EVIL PUPPET MASTERS

Go read it HERE.

Interview is by Patrick Kevin Day.

When Midseason hits, you won’t have to look too hard to find FRINGE - it will remain on Tuesday nights, following American Idol. It’s previous lead in, HOUSE, will be bouncing to Mondays.

CONGRATS to the BR peeps!!!

EPM Podcast 1×11

On this 11th episode of the EVIL PUPPET MASTERS, Speaker acts like an old man baby and hijinx is more cynical than ever.

PLUS, tequila!

EPM Podcast 1×10

Don’t everyone die of shock! Speaker and I could not resist the lure of hearing ourselves pontificate (along with the REST of America) about FRINGE, so we have dusted off our podcasting hats and decided to do podcasts for the FRINGE episodes. We’re a bit rusty and we had some technical difficulties with this one, but we’re hoping to get these out within a week of each episode - ideally.

Yes, we’re complete dorks, but we mainly do these for our fellow BR addicts and some industry peeps who just think we’re SWELL. If you have questions for us or topics you’d like us to cover in future podcasts, feel free to leave those in the comments. Enjoy!

Speaking of technical difficulties… - for now we’re just posting a link to the audio file. It’s been so long since we’ve posted one of these that our podcast and iTunes stuff is not cooperating. We’ll come back and edit this when we get that straightened out.

Well there is something you don’t see every day. The fast track overnight ratings for last night’s episode of FRINGE (1.02 “The Same Old Story”) were BIGGER than the numbers for the Pilot:

FOX stayed on top at 9 p.m. with “Fringe,” 8.2/13, which, with the help of its lead-in, gained about 4 million viewers over its premiere last week. Hour two of “The Biggest Loser,” 5.3/8, moved NBC into second. The finale of “Big Brother 10,” 4.9/8, finished third for CBS. ABC stayed in fourth with the conclusion of “Wipeout,” 3.4/5, and a “Primetime” special on UFOs, 3.2/5. “Privileged” finished the night for The CW.

Source: Zap2it.com

Whether it was due to the HOUSE lead-in, or because of all the positive reviews this week, or as evidence that EVERYONE had already seen the pilot due to the leakage of the unfinished version - that’s just pretty durn awesome. CONGRATS BR PEEPS!!

FOX issued a press release yesterday that revealed a little bit of information regarding Episode 1.02 of FRINGE - which is posted under the jump cut. I will update this post once the okay is given to reveal other information pertaining to the episode. **UPDATED**

(more…)

I love FRINGE. You guys know I do.

But I’m at the point now that if I read ONE MORE article or interview about FRINGE, then I’m going to hurl. This is coming from someone that has been a part of a media frenzy before - I have lived and breathed the media coverage of LOST much more than your average fan. Heck, I have even co-written a book about it eating my life. But this FRINGE stuff…it is just way way out of hand.

There is something to be said about mystery. There is something to be said about anticipation. At this point, I feel FRINGE has reached “critical mass” - aka the “put up or shut up” phase for their potential fandom. Face it - no other television show, in the history of television shows, has had THIS MUCH build up…this much pre-pilot hype. I’ve seen the pilot (the legal version) and it is hella awesome, but there is no way it is going to come even close to fulfilling this massive weight of expectations that has been bestowed upon it and the series. Nothing short of the cure for cancer or the formula for immortality could appease the level of expectations that exist at this point.

As aggravating as that is to me…I am also sickeningly happy that there will be those who are disappointed by the pilot once it airs. Why? Because it will give everyone something NEW to talk about and debate. As I said in my “pissing in an empty pool” post, there has been a whole lotta riggermarole over practically NOTHING at this point. A million interviews with JJ/Alex/Bob/Jeff/Bryan and you will never get more out of them than they are willing to say, so most of the interviews from the past month or so have been the SAME thing, over and over again, just asked in slightly different ways. The Fab 5 are GOOD. They are EXPERTS at handling the media. In fact, their media savvy should be a testament to every other show out there. But even the Fab 5 cannot prevent the inevitable backlash that will come after the Pilot airs next Tuesday. In fact, they should embrace it.

Again you may say, “how can you say that?” Because, as sick as I am about the over-the-top media coverage of a show that has yet to air, I KNOW that once the cards are laid out on the table and the critics line up to take their pot shots at the new kid on the block (SO to Danielle) - this show will hold up. It is NOT going to appeal to everyone and it is NOT going to miraculously come out on the other side completely unscathed by vicious TV critics who live to tear down, especially something so shiny and bright and media-saturated as FRINGE. But this show has the meat, the creativity, the depth, the acting, and design to stand up under the intense microscopic examination it will be receiving. Once the wrapping paper has been peeled off, there is something REAL underneath that should appeal to a fairly large fanbase. And I am DEFINITELY ready to get past the packaging…aren’t you?

Because I’m tired of looking for this everywhere and realize I must not be the only one trying to find this information, the release dates for the FRINGE Comics being released by Wildstorm are below for issues #1-#4. There are going to be 6 total, but the release dates for the last two have not been released yet (to my knowledge).

Fringe Comic #1 — September 3, 2008
Fringe Comic #2 — September 17, 2008
Fringe Comic #3 — October 29, 2008
Fringe Comic #4 — November 26, 2008

The big FRINGE premiere party is tonight in the N Y C. Hope everyone has a great time WITHOUT ME (*coughLAURIcough*). I look forward to seeing the pics and hearing the stories. I’ll share here whatever I am allowed to

*There is no link because I just know things some times.

Hey guys ~

Just got in from Comic Con LATE last night/early this morning (ugh). I see that there has been some coverage of FRINGE’s presence there, but I believe I have a few things to share that you may or may not see elsewhere. For one, I videotaped the FRINGE panel (from the second row) - all I missed was the very last question to JJ, which didn’t even have to do with FRINGE (it was a question about the infamous box TED talk he did), so once I get that loaded, I will share it here. I also accidentally participated in the FRINGE Scavenger Hunt, so I have pics of that AND pics from the top of the parking garage where my friends and I got to see the MUCH more complete FRINGE pilot episode. To put one query to rest…YES, the episode was scored and YES (thank GOD) the music was done by Michael Giacchino. Also..I found an Easter egg in the Pilot that was NOT in the leaked version

Okay, that’s it for now. Will start posting my SDCC stuff tonight!

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

There is a pretty thorough article about the various forms of advertising that FOX and BR are using to draw in potential viewers for FRINGE by Joe Adalian at TVWeek.com. It looks at the viral marketing, normal/pseudo-normal advertising avenues, plus the funky radio ads that have cropped up - and includes a link to hear the radio ads. There is mention of something called “The Pattern” which seems to keep cropping up. What’s with that anyway?

Thanks to Joe for sending me his own link - I’m all for blatant pimping, as long as what you’re pimping is worth my time.

The Warner Bros. 2008 San Diego Comic Con panel schedule has been released and it lists FRINGE on the schedule for Saturday, July 26th from 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.. The room wasn’t listed on the announcement that came from Ducky Does TV, but I’ll post that as soon as it is available.

That Ducky Does TV link also gives the days/times for the following other Warner Bros. shows: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Supernatural and Smallville.

Thanks to Edward at FringeTV.blogspot.com for the heads’ up.

I’m behind on my Google Alerts (crazy couple of weeks), but I’m trying to catch up. Rabid Doll has this nice interview with FRINGE showrunner Jeff Pinkner that should shed more light on what FRINGE is “like” and “not like.” And he can say with more authority than most