Here’s Two Minutes of the Final Fringe Ever!
Fringe is the TV series that never should have been, yet somehow, through the strength of the cast and crew, it managed to pull off the impossible… last for longer than one season on FOX. For a long time FOX was the network for weekly sci-fi, one only has to look at how successful The X-Files was. However, when Firefly was yanked unceremoniously from the air, it marked a dark age for genre television. The list of shows that FOX has cancelled prematurely reads like a line-up for Hall H at comic-con: Futurama, Arrested Development, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, Wonderfalls, The Tick, Dollhouse, Terra Nova (ok, maybe not that one), and so on. So when Fringe first aired five seasons ago, most critics agreed on one thing, it’s a great show, but FOX will cancel it within 13 episodes.
So not only did Fringe defy the odds of getting past it’s first season, it managed to do so without pandering to viewers who would rather see an extended COPS marathon instead of Walter Bishop and company. Even though Fringe managed to continue past it’s first season, it still faced it’s greatest challenge; The Friday Night Death Slot. At the end of the third season the writers and producers weren’t sure if the show would be renewed for another year and even wrote the season finale as if it were the series finale. So when the good news came that the show would be renewed for another year it came with a caveat, it would change timeslots to Friday nights at 9pm. For those unfamiliar with The Friday Night Death Slot, check out this wiki article (pay special attention to the section on FOX). Even with the death slot, Fringe still managed to pull in sufficient ratings to gain one final reprieve from being unceremoniously cancelled.
Which brings us to today. Thanks to the fans, the Fringe production team was given a final (albeit shortened) season to wrap up the story they started five years ago, and this coming Friday is the final two hours of Fringe. Will William Bell make an appearance? Will September/Donald save the boy? Will we see Walternate and Fauxlivia? Tune in Friday at 9pm EST to find out!
