be. I did, however, say that in structure (cop procedural with a guy and a gal) and genre (governmental paranormal investigations with conspiracy-laden story arcs) it gave every indication of being unoriginal.

(Btw: Fringe's Metacritic score: 67. The Wire's: 98. )

[sidious618]

Fringe's overall mytharc is quite original, I think.

[Harvey]

Gaith wrote:

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(Btw: Fringe's Metacritic score: 67. The Wire's: 98. )

Sure, a 98 for the incredibly acclaimed fourth season. You'll notice the lesser appreciated final season drops to an 89, and if the first season was listed it would be far lower. Many important critics panned The Wire during its first season.

Of course, Fringe still looks like an X-Files knock-off with a criminally wasted cast (Lance Reddick!) and no sense of mood to me. But I admit I haven't seen it at this point. Maybe if it lasts longer I'll give it a shot.

The Wire, in any event, is one of the finest television series ever made, if not the finest. It's not perfect (the second season could have been plotted better, and the final season suffers from a reduced episode order), but it's hard to beat.

[sidious618]

Yeah, a lot of people shunned The Wire during the first season.

[Aragorn]

Gaith wrote:

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(Btw: Fringe's Metacritic score: 67. The Wire's: 98. )

By that same standard, can you ridicule people who like Star Trek by saying that The Godfather is better?

[Harvey]

Star Trek (2009): 83.
The Godfather: 100.

As somebody who enjoyed both films, sounds about right.

[Gaith]

I don't want to hijack the thread, and have said my peace. I don't like procedurals, and my distaste increases in direct proportion to their lack of realism. Well, okay, now I've said my peace.

[Kegg]

I caught the pilot for Fringe when it first aired and was severely underimpressed, so I passed on it. Maybe it gets better, maybe I should give it another chance (alternate universes? Mr. Spock? Sounds good to me) but the initial impression wasn't favourable at all. There was also some rather moronic technobabbly reason for the female lead to strip to her underwear, which, er, yeah.

Gaith wrote:

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I don't want to hijack the thread, and have said my peace. I don't like procedurals, and my distaste increases in direct proportion to their lack of realism. Well, okay, now I've said my peace.

I don't like procedurals either, and Dexter is my favourite show on TV.

Weird. I do like the show less when it drifts away from the dark wit of being a serial killer, though.

[Dorian Thompson]

Dexter isn't a procedural.

[Kegg]

Dorian Thompson wrote:

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Dexter isn't a procedural.

Well, cop shows then. I don't like cop shows, procedural or otherwise. Bore the hell out of me.

[Samuel Walters]

Kegg wrote:

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I caught the pilot for Fringe when it first aired and was severely underimpressed, so I passed on it. Maybe it gets better, maybe I should give it another chance (alternate universes? Mr. Spock? Sounds good to me) but the initial impression wasn't favourable at all. There was also some rather moronic technobabbly reason for the female lead to strip to her underwear, which, er, yeah.

Tough to argue against the unimpressive beginning of the show, or with the technobabble expositions (which crop up more than they should). The show does get better, but its weakest aspects are the "cop procedural" elements. For me, the show generates just enough interest by way of its mythology and its characters (especially Walter) to justify calling it "entertaining." But I doubt Fringe will ever be mistaken as a great show like The Wire -- or even cutting edge like Dexter. It's possible, but Fringe will have to evolve quite a bit before that happens.