FRINGE being moved to Friday nights

[startrekwatcher]

Then the writers should get to it. If there is so much ground to cover mythology-wise and the threat of cancellation looms over it you would think they would quit dragging stuff out and giving us so much uninteresting filler.

A few things.........

1. The writers have stated they have a 5 year arc which means right now, they're telling the story at that pace.

Obviously they don't have a 5 year arc otherwise they wouldn't be giving us so much filler. They are dragging it out obviously. I'd rather have a tightly written 3 or 4 year series that has a narrative urgency a la LOST for most of its run than this drawn out mess.

However, even with a few of it's issues left, Fringe this season has been TNG Season 3 excellent by all accounts.

I love TNG. I think highly of TNG-3 and sir Fringe-S3 is no TNG-3 so far--not just in terms of episode quality or consistency but interest in the ensemble. TNG had 8 principles that were interesting Fringe can barely give us two. TNG-3 also gave us "The Survivors", "The Enemy", "The Defector", "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Tin Man", "The Best of Both Worlds" etc.

So, seriously now, how many TV Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Genre shows can you name me that are as intelligently written with a long term arc based story that's as good as Fringe?

DS9, LOST, B5, S1 of Heroes, The Vampire Diaries to name a few but I also don't simply judge sff shows like Fringe against just the pitiful sff shows out there right now but by all tv shows--currently or in the past.

I'm sorry I just can't say the show is intelligently written or ambitious in terms of executing a complex long term arc when the characters aren't interesting, the standalones are nothing new and are extremely predictable with false jeopardy involving the characters and mumbo jumbo science saving the day, the episode quality experiences wide fluctuations leading to a very uneven series, a weak romance. An intelligent ambitious series would be LOST or S1 of Heroes where they had dozens of characters to juggle, dozens of plot threads to develop/advance each week and a complex backstory to keep track of with well timed revelations and cliffhangers. All the threads were related to the mythology and would eventually come together as the season progressed. Now that takes some talent.

I'll grant you Walking Dead. So far, so excellent.

Don't bother granting it because I don't think much of it either-viewing it as an overrated, overhyped stale tale of the human condition. Fringe is much better than it.

However, that's the only show I can think of that's anywhere near as good as Fringe is right now.

Sorry but if you want a well structured heavily serialized sff show with interesting characters and a fairly decent romance with no filler and is *extremely* consistent then look no further than the sleeper hit The Vampire Diaries.

 

[PsychoPere]

The X-Files did well on Fridays..... Seeing as how Fringe is so similar to X-Files, I hope that.. It's a stretch, nah.

The television landscape was a lot different for The X-Files than shows today face. It's not a good comparison.

 

[Dream]

The CW's gotta be pleased that Idol will be going up against the 18-34 demo heavy Vampire Diaries on Thursdays. Damn, Fox is gonna ride Idol untill it burns to death.

Thursday has many big shows like Grey's Anatomy, CSI, and The Big Bang Theory. Idol will definitely drop in ratings next year. Hopefully the move to Thursdays will finally kill that garbage.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

I wish, Dream. I wish.

 

[label]

Obviously they don't have a 5 year arc otherwise they wouldn't be giving us so much filler.

Well, this part isn't really up for debate. I'm not just giving you my opinion about what the writers have planned, I'm just referring to an interview I read from them. I believe I read it on www.ew.com but I've slept a few times since I read it so it could have been a different site. In any case, they do have a 5 year arc planned out....granted, it may not be to your liking and how they're choosing to execute this 5 year arc may seem like a lot of filler to you, but they've got one in mind no matter how slowly they've decided to let things play out.

They are dragging it out obviously. I'd rather have a tightly written 3 or 4 year series that has a narrative urgency a la LOST for most of its run than this drawn out mess.

I love Lost. One of my all time favorite shows, but Season 2-3....especially Season 3......had a lot of "drawn out mess" storyline wise. They may have told more compelling filler to you than Fringe, but filler much of it was.

I love TNG. I think highly of TNG-3 and sir Fringe-S3 is no TNG-3 so far--

Perhaps not quite yet. It has yet to have it's "Yesterday's Enterprise" which is a true classic. But I'd say that Fringe Season 3's quality overall so far is trending that direction and all's it'll take is a "yesterday's enterprise" or two to take Fringe Season 3 to the equal heights as TNG3.

TNG-3 also gave us "The Survivors", "The Enemy", "The Defector", "Yesterday's Enterprise", "Tin Man", "The Best of Both Worlds" etc.

Sure, but it also gave us "menage a Trio", "Captain's Holiday" and "The most toys" as well as a few others that were hardly classic as well so TNG-3 was not perfect either.

So, seriously now, how many TV Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Genre shows can you name me that are as intelligently written with a long term arc based story that's as good as Fringe?

DS9, LOST, B5, S1 of Heroes, The Vampire Diaries to name a few but I also don't simply judge sff shows like Fringe against just the pitiful sff shows out there right now but by all tv shows--currently or in the past.

Sorry, I meant to say - as you were pointing out - name a show on right now that's as intelligently written, etc, etc.

Vampire diaries? Haven't seen it. Thought it looked liked a True Blood rip off or a Twilight wannabe. Guess I'll need to check it out.

Don't bother granting it because I don't think much of it either-viewing it as an overrated, overhyped stale tale of the human condition. Fringe is much better than it.

I agree that Fringe - right now - is better than it. And I also agree that it's hardly covering new territory thematically with it's tale of the human condition. But sometimes a show is good because the dialog is strong, the story's compelling, the cinematography is artfully done and the whole package is just a quality product, even if it's not breaking new ground.

 

[startrekwatcher]

Sure, but it also gave us "menage a Trio", "Captain's Holiday" and "The most toys" as well as a few others that were hardly classic as well so TNG-3 was not perfect either.

I personally enjoyed all of those episodes--they weren't masterpieces but they did the one thing that has so far eluded Fringe--tell a nice little one-off tale that held my attention and satisfied me. When Fringe does myth episodes like "The Box", "Grey Matters", "August", "6955Hz" it is great fun and involving but when they do their standalones they suck.

Vampire diaries? Haven't seen it. Thought it looked liked a True Blood rip off or a Twilight wannabe.

Only in the most superficial ways does VD share anything with those two shows. I sampled True Blood and thought it sucked--far too campy and unfocused. VD approaches its story with a serious tone. I didn't think I'd like it--a CW show focusing on teen lovers--but it is nothing like that. It is heavily serialized--constantly driving the arc forward with a lot of nice surprises--I'd characterize it as LOST-lite--not as large a cast of characters to keep track of and more easy to follow but like LOST tons of twists, revelations, cliffhangers, interesting adversaries with its own unique mythology.

I agree that Fringe - right now - is better than it. And I also agree that it's hardly covering new territory thematically with it's tale of the human condition. But sometimes a show is good because the dialog is strong, the story's compelling, the cinematography is artfully done and the whole package is just a quality product, even if it's not breaking new ground.

Well it just isn't for me--glacially paced, predictable, unlikeable characters and full of itself.

 

[Starbreaker]

Yet you're still watching. That's practically masochism.