Observers Are Here Blog for fans of J.J. Abrams’ show Fringe

The official release date has been announced by Warner Home Video as September 8, 2009.  You can pre-order your DVD boxset by clicking on the Amazon ad on the right hand side of the screen, underneath the poll box or the Amazon widget underneath the Archives box.

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Featuring a collectible lenticular slipcase, and packed with nearly 6 hours of special features, including featurettes, production diaries, producer and writer commentaries, deleted scenes, gag reel, Blu-Ray exclusive content and much more, this is one release that fans definitely won’t want to miss this fall.
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DVD Special Features Include:
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- Evolution: The Genesis of Fringe featurette - The creators of the show discuss how the series unfolded and the qualities that make it so unique
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- Behind the Real Science of Fringe featurette - From teleportation to re-animation, Fringe incorporates recent discoveries in science. Consulting experts and scientists who are the authorities in their field address the areas of science which are the inspiration for the show.
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Every week Fox released a “Scenemaker” video.  It takes a look behind the camera and talks with cast and crew.  Here is a roundup of those videos for “Fringe” - Season 1.  I was unable to find a few of them.  If anyone knows a link for the missing ones (that will play in Canada), please let me know.

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‘Scenemaker’ 1 - “Pilot”

‘Scenemaker’ 2 - “Same Old Story”

‘Scenemaker’ 3 - “The Ghost Network”

‘Scenemaker’ 4 - “The Arrival”

‘Scenemaker’ 5 - “Power Hungry”

‘Scenemaker’ 6 - “The Cure”

‘Scenemaker’ 7 - “In Which We Meet Mr. Jones” - United States only

‘Scenemaker’ 8 - “The Equation” - United States only

‘Scenemaker’ 9 - “The Dreamscape”

‘Scenemaker’ 10 - “Safe”

‘Scenemaker’ 11 - “Bound”

‘Scenemaker’ 12 - “The No-Brainer”

‘Scenemaker’ 13 - “The Transformation”

‘Scenemaker’ 14 - “Ability”

‘Scenemaker’ 15 - “Inner Child”

‘Scenemaker’ 16 - “Unleashed”

‘Scenemaker’ 17 - “Bad Dreams” - United States only

‘Scenemaker’ 18 - “Midnight”

‘Scenemaker’ 19 - “The Road Not Taken”

‘Scenemaker’ 20 - “There’s More Than One Of Everything”

The noetworks have all released their fall schedule, and I am very concerned.  First of all, I will apparently no longer be available to make myself available work on Thursday nights, and second of all, someone is going to lose this contest, and I’m not sure who to vote for.  Here is the lineup for Thursday night.

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8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
ABC *Flash Forward
CBS Survivor
Fox Bones
NBC *SNL Weekend Update Thursday / Parks and Recreation
CW *The Vampire Diaries
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9:00 - 10:00 p.m.
ABC Grey’s Anatomy
CBS CSI
Fox Fringe
NBC The Office / *Community (moves to 8 p.m. after SNL run) / 30 Rock (after Community moves)
CW Supernatural
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10:00 - 11:00 p.m.
ABC Private Practice
CBS The Mentalist
Fox Local Programming
NBC *The Jay Leno Show
CW Local Programming

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The 8:00pm timeslot doesn’t concern me…it’s ‘Bones’ all the way.  The 10:00pm timeslot is a little annoying, because I enjoy both ‘Private Practice’ and ‘The Mentalist’.  But the 9:00pm timeslot is very perplexing…’Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘CSI’, ‘Fringe’ and ‘Supernatural’ are all on at the same time!

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Don’t these execs realize that they have a whole entire week to work with!  Do they have to put all the best shows on at the exact same time on the exact same night?  They might as well move ‘Criminal Minds’ from Wednesday into the NBC slot, where ‘The Office’ is now, and it will be official…I will only need to turn my television on one night a week!  Even if I record three of the other shows, I either have to stay up until 1 o’clock in the morning to watch them all, or I don’t get to watch them until I have some free time on the weekend.  How is that fair?

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My biggest concern is the CBS lineup…it’s unbeatable as far as the ratings go.  Supernatural doesn’t stand a chance against these big hitters, and although ‘Fringe’ has a dedicated fanbase, will they be able to keep up?  Let’s just hope one or two of the networks cave in and send their show to a night with less competition, before anything gets cancelled!  I guess, until then, I have to bow out from everything other than ‘Fringe’.

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What show will win your 9:00pm viewing?

Each of the following images is one of the guest characters.  Can you name them?

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#1

Russell Simon
Thomas Avery
Joseph Meegar
Richard Steig

#2

Emmanuel Grayson
Roy McComb
Carl Bussler
Brian Dempsey

#3

Eliot Michaels
Bob Dunn
Bruce Sumner
Nick Lane

#4

Samantha Loeb
Valerie Boone
Samantha Gilmore
Nancy Lewis

#5

Dashiell Kim
Joseph Meegar
Gregory Wiles
Mark Young

#6

Morgan Steig
David Esterbrook
Sanford Harris
John Mosely

#7

Daniel Hicks
Jonathan Swift
Christopher Penrose
George Morales

#8

Nicholas Boone
Clause Penrose
Isaac Winters
Jacob Fischer

#9

Gregory Wiles
Eliot Michaels
John Mosely
Marshall Bowman

#10

Ryan Eastwick
Henry Jacobson
Ben Stockton
Ken Williams

O.K. everyone, it’s almost time to start our “Fringe” marathon.

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Monday, June 1, 2009, I will be starting with “Looking back at 101 - Pilot”.

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I will be continuing the marathon with one “Looking back” post about every five days right up to a few days before the new season starts, so brush the dust off of your TV and start rewatching your episodes.

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Here are the articles that Popular Mechanics released on the episodes from Season 1 of “Fringe”.

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Episode 1 - “Pilot”

Episode 2 - “Same Old Story”

Episode 3 - “The Ghost Network”

Episode 4 - “The Arrival”

Episode 5 - “Power Hungry”

Episode 6 - “The Cure”

Episode 7 - “In Which We Meet Mr. Jones”

Episode 8 - “The Equation”

Episode 9 - “The Dreamscape”

Episode 10 - “Safe”

Episode 11 - “Bound”

Episode 12 - “The No-Brainer”

Episode 13 - “The Transformation”

Episode 14 - “Ability”

Episode 15 - “Inner Child”

Episode 16 - “Unleashed”

Episode 17 - “Bad Dreams”

Episode 18 - “Midnight”

Episode 19 - “The Road Not Taken”

Episode 20 - “There’s More Than One Of Everything”

Thanks to Bradbury and Torma616 for giving us the heads up on this one.

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Charlie Francis

It was the status update that rocked the Fringe-verse: On May 20th, Kirk Acevedo—who plays level-headed Fed Charlie Francis—posted an all-caps bulletin on his Facebook page that read “WELL BOYS AND GIRLS THEY DONE DID YER BOY WRONG! THEY FIRED ME OFF FRINGE, AND I’VE NEVER BEEN FIRED IN MY LIFE!!”

But according to exec producer Jeff Pinkner, “like all things on Fringe, there is more to this story than meets the eye.” In fact Pinkner not only confirms to TV Guide Magazine that Acevedo “was not fired,” he hints that we’ll see more Agent Francis in season 2. Literally.

“We have already seen two of him on the show,” teases Pinkner. “We have already met the second Charlie. He had a scar on his face.” Looks like The Observer wasn’t messing around when he said that there’s more than one of everything.

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This is what Dennis over at Fringe Television had to say:

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Notice Pinkner doesn’t actually say we’ll see Charlie next season, he just “hints” at it (at least according to TV Guide). In fact, as of yesterday, I hear there were discussions on how Charlie could be written out of the story.
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What’s the real story? Pinkner is right about one thing, there is more to this story than meets the eye.
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I contacted Fox and WB, and as per usual SOP, they declined to comment. However, my inside source did verify that Kirk’s Facebook page was legitimate, and had this to say:

Kirk wasn’t 100% happy with the way he was used on the show and was somewhat vocal about it.

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Lee Hernandez of Latina.com was able to contact Kirk directly, and got a little clarification on his original statement:

“It’s called not picking up my option. But at the end of the day, you got fired!”

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So technically, he wasn’t fired - he was “let go” (or “made redundant” for our UK fans :). You say potato and I say potahto - the bottom line is that he won’t be a regular on the show anymore.
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A lot of this has to do with saving money. Kirk had a prety minor role on the show, but from what I hear, he was getting paid more that Anna Torv! So while I am a huge fan of Kirk (we even share the same last name!), if they needed to cut the cast budget (maybe to accommodate Nimoy), I can understand why this happened.
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The good news, if we read between the lines (and maybe because of all this coverage), is that there’s a good chance that we’ll see Charlie again - if everyone can kiss and makeup.

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Source: TV Guide Magazine and Fringe Television

Here is part 2 of the timeline.  You can view Part 1 (1900-1969) here.

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ariannejean placed a link for a video, and I had a peek at it.  The video itself is cute, but the interesting part is at about 2:28…

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IT’S US!! It’s like we’re on tv…I love it.

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That would be us!

Here is the music from the first season of Fringe.  Please let me know if you can add anything, or if any of this information is incorrect.

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101 - “Pilot”:

(Hollywood and Vines - Michael Giacchino ??) is this the same music as from the ‘Lost’ soundtrack?

102 - “The Same Old Story”:

Skin Head - The Glass Helmets
Young Men Dead - The Black Angels

103 - “The Ghost Network”:

Smoke From a Distant Fire - Sanford and Townsend
Someone to Watch Over Me - George Gershwin

104 - “The Arrival”:

Crazy - Willy Nelson
King of the Road - Johnny Russell

105 - “Power Hungry”:

Can’t Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon

107 - “In Which We Meet Mr. Jones”:

Let It Be Me - Ray LaMontagne
Thank You Too - My Morning Jacket

109 - “The Dreamscape”:

Evergreen - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals

110 - “Safe”:

Sequestered In Memphis - Hold Steady, The
Sister Lost Soul - Alejandro Escovedo

111 - “Bound”:

Just Like Heaven - The Watson Twins (Cure cover)
Piece by Piece - Katie Melua

112 - “The No-Brainer”:

Single Ladies - Beyoncé
Spaceman - Killers, The
Insight - Fort Knox Five
Bandits - Midlake

113 - “The Transformation”:

Oxygen - Colbie Calliat

115 - “Inner Child”:

Love and Happiness - Al Green
You Fall To Pieces - The Shore

116 - “Unleashed”:

No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand
Trashcan - Delta Spirit
Escape (The Piña Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes (sung by the actor)

117 - “Bad Dreams”:

Starstruck - Lady GaGa
Via Veneto - Lou Monte

118 - “Midnight”:

Bela Lugosi’s Dead - Bauhaus
Tear You Apart - She Wants Revenge
Discipline - Nine Inch Nails
Burning Up - Ladytron
Once You Say - Nitzer Ebb
Closer To You - Daniel Ash
Candy Darling - Daniel Ash

119 - “The Road Not Taken”:

Traveling Riverside Blues - Robert Johnson