TV GUIDE: Ask Matt: Sherlock, Killing, Fringe, Revenge, Ringer, NCIS
Apr 23, 2012
by Matt Roush
Send questions to askmatt@tvguidemagazine.com and follow on Twitter!
... Question: ... Am I naive for thinking that there's still hope for even a bit more Fringe? Every time I read that ratings are down for some other show, or that more-expensive-shows X, Y and Z are not coming back, some part of me hopes that there might be room for Fringe in the fall. They've gotta show something, right? Every would-be hit that fizzles gives me hope. — Anna
Matt Roush: ... Regarding Fringe: I'm not losing hope for at least a partial fifth, and presumably final, season until the axe actually falls. Fox has indulged it, and us, this long, and I'm cautiously optimistic they'll work out some way to make this happen.
Question: So I watched Fringe Friday night and was blown away by the recasting of the story to a future time and the continued creativity of this program. This really is terrific science fiction at work in terms of the writing, acting and overall caliber of what's being put on the screen. Then it struck me. They have created a whole new show within a show that could facilitate the portability of moving this show from Fox to another channel (Syfy perhaps) in the likely increasingly event that it's canceled at the end of the season. What do you think, Matt? Is this a way to setting up the potential for a transition with a subset of the current stars (interesting mix of the two current Walters), a whole new set of story lines with the future scenario of resistance fighters putting up the good fight against the evil Observers (and how evil they have become!), cheaper sets perhaps, etc.? If this scenario were to pan out, would that small universe of avid Fringe viewers at least have some hope of continuing this show in some way going forward? — Raymond
Matt Roush: The reboot to a future war-against-the-Observers storyline, which I also quite enjoyed, is almost certainly driven creatively, not by some ulterior motive to keep the show alive on another platform — although the creators have spoken in the past about continuing the franchise in graphic-novel or webisode form if Fox does indeed pull the plug. The likelihood of Syfy (in particular) picking this up is very slim, mostly for economic reasons but also because they've got a fairly full slate of shows already, including several in development. I've begun to wonder if Warner Bros., which produces the show, might turn to one of its primary distribution arms, The CW, to keep Fringe alive for however much of a fifth season they need to wrap things up. (Just speculating here; haven't heard a thing and wouldn't necessarily expect it to happen.) One of my favorite aspects of the Fringe experience is watching it reinvent itself every season. I'd love to see it get this last chance...
Fringe season four airs Friday at 9/8C on FOX.
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