“He could not have been more clear,” Jackson said. “He’s not running a charitable foundation. And if the show is really not making money [then that should be it]. But the important thing to me is that our writers are given a chance to finish the show because it’s a serialized show.”
I would like to point something out about the source article: Kevin Reilly was very upfront about the cost of this show even with its critical acclaim and rabid (if diminutive) fanbase. He stated plainly that Fringe was expensive and it was really struggling in the ratings, which are necessary to keep a show afloat on television. Simple as that. However, the way it was summarized by Mr. James Hibberd makes it sound much more crass. I would recommend anyone who missed the actual comments by Reilly to read them instead of Mr. Hibberd's take on them.
Source: EW
Joshua Jackson is such a honest guy. He doesn't sugar-coat things or try to give fans false-hope. I really like this guy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with him. Giving the show a good ending is all that matters.
As much as I like Joshua Jackson's honesty, him going on record and being completely hopeless about a fifth season is not the best idea. Of course he's probably right, but he should have given a phony Hollywood speech instead, that's what you do when you're at a party with your bosses around.
ReplyDeleteI'm not losing hope though. After witnessing Chuck (a Warner Bros. production, like Fringe) escaping death four times over the past four years, I think we can make a fifth season work, even it's only 13 episodes, I'm good with that. That's what I would call giving the writers a chance to properly end the show, not having a season finale that sort of works as a series finale as well. Ending a show like Fringe nicely demands at least 13 episodes. From the looks of it, Fox won't make any concession anymore, it's up to Warner Bros to lower their prices even more to make a fitfh season work.
He's right. The folks at Fox are in the business to make money and, at least, they gave the show a chance. There were a couple of seasons where they didn't even try to give a struggling show a chance. I'm curious as to whether Fox made any money on Terra Nova.
ReplyDeletewow, Joshua, you need to take a refresher course in Hollywood Politics 101... but the honesty is refreshing
ReplyDeleteI love that he's as much of a fan as the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteWhy more people watch reality TV over a great show like Fringe is beyond my wildest imagination. I am not even over the loss yet of Heroes, 24, and LOST! Maybe they should put Snookie in Fringe as Peters twin sister and the ratings would soar! I guess all we can ask and hope for is a great and gratifying ending.
ReplyDeletePosted this earlier on the original posting: They should have never moved it from Tuesdays. Made no sense then and makes no sense today. To make it worse, they move it to Friday. "Oh we supports the show..." blah blah blah. Hey Fox, we're not retarded. If you really wanted this show to succeed, you would have never put it on Fridays.
ReplyDeletei hope fringe gets Renewed for one more season
ReplyDeleteIt was either put it on Fridays or cancel it. Which would you prefer? The show was going south fast in the ratings after a mildly impressive first season (ratings-wise) and while I was hoping just as much as the next person that they'd fill the missing slot on Monday with Fringe, FOX has been trying to get a true hit on Mondays and Tuesdays, and a show that's already faltering to half it's audience within a single season (and then even lower from that point on) is not going to be the big bread-winner that FOX wants. They finally got their winner in The New Girl it seems, so that has paid off, and it's possible one of their upcoming shows could pull off good ratings and become another hit for the channel. Fringe is not going to do that. It's missed its chance, and FOX has done nothing but support it. That is the absolute truth. You can hate on them all you want for moving it to Fridays but they kept the damn show on the air for another half season and then renewed it for a full season 4 pickup with absolutely dreadful insta-cancel ratings. And now you're going to say stuff like that? It just doesn't work that way. They moved it to Thursdays thinking that Fringe was going to be a huge hit, due to its high quality entertainment and that it was a JJ Abrams show, on a night that has been losing viewers for years, but instead it didn't work out. As I said earlier, it's a choice: clear out the show or move it to a new night. This past season FOX took out 2-3 other shows (2 of which had better ratings than Fringe if I remember correctly) in what some say was a sacrifice to keep Fringe on the air and allow new shows to show up. I get that you're upset with the situation, but this is the one time where it's not FOX's fault. If you wanna point the finger so bad, point it at the people who weren't watching live...point it at the Nielsen system...but not FOX, at least not THIS time.
ReplyDelete"We have to live in hope don't we?" We can't give up yet! Stay stronge Fringies!
ReplyDeleteAgreed it was doing ok on Tuesdays then they moved it to Thursdays which was such a busy night
ReplyDeleteVery well stated. It was a shock that Fringe got renewed for this year and a full season to boot. That was unlikely to say the very least and the fact that FOX paid for something it had to know was not going to rise in the ratings shows a tremendous amount of support for a quality TV show. FOX has done just about everything they could. It's up to the Nielsen viewers to determine if the show is renewed, no one else.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Joshua Jackson's interview ( at the Hollywood Reporter website) The statement above, that Hibberd's summation makes Jackson's statement sound harsh is an understatement. Jackson, was not angry or heated at all. He was asked about the possibility of cancellation and said simply he'd rather not have the show be cancelled but if it is the most important thing for him would be to finish the story in a way that would satisfy the people who have stuck with the show. Mr. Hibberd's paraphrase makes it sound like Joshua Jackson was ranting. He wasn't. He was made a considered and thoughtful statement about the possibility of cancellation and championing the fans.
ReplyDeleteHe also made some comments about what to expect from his character when the show comes back. (No spoilers, tho.)
I'm really really sad that it might end, but I'm also glad they're giving the writers a chance to write a nice ending. I so hated it when V just ended with a cliffhanger.
ReplyDeleteIt's all we are hoping for, but the truth is the network doesn't owe anybody anything... Like he says, it's not a charitable foundation, so if the show is loosing them money they will cancell it. It'd be a nice gesture if they told the showrunners in advance, though. But the short 5th season that we all want and the show deserves will only happen if they get a good deal from WB. Otherwise the show is dead.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree to an extent. The show was doing fine on Tuesday. FOX knew what Thursdays would do. I heard in the past that Fringe wasn't a good lead or follow up to American Idol. I thought that was such a load of crap. Lost followed DWTS for years before its end. I should blame Glee lol.
ReplyDeleteFOX adjusting Idol was a huge mistake and Fringe didn't start to dip hard until the move to Thursday happened. Like i mentioned before, if they truly supported it, then Friday should have never been an option. IMO.
Agree 100% with what he is saying. A final 5th season seems extremely unlikely so why not admit that and give the writers a decent chance of wrapping things up? I hope that is what is happening anyway.
ReplyDeleteI watched and liked Josh's interview, and I'm impressed by the thought that this show is ultimately about Olivia's self-discovery. What that means to me is that all the questions that have arisen regarding such matters as who are the Observers and who are the First People are secondary. At any rate, whenever the series does finally end, I am making a promise I will not get all snivelly, "But they d-i-d-n-'t answer my q-u-e-s-t-i-o-n-s boo hoo." I instead will say thank you to all involved for giving me a truly entertaining and thought-provoking show.
ReplyDeleteI said it before, I'll say it again: I wish Kevin Reilly would stop dancing around the issue of "will they cancel it, or won't they cancel it" and just get the powers that be to cancel it now. That way, we can maybe have a satisfying, if rushed, conclusion to the series. This isn't some one season show that no one watched, this show has been on for FOUR YEARS. It DESERVES to go out with the dignity of a final episode that was BUILT TO BE A FINAL EPISODE, not some lame "mostly a season finale but could work as a series finale" final episode!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I strongly disagree with that. American Idol has mainly been used by FOX to start shows off, and then after between a half season to a full season, they move the show that was given a lot of exposure by AI to it's proper time. That's what they did with Fringe. And this has nothing to do with Glee. Fringe was getting respectable ratings behind American Idol but only because of the fact that it was following their highest-rated show. Overall Fringe had a 3.0-3.5 usually, and this was following ratings between 5.0-9.0 on the 18-49s. That means that Fringe, as a brand new show being hyped and critically acclaimed and following the highest rated show on television was still doing subpar to most shows on CBS and FOX at the time. (Sort've like how Person of Interest is doing now...) If the show can't hold up without American Idol's lead-in then sadly it won't make it for very long because FOX usually had a couple shows that needed that slot to launch their new shows. Now, recently they've got Bones behind American Idol and then they switched it so that only a half hour would be left after American Idol...so that's changed... I'd of course love to see Fringe's ratings swell up with a mid-season premiere behind American Idol, but that's not feasible.
ReplyDeleteThis s truly depressing! If this is truly the end the natural progression will be gone,and there wrap up will be hurried and not as fulfilling as it would have been if given appropriate time to give it a proper ending..... :(
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this,it didn't ring true to me that Joshua would have been harsh with his words( at least not yet!), i hope everyone reads your comment!
ReplyDeleteWell in any case he really has strongly supported the show. I am always surprised that he is the actor that comes and sticks it out with the fans! More power to him!
ReplyDeleteYes he has and it is appreciated i was/am so bummed out by all of this...
ReplyDeleteThanks! Too bad it's nothing positive.
ReplyDeletethanks
ReplyDeleteHave read a couple of the other TCA executive round ups...The guy at ABC (Paul Lee) was just as circumspect....'we haven't really decided yet' It is very annoying.
ReplyDelete