Fringe: Save It or Sink It?

At long last...the new series from J.J. Abrams is here!

By Kristin Dos Santos Sep 10, 2008 6:04 AMTags
FringeMark Holzberg/FOX

At long last: Fringe is here! The new series from J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman premiered tonight, and by Jove, it even came complete with Joshua Jackson the action figure (with all-new, high-power kung-fu grip). Whoo!

Click in to find out what Orci and Kurtzman can share about the show, plus take your chance to vote up or down on Fringe—and its premiere-night compatriot, Privileged:

Michael Lavine/FOX

Easy, Tiger! You weren't the only one who spotted a little chemistry between Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and Peter Bishop (Jackson), but sexytime is not a foregone conclusion. Says Orci, "We don't want to have a preconceived notion, necessarily, about where that relationship is going to go. We know where the world is going to go, and we know what kind of things they're going to face, but we want to let the actors surprise us with their reactions to things." Kurtzman adds, "Keep in mind, you have one character who is so guarded he can't have relationships and another who just lost someone she cares about—so it's not going to just happen by default."

Fox

Big Bad Bell: Whoa—what did you guys think about that postmortem interrogation business?! Meanwhile, Orci says of the apparent baddies of the show: "William Bell is very much of a Howard Hughes figure. We don't know when he's going to appear, if ever...And Massive Dynamics is the villain—either that or they're trying to save the world." I believe I shall call them...frenemies!

Fox

Fringe Benefits of the Pattern: (What? Sometimes you stoop to the obvious pun.) According to Orci and Kurtzman, this Pattern thing—no matter how spooky seeming—might have an upside.

Orci: We're literally just scratching the surface of the Pattern in the pilot. There's a whole universe of crazy to be explored.
Kurtzman: And there's also the question of whether it's natural or man-made.
Orci: The world could be transforming into something better.
Kurtzman: You never know.
Orci: Yeah, perhaps we can finally communicate with Mother Earth...

(Why do I get the feeling we just got a preview of the season finale?)

Da Plane, Da Plane: One last question, executive producers of Fringe, just in case it ever comes up, how much does it cost to rent a 747? According to Bad Robot boss Bryan Burk, "Good question. We got the plane for two nights. I know that they often charter that plane for taking military overseas. For whatever reason it happened to be available, and I think it was expensive, but not as expensive as you think—as long as it's not flying." Sooo...a sitting plane is cheap, but a flying plane is expensive? "Exactly."

And folks, it's your turn to weigh in on Fringe! What did you think? Vote in the poll below and then post in the comments, and if you have Q's for the exec producers, email me at tvdiva@eonline.com and I'll get you the answers as soon as I can!

—Reporting by Jennifer Godwin

Poll

Save It or Sink It, Tuesday

Fringe?
Save it
75.3%
Sink it
7%
Haven't seen it yet
17.7%
Privileged?
Save it
19.7%
Sink it
14.5%
Haven't seen it yet
65.9%