JJ Abrams: Fringe

Lost premiered in 2004 (with much success). In 2008, Abrams launched a totally different show on Fox: Fringe (which also premiered with much success).

Fringe was about fringe science. Or weird science. Let's say extremely weird science. There were five seasons and seven openings of Fringe.

This video features all seven openings. The openings very much walk in lockstep with the content of the shows. Notice that the first six (the first four seasons) are all different, but the same. And then there is the last one (season five). If you want to watch the first and then skip to the last, jump to the two minute mark.




Season five was a totally different Fringe... a hard turn for the show that some viewers loved, but others not so much. And the network... not at all. It was cancelled mid-season (with a wrap-up for the show).

Let's look at a trailer for season one.




In season five, as I already said, the show took a hard turn from fringe science to much more basic issues of freedom and personal control versus government control. Fox cancelled it. However, JJ Abrams wasn't done with this idea, and it would be revisited several years later in a new show on a new network. The irony: it would be cancelled because this time he couldn't keep it about the concepts of freedom and personal control. In season two he introduced.... wait for it... fringe science.

He also went for show number three incorporating all of these issues in season one, and it was cancelled after season one. Do you see a picture yet????

Do you know the later shows to which I'm referring? Did you watch Fringe? What did you think about Season Five?

Vampires, Zombies, Supernatural Stuff, and Superheroes

I was reading a blog on writing the other day (shocking!) and a question was raised about vampires: would they ever go out of vogue???   I commented at length over there, but I find myself still thinking about it.  I believe that the truth is many people are fascinated by the supernatural, including me.  That encompasses all sorts of phenomena, up to and including vampires.

Let's talk vamps for just a minute.  I do believe that Dracula was the first story.  I know that it has been made into a movie several times and I have seen at least one of those.  I remember being fascinated by Dark Shadows as a KID.

The Anne Rice series on vampires reignited vampire love among readers.  The movie Interview With The Vampire was one of the best book adaptations I have seen.

Joss Whedon created a successful TV series from a fairly dreadful movie (both by the same name), Buffy The Vampire Slayer that ran seven seasons.  It generated a spin-off, Angel,  that ran five seasons.

And then Twilight scored big for Stephanie Meyers.  Four books and five movies.  As usual, the books were better than the movies and struck a chord with youth (the target audience).

Some would say it was the success of Twilight that made The Vampire Diaries on the CW a success.  I am not one of those people.  I think people are fascinated by vampires and I would watch Ian Sommerhaulder, who plays Damon Salvatore, in ANYTHING.




The CW decided to spin off a show from that series this season aptly called The Originals.

Do I think people are tired of vampires?  Nope.

However, it isn't just limited to vampires.  The Walking Dead is HUGE, even though I don't watch it.  Zombies are possibly the only element of the supernatural world that has no appeal for me.  But, I am a lone voice in this wilderness.  It is so popular that I even kinda sorta know who this guy is:

Zombie Killer Badass, though I couldn't tell you his name...

Do you remember Fringe?  That show was science meets the supernatural.  Crazy good show.

And Lost?  That show contained supernatural elements.  It most certainly wasn't just a plane crash.

The show that covers everything supernatural is, of course, called Supernatural (CW).  I think this is the tenth season of Dean and Sam out there saving the world from supernatural calamity.

Most people who like supernatural stuff also like superheroes.  It is a bit supernatural, after all.  Marvel has been huge at the box office.  The Avengers was so popular that Joss Whedon is back on the small screen with Agents of SHIELD.

Other superhero TV shows currently on the air:  Arrow and The Tomorrow People.  Both on the CW.

Do I know what the next Big Thing will be?  Nope.  But, I don't see interest in the supernatural or superheroes falling by the wayside anytime soon.

Are any of those shows YOUR favorites?  What do you think about vampires and supernatural stories?  Is it flash in the pan or here to stay?  Did I miss anything supernatural or superhero currently running on TV?  If so, let me know in the comments...

All Roads Lead to J.J. Abrams

image found at www.weheartit.com

I haven't posted anything on this blog in FOREVER.

I am going to try and be better about that.  There were some excellent shows that were cancelled this season.  For instance, FRINGE took an exit and deserves a write-up and fond farewell.  PRIVATE PRACTICE exited due to really poor writing.  Apparently Shonda Rimes can only keep two shows in the air at once.  There is a lesson here.  I hope that she learns it.  Moving on...

And there were a few really good new shows that came out this season.  My personal favorite was REVOLUTION.  It is on NBC.  Now... you must keep in mind that I began a boycott of NBC several years ago due to terrible programming.  Every now and then they would come up with something GREAT and immediately cancel it.  I got SO SICK of this that I gave up on the network altogether.  I would have continued my boycott except that J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke collaborated on REVOLUTION.... and I was back in.  I was also enthralled.  Other best new shows include ABC's NASHVILLE and CBS's VEGAS and ELEMENTARY.

Yesterday, I received a notice that J.J. Abrams has a new show coming out on Fox (probably in the fall) and it looks AMAZING.  Here is the trailer.  Don't forget to turn off the music at the bottom of the page.



What do you think?