Fringe‘s uncertain future was a hot topic Sunday at the Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, with both the president of Fox and executive producer J.J. Abrams weighing in on what is and what might need to be.
But when TVLine spoke with Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman earlier this week — after screening the show’s winter premiere (airing Friday, Jan. 13) — the EPs shared their exit plan (or absence of one) should this turn out to be the final season.
“The answer to that question is the same every year,” Pinkner started when asked if and when they’d need a heads up to wrap things up. “Worst case scenario, if this were the last aired season of Fringe — and as we’ve said before, there are other outlets where we could continue our stories, be they graphic novels or webisodes — we know what the end of this season is going to be, and it can function as a series finale.”
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Fringe - Season 4 - Season Finale or Series Finale
Jan 8, 2012
Cancelled Shows
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I really don't want Fringe to end so fast!
ReplyDeleteOkay, remember when they said this same thing about the day we died? 'Cause I do and that was everything but something good to be a series finale IMO.
ReplyDelete"it can function as a series finale.” I don't really like that comment :\ Maybe the episode "can" function as a series finale, but it doesn't mean it is the series finale a show like Fringe deserves.
ReplyDelete'It CAN function as a series finale'
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't sound definite enough for me!
Such a shame the best show on TV can't find ratings whilst garbage reality shows continue to get renewed year after year. Is there a possibility it could ever be picked up by something like SyFy or even Netflix (in light of their 'Arrested Development' revival) or hey, maybe a movie one day in order to wrap things up? This can't be the end, please!
ReplyDeleteThey have to be kidding... Ending the story through the graphic novel???? No way! They REALLY need to sit down with FOX and WB and set and end date!!!
ReplyDeleteI can understand FOX issue with continuing FRINGE given its mediocre ratings. I do not like it, but I do understand....
ReplyDeleteI hate when series end in a way that short changes fans or the creative team's story, but I don't think the network owes anything to fans to give it another year just to complete the story.
I always respect it when networks choose to do so though... like TNT did with Saving Grace, NBC has done with Chuck or the few other instances where walking dead series were renewed just as a chance to end the series properly.
Graphic novels or webisodes are nonstarters for me personally. I don't mind webisodes as supplements to a story, but not as the story itself and comic books are not my thing. Especially not for a story as layered and detailed as FRINGE.
Given JJ Abrams movie connections a 2-hour movie seems like a better option to me, but let's face it... how many post-cancellation series get the mythical "wrap-up movie" made? I'm still waiting for Veronica Mars the movie, Deadwood was goiong to have a movie or mini-series too. Arrested Development is a rare exception but it too years. For a series like FRINGE I think the movie would need to be within a couple years to really connect to the story and to fans.
Oooo...these are the same type of comments NBC made about Heroes....ouch.
ReplyDeleteUnless the remaining episodes can turn this season around it is not looking good for our favorite show. :|
Is that a realistic option, though? I mean, if they really intended to do a 2-hour movie to wrap up they story, it would have to be very embeded in the story in order to satisfy fans. But then no one else would watch it... And if they made it so people not familiar with Fringe went to see it (which would be the only way that it made enough cash), then it would end up being a kind of "X-Fies" movie, which would be entertaining, I'm sure, but definitely not good enough to serve its purpose.
ReplyDeleteI think it might work IF this season finale ties enough together. If the series ends with much of the myth arc completed a movie might be long enough to bridge the gap to the original endgame. That is a big maybe though.
ReplyDeletei dont want fringe to end but i trust the writers that the ending will be good
ReplyDeleteJust the title of this article alone made me hyperventilate. I don't want Fringe to end, not yet!
ReplyDeleteI just ask that shows like this be given enough notice to end properly, and it sounds like in this case they've been planning for it. I'm so tired of shows ending on cliffhangers. Fringe had a good run.
ReplyDelete"we know what the end of this season is going to be, and it can function as a series finale" i dont like this at all. like really at all. but i dont run Fox to renew Fringe . I hope it could be on another network but i doubt it i hope they go for even a short s5 to bring at least conclusions and better let go in the fans.
ReplyDeleteI was beginning to draw those parallels too.
ReplyDeletePlease please please Fringe pull a Chuck.
ReplyDeleteOne more Goodbye season to wrap things up. It needs a proper ending!!
Hope whoever makes the show gives FOX a deal they can't refuse.
Maybe Fox can give them a limited S5 like NBC did with Chuck just to wrap things up, 13 episodes would be enough, hey I would take a mini-series
ReplyDeleteJust gonna keep on hopin'....don't mind me...
ReplyDeleteWorst case senario: webisodes can work, NO grafic novels! But I really hope they can get more seasons, I don't care if it's on another network
ReplyDeleteI really hope it laststs one more year, even if it's final! This is not a stupid show, it makes people think and I guess that's why its' ratings are not that great - people want to watch stupid reality or whatever, I guess... which is very sad :/. btw does Abrams really count in whatever it is about Fringe? Apart from being a producer or something he hasn't done anything for the show the first season
ReplyDeleteNooooooooo. Six seasons and a movie!!!
ReplyDeleteIt could always work out. Like the 3rd finale of Damages. It was just too good not to be able to double as a series finale, but it ended up not being one after all.
ReplyDelete13th January
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p_PCsEnDpN0
Garbage reality shows are cheap to make. Quality requires money.
ReplyDeleteI was only just writing about this over on another topic, where I was saying there may be enough episodes coming to wrap up the story. But the webisode idea is even better. Much better. A short season 5 is better yet. A graphic novel is not a very good idea. Whichever way, I really want to find out who the Observers are, and the First People.
ReplyDeletenoo! please let it be the season finalee!!
ReplyDeletegraphic novels? webisodes? this isn't Buffy or Charmed (although I love both) it's not the same thing. Neither medium would do the ending justice.
ReplyDeleteI have a very bad feeling about it {that it might actually the last season...} I sure do NOT hope that the show continues as a Graphic Novel or web-epi's....So I keep my fingers crossed for a 5th season....
ReplyDelete♥
Yeah that will suck only 4 seasons
ReplyDeleteObviously I am hoping this won't be the final season of Fringe, but everything seems to be suggesting that it will be. An episode that can be both a season or a series finale sounds sensible though.
ReplyDeleteSo depression to read this...
ReplyDeleteSorry but I don't want Fringe to transfer to another platform like webisodes or comics, or even another network. Although Fox has been great so far I think a 15 ep S5 would be ideal.
ReplyDeleteApproximately 15 eps left in S4, enough time for Peter to unravel the mystery of the observers and use September's help (and maybe Sam Weiss's) and the machine to get back to the blue universe/timeline.
13 eps in season 5 for Peter to meet his son (which will probably cause a temporary break up with Olivia), he and Olivia save their universe which is still breaking down, kill walternate, and reunite in the series finale.
I know they are not in the business to lose money but does Fringe have to suffer because they decided to invest/ LOSE all that money in Terra Nova...
ReplyDeleteMe too! And yet they wasted millions on Terra Nova.....
ReplyDeleteWell... yeah, unless Fox decides to sacrifice OTHER shows to save Terra Nova.
ReplyDeleteI have not see Terra Nova but I have not heard good thing at all...
ReplyDeleteI kept hoping it would get better but for me it didn't. I'm not sure,maybe i was expecting to much......
ReplyDeleteWhile the thought of season 4 being the last is extremely saddening I can't say it's at all surprising. Fringe is honestly my favourite show on television but I hate to admit it: I feel so disconnected from this season. By giving us the alternate "Peterless" timeline they've essentially given us a 3rd and 4th universe, which I've been having difficulty swallowing. If the universes we're seeing this season aren't technically the original 2, can they really expect us to invest in another 2? Even the Olivia on "our" side this season isn't really our Olivia. While yes the developments with Nina and the upcoming return of DRJ are both very intriguing and exciting to me, and the acting is still as impeccable as ever, I'm just not feeling it, and that makes me sadder than the thought of the series ending could right now.
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad situation. But a short 5th. season is certainly better than nothing
ReplyDeleteThey 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.
ReplyDeleteIt must be so hard running a show that's always on the bubble
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy Fringe. I watch it every week. However, somewhere along the line I am confused in the story line. I was fine when there were two universes & two of everyone but ever since Peter disappeared I am no longer certain what universe he came back into. Can someone explain it to me or tell me where I can find out. Although I am a great grandma I am pretty savvy so I think I can follow an explanation & I would certainly appreciate one.
ReplyDeleteSo, pretty much, they're guaranteeing that they'll be ending this season with cliff-hangers, and it's up to the network whether they will end the show on these cliff-hangers or not.
ReplyDeleteI understand that you can't put a date on creativity. It must be allowed to continue for as long or as short as necessary to complete the work.
However, in the face of realism, it seems that it's sort of disregarding the fans to end it on cliff-hangers merely because one refuses to come to a solid agreement on when the saga is going to conclude.
If JJ Abrams is not ready to end the saga just yet, and Fox is going to cancel it, then he needs to properly conclude the show, but then re-open the saga in the graphic novels, short stories, or whatever.
I mean, to have an ending that is only temporary that seems final isn't that difficult to pull off, especially when talking about fringe science like "Fringe" does. I mean, really, is anything realistically for sure on that show? I mean the stuff they talk about is mostly based not on actual science, but creativity. So, we reach a final conclusion that solves the problems, answers the questions, and leaves the television audience satisfied and scurrying around to find the next show to satisfy their craving for fringe science sci-fi only for the true fans of Fringe to realize several months later that an hour later, well after the finale episode has finished, that it wasn't the answer at all, and in fact needs to be dealt with.
How hard would that be to make believable. I think it would be rather easy. Use a solution on the finale and then in the first graphic novel, have them find out an hour later how wrong they were about this solution. I mean how many times has that happened in Fringe, that they find a solution, are convinced of it, and then implement it only to find out that they were wrong and need to figure out a real solution? I think it keeps happening every 2 or three episodes until the finales, right? Well, an hour later in-show time, and it wouldn't be that difficult to sell the idea to the readers that the solution in the series finale didn't quite work out, and that something was overlooked, or there was an error, or quite simply the lack of understanding that Walter must learn in order to solve the problem. Then just continue until his desired conclusion.
I wouldn't hold my breath for a movie. I hear a lot of shows as of late talk about and even promise movies to bring a final conclusion to their show, and it either never happens or it happens a few to several years later long after we've moved on and forgotten what happened in that final season and can only remember vaguely like one or two of the remaining questions. Although, that's not to guarantee that we can still remember the true significance of those remaining questions that we can actually recall.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, you could be right about SyFy. They do their part. They were instrumental in keeping the Stargate saga going. They swooped that show up early from some pay channel like HBO or Showtime, and they managed to turn what would have probably maxed out at only a three season show into like 10 seasons and two spin-offs, one of which made it 5 seasons and the other made it 2 seasons. Story lines of that second spin-off kind of sucked, the characters were sort of unbelievable and unrealistic, and it was way too adult-oriented.
If you look at some of the comments about ratings from last year's renewal discussions, it seems like this season was possibly the extra season given so that the creative staff could conclude the show. And rather than conclude it, they still want another season.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I love the show and couldn't be happier if they continue it, but every show ends sometime, except The Simpsons.
i wouldn't be so sure of that. I've noticed and increasing trend amongst some of the best shows out there, that the creative staff utterly excel at grabbing attention and continuing a show, but they completely suck and concluding them.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great, but ratings are heavy as they spell out the bottom line, which is the money spent to profit ratio.
ReplyDeleteI think that's the primary problem, a show's creative staff are not given a final answer as to the continuation or cancellation of a show, and it makes it difficult to properly conclude a show when you aren't given a definite answer until you're already ready to be finishing up like the last 2 or 3 episodes of the season.
ReplyDelete