EVIL PUPPET MASTERS

FINALLY, I can make the announcement that I have been dying to make since…February Thanks to the insane awesomeness that is JJ, Burky and Bad Robot - FRINGE fans now have a place to interact with each other AND with members of the Creative Team AND (hopefully) actors from the show. That place is FRINGE DIVISION — the Offical Site for the Creative Team Behind FRINGE and it is sponsored by J.J. Abrams.

For anyone who is familiar with The Fuselage site that was made for LOST - FRINGE DIVISION should look and feel very familiar to you. It is designed and run by the same duo who made the Fuse: Karri and Artie. In fact - if you are registered on the threaded board of The Fuselage, your registration carries over to FRINGE DIVISION - just login with the same User Name and Password.

The site has been up for a couple of weeks while we have been working the bugs out, but it is a fully operational battlestation so feel free to go give it a spin. My buddy Rick (aka J.R. Orci, one of those writer/producer guys for FRINGE) has already been breaking in his Q&A forum on the threaded board, and a few more VIPs should start appearing over the next couple of weeks. You may notice that I have one of those pretty colored fonts over there - that is because I am a Co-Admin for the site. Feel free to stop by and say howdy

I know this post will probably make some people, specifically those from other FRINGE-related fansites/forums/blogs, mad at or affronted by me. I can’t just sit back and watch this anymore without commenting though - and I’ve been around the online fandoms long enough to have a thick skin for whatever backlash this may incite. If you don’t like this post or feel the need to vehemently disagree with me, then bring it. I will respect you more for fighting for what you believe in than for sitting in the corner on your hands and nodding along.

Before I DO say something, I will post my usual disclaimer that comes along with any of these blog entries that has IMHO as one of the categories. This post is coming from ME and ME ALONE. In no way should this be considered to be the thoughts or reflections of ANYONE in the industry (i.e., BR peeps) who I have the privilege of knowing and/or calling “friend.” I am not now, nor have I ever been, employed by Bad Robot Productions.

With that out of the way - what the hell is the deal with all of the FRINGE fansites that have popped up declaring they are the “most popular” or that they are “THE SOURCE FOR ALL YOUR FRINGE NEEDS” etc.? There is barely a trickle of information available for the show at this point - sorry guys, but there just is not that much to TALK about right now. Not on a daily basis at least. And, um, excuse me, but it is not even JULY yet. And the pilot that has leaked all over God’s green earth? Yeah, that was NOT the final cut - yet bloggers and websites and fans all over are throwing in their two cents…picking it apart frame-by-frame. Casting their votes NOW - for something that will not actually air in its locked form for another TWO MONTHS.

In what land of crazy did this become the norm? And please, don’t start in with how this is good for advertising. Showing ads for FRINGE during American Idol and pretty regularly during the summer? That is good advertising. Posting trailers, then posting trailers with some new scenes periodically - that works, too. The visually dynamic print ads that get the viewer even MORE curious - that’s good stuff. Ads showing up in magazines and sprinkled across websites all over the web, the actors making appearances at the upfronts and (hopefully) Comic Con, the creators giving interviews - I am ALL for ALL of that. But I’m sorry - I am not ready to pick apart the pilot when the BULK of the television audience has not had the opportunity nor the means to see it. And NO ONE has seen the final locked cut - so you could have someone bitching for 10 pages of a forum regarding the music, only to discover when the REAL pilot airs that none of that music was even used (mock me if you want - but you KNOW that is going to happen somewhere).

Leaking an early version of the pilot episode, and thus removing any kind of incentive to actually WATCH the show when it premieres…MONTHS before it premieres…just so people can hem and haw over it AD NAUSEUM on every flippin site online, until the last thing anyone wants to talk about is FRINGE? Guh…so not a good idea. I am not accusing FOX of leaking the pilot intentionally, but they did seem oddly “okay” with it…to the point that they actually ASKED fans who had seen the ILLEGAL DOWNLOADED VERSION OF THE UNFINALIZED PILOT to “let [them] know what you think!!!” Um, 4realz?

To make matters worse - the leaking of the pilot and the decision of some of these upstart FRINGE sites to post it or not post it, essentially turned into a pissing contest. A pissing contest that I got dragged into. For the record - I am not your referee. I do not run to BR every time someone asks me to. GOOD GRIEF, they would hate my guts right now if I did that. I know what fights are worth fighting for. And from THIS POINT FORWARD - I am NOT taking anyone’s side. Evil Puppet Masters is no longer affiliating with ANY Fringe sites, except for OFFICIAL ones. Just keep me the hell out of it, capisce?

I LOVE FRINGE. And I love the people who created the show, who are writing the scripts, who are editing and directing and producing and working behind the scenes. I want the show to succeed like you could not even possibly fathom. But all these pissing contests to see who can collect the MOST email addys from people affiliated with the show, who can get the most sites to affiliate with them, who can legitimately call themselves the END-ALL BE-ALL BEST SITE 4EVAH!!?1!!! for FRINGE…will HURT this fandom more than help it in the end. Especially this early in the game - right now, you are all having a pissing contest into an empty pool.

To be honest - if your intent to have the biggest baddest FRINGE site is due to your hoping to get recognition (from JJ, BR, Fox or whomever), or to gain online fame-like status, or to make a profit… then you will be disappointed. And you are DOING IT FOR THE WRONG REASONS.

The irony in all this is that my “major announcement” that I haven’t been able to actually announce yet is related to a new FRINGE forum - an officially sponsored one. EPM will be affiliated with this forum, because (a) it is official, (b) I am partly responsible for making it happen, and (c) none of those reasons above apply to my reason for doing this. I’m doing it because I love this show and the people behind it - I’m doing it because they asked me to - and I’m doing it FOR THE FANS.

Here’s a secret - BR does it all for the fans, too.

At least I won’t have to worry about anyone posting a link to the leaked pilot on this forum - they’ll be banned if they do Don’t worry - the official announcement for the new forum will be within the next couple of days. I just wanted to get this off my chest - and hope that the other FRINGE sites will make more of an effort to PLAY NICE. I’ve witnessed in-fighting in a fandom take a show down. It is not a pretty sight. Don’t kill this show before it even airs.

For those of you who didn’t already know, I have spent the better part of the past nine months co-writing a book about the LOST fandom with blogger extraordinaire DocArzt. The book is called “LOST Ate My Life!” and as of TODAY it is available for pre-order on Amazon!! w00t! Click on the piccie below or in the sidebar to check it out:

If you want a more detailed description of the book, you can find it HERE on our publisher’s site.

The support I have had during the writing of this book has been EPIC. Whether it was agreeing to interviews (Bryan, Gregg, William, Javi), writing the foreword (Javi), joining my fanclub (MONGERS), listening to my rants and/or holding me up as I was falling down (Bryan, Javi, Gregg, Rick, Denise and the rest of the Mongers) - I can’t imagine going through this without any of these people. I hope everyone will be pleased with the results.

The book is due to be published November 1, 2008. If you are REALLY curious as to how this whole thing came about and how I have dealt with the highs and lows - go check out my author’s blog: Fandom Life.

I was interviewed last week by The Houston Chronicle about being a fan of JJ and LOST. It seems that the interviewer liked what I had to say because my name comes up often in the piece that went live today.

Go HERE to read it. Yeah, that Johnston chick? That’s me One note: I DO NOT co-run The Fuselage with Artie. That would be the lovely Karri. The interviewer really didn’t have much of an understanding about online bulletin boards, so when I told her I was a moderator there, I think she misunderstood what that was. Otherwise, the rest of the article is good - and it’s a positive one, which I always like to see.

Awwww…I’m so proud of those fabulous Fuselagers who have been putting together the Dharma Drops for LOST’s striking writers. The Big Red Box O’Treats (with the SUPER COOL “Pencil Station” Dharma logo on it) even garnered a mention and a pic in Maureen Ryan’s blog for the Chicago Tribune. Check out the blurb below:

Writers are getting a lot of exercise on the picket line (they are required to picket for 12 hours per week, though there is a vacation break that starts Wednesday). But they’re also getting a lot of treats. “I thought I’d lose more weight,” film scribe Tomas Romero said. But with members of the public and strike supporters bringing by doughnuts, smoothies, sandwiches, cookies and other treats, it’s hard to slim down. Individual shows have been getting goodies from their fans: “Lost” obsessives delivered an elaborate box of full of individually wrapped care packages to that show’s picketing location. The box came complete with a “Lost”-centric strike logo – the Dharma Initiative logo with a pencil in the middle.

Props to Caren, Cathy, the Collective, Sam G and all the Lostkateers who contributed to the Dharma Drops. Check THIS POST for future Dharma Drops and how you can help support LOST Labs during this difficult time.

One more pic to share from the front lines of the WGA Strike.

That is former Alias scribe and current Journeyman writer, J.R. Orci, on the left, and his big brother, Roberto Orci, on the right. Bob and his writing partner, Alex Kurtzman, have written for Alias, as well as Mission: Impossible III and the currently filming 11th Star Trek movie.

Pic used by permission of J.R. Orci.

To keep up with the strike happenings, visit UnitedHollywood.com.
To find ways that YOU can support the writers of your favorite televisions shows, visit fans4writers.com.

A truly special delivery arrived for the LOST writers on the picket lines outside Disney Studios last week: their own personal Dharma Drop. Fans of the show from The Fuselage organized the care packages and had them hand-delivered to LOST Script Coordinator Gregg Nations. Here are some pics (courtesy of Fuser yukailin, who delivered the DD package), and I have c/p’d Gregg’s response to the package at the end of this post:

The Dharma Drop Box

The Goodie Bags for LOST Writers (those are “Island Explosion” Yogos in there…not that we WANT the Island to explode…again)

A very happy Gregg Nations receiving the Dharma Drop

Here is Gregg’s post from his fan club thread over at The Fuselage:

We got the Dharma Drop today on the picket line — you go, Fuselagers! What a nice surprise and a very considerate gift. Not only were the Lost writers appreciative, but other writers on the picket line were thrilled. They all loved the Dharma strike logo you came up with, and I even heard more than one writer say they wished they had fans like the Lost fans. Way to go, everyone! … Oh yes, and a big thanks to Carencey for organizing it so quickly, and Yuk[ailin] for driving it up to Disney…

There were a lot of television showrunners and writers commenting on the series finale of The Sopranos, which caused quite a controversy with its “fade-to-black” non-ending. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse made a promise to LOST fans that they won’t do that to us.

Quotes from the article:

“Obviously, we can’t wait to the 48th hour to say, ‘Here are all the mysteries of the show,’ ” Lindelof said. But Cuse also noted the reality of the sometimes vociferous and heavily engaged viewership of the show…

“I’m not sure there is any ending that will satisfy everyone,” Cuse said. “Our hope is that the ending will be … the logical conclusion of the story.”

I’m okay with that, but I’m sure that they have set themselves up, much like The Sopranos did, to tick off some boisterous sect of fans due to the greater-than-reasonably-legitimate expectations the show has garnered.

The article goes on to quote the Darlton boys on plans for the hiatus — those long ago promised “mobisodes” are set to finally appear this Fall, though not in the format they were originally presented in. Darlton said they’ve learned their lesson from “Bad Twin” and Lostaway Barbie and Ken. Good on them.

No comments on the S3 finale though. In case you are not aware, Lost Labs has issued a moratorium on talking about just what the heck we saw and what it all means. The moratorium will be lifted at San Diego Comic Con.

I have surfed around the interwebs today reading the various fanatical and critical reactions to the announcement from ABC that LOST will end in 2010. Most critics are happy with this plan for 3 more seasons, 16 episodes each, aired non-stop with no repeats, while the majority of fan reactions have been LESS than thrilled with this plan, preferring 2 more 24-ep seasons.

What the fans are probably not grasping from this (and that the critics probably ARE very aware of) is that this deal has all of the tell-tale signs of a compromise. Damon and Carlton have been inexplicably vocal about wanting the show to only go 5 seasons/100 episodes TOTAL. They know that this show, designed the way it is, NEEDS a definitive ending point, but definitive endings are not typical of prime-time television shows — especially ones as popular and endorsement heavy as LOST. Darlton made their wishes PUBLIC, so that the ball would be in ABC’s court. In exchange for a definitive ending — announced a full THREE YEARS before it would come, which is totally unheard of — Darlton gave ABC an extra year of commitment, which means an extra year of advertising dollars, etc. Both sides win.

To me, the biggest winners will be the FANS. The last thing this fandom needs is unhappy writers and/or greedy network execs. You love LOST? Then you need to support this — because THIS will give us all the answers we want and the ending that we deserve.

So why three seasons of 16 instead of two seasons of 24? Well, you can thank THIS season for that. The 6-episode mini-season TANKED with critics and fans alike. But the Feb-May run of 16 or 17 episodes (whatever the total ended up being) has been chugging right along with consistent live numbers, tons of DVR recordings, tons of streaming downloads from ABC.com and tons of iTunes downloads. If the fans are upset about the prospect of having to wait until NEXT January/February before we get Season 4, then they only have themselves to blame. Because YES, ABC WAS LISTENING when you were all complaining about the repeats. And honestly, I think 16 is a more manageable number for the LOST production team to commit to per season for the next three years.

 Standard Podcast [68:00m]: Download (370)

hijinx and speaker are back in business, discussing the last two LOST episodes: One of Us and Catch-22. WARNING! There is some spoilery discussion regarding the next episode airing on April 25th. (Spoilers from minute 17:31 to minute 17:50.)

 Standard Podcast [76:00m]: Download (521)

hijinx and speaker discuss LOST Episode 3.15 Left Behind and tell tales of LOST Weekend 2007

USA Today’s Bill Keveney is one of the better reporter’s out there. Whenever he is writing an article on Lost, he makes a sincere effort to get quotes from various sites — including posting on The Fuselage asking for LOST fans to contact him.

His latest LOST article quotes a couple of my fellow ‘Lagers (way to go TMitH and LBM!!) and sets us up for the rest of the season.

A survey by HollywoodToday.net seems to show that many fans support Damon and Carlton’s comments about wanting to have a definitive end date for Lost. Click this press release to read more about this, which includes quotes from fans at various message boards.

Knowing how much money is riding on the “Transformers” movie that they penned, and knowing how intense that fandom is, Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci harked back to their television days and put together a group of fellow writers and industry constituents to look over their screenplay, the last draft before shooting begins.

Seeing how diligent Bob & Alex are with regards to the Transformers’ story and fandom, the Trekkies should breathe a bit easier knowing that those guys will handle the 11th Star Trek movie with equal, if not more, diligence.

 EPM Podcast 1X06 [95:00m]: Download (821)

Listen to us pontificate about the “Fall Finale” of Lost, plus some news items related to Six Degrees and What about Brian, and Listener Questions!