Fringe Season 5 trailer...

Although I adore Fringe, I wasn't completely sure how excited I was about Season 5 taking place in the future, but this trailer (and doesn't Fringe do the best trailers???) has me so excited!

Best Fringe video ever?

The best Walterisms...so much fun!

A couple of quick cross-posts (sort of) from my advanced comp class's blog...

1) I am THRILLED about Fringe's renewal. Take a look at this interesting piece about it. The piece's author explores how the TV landscape has changed since the days of Firefly. He also discusses the roles fans can play in "saving" a show.

Some important selections:

"Not so long ago, TV shows like 'Firefly,' 'Wonderfalls,' 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' and 'Dollhouse' were mourned by science fiction fans as having been canceled before their time, due -- as it always is -- to low ratings.

Another thing each had in common: They aired on Fox on Friday nights.

So observers of the TV world were surprised Thursday to learn of the network's renewal of the series 'Fringe' for a full fourth season after two months in a Friday timeslot."

 

2) Because there's a Buffy reference in it...

and because it's a very funny piece...

and because I love Adrianne Palicki (formerly of Friday Night Lights, one of the best TV shows ever...), who will be playing the new Wonder Woman...

and because it makes some great points about woman super heroes...

I am linking to this column about Wonder Woman's wardrobe. (Yeah--it's a doozy.) Good stuff.

Can we talk about how awesome Fringe has been lately?

Well, it's always been a great show, but these past few episodes have been simply amazing. "Subject 13" was beautiful, rich, and heartbreaking. If we needed any more evidence that both John Noble and Orla Brady deserve Emmys (not that they'll get them), this episode should end any discussion. Amazing performances. And how about the casting of young Peter and young Olivia? Those kids must have done their homework, as they had the mannerisms of their characters nailed.

Jeff Jensen's got a good piece about the episode up over at EW.com. I am particularly drawn to his last comments, because I have been thinking something similar:

"I’m going out of my way to emphasize my love for the episode because I fear what I’m about to say may sound like a criticism. It’s not — it’s just an observation. As I saw it, “Subject 13″ effectively reduced the tricky, defining tensions of Fringe into one big horrible misunderstanding — one that has produced profound, destiny-shaping pain for many people that can’t be easily forgotten, but becomes easier to forgive once everyone knows what we know. Especially Peter and Walternate. If Peter knew that back in the day, Walter was doing all he could to give him back the life he was supposed to have — a life that he would have lost, anyway, if Walter hadn’t saved him — then I have to think Peter’s frosty regard for a man he refuses to call “Dad” would finally, permanently thaw."

I'm with Jensen: what we learned last week was quite unexpected and moving--Walter wanted to give Peter back, Elizabeth lied to save Peter, Walter gave up sending Peter back to help Olivia--but these revelations in some ways make Walter's (and Elizabeth's) actions much more noble and, in a way, less relate-able, less real. It's a bit of a risk for the writers to take...let's see where it goes next.

Also, Hurley on Fringe? Love it!

Finally, Jensen is so right about Fringe's promo people. They are phenomenal. 

Emmy Nominations

So I know I've been complaining about being busy, and yet, here I go writing a big old blog post about TV. Yeah, the irony isn't lost on me.

Anyway, I've been meaning to do a quick post about the Emmy nominations and could use a break from Hawthorne. Overall, I am super-excited about some of the nominations, especially Connie Britton and Kyle Chandler. It's about time! Connie Britton needs to win this one. She just does. Did you see Friday's episode? Amazing. Also, check out this interview. Don't you just want to be her friend? Other thoughts:

All the love for Modern Family, the best new show of the season (yeah, including Glee, which I do love, but more about that below). But no nomination for Ed O'Neil? He really is fantastic on that show--a wonderful combination of funny and sweet. You buy him as a dad, a grandfather, and as Gloria's husband. Makes you totally forget Al Bundy, a character I never liked.

Nominations for more of my favorites: my beloved NPH, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick, Glenn Close, Terry O'Quinn, Michael Emerson, and Rose Byrnne .

The nods to Lost: Matthew Fox really was a lead actor/heart of that show, so an Emmy this year would be awesome (but maybe not at Kyle Chandler's expense?). And hell yeah, Elizabeth Mitchell! Good thing I'm not an Emmy voter, because I'd have a heck of a time deciding between O'Quinn and Emerson (but would probably end up voting Emerson.)

Love that Burn Notice gets a bit of notice with the fun nomination of Sharon Gless. This isn't a superb show, but it's a lot of fun and she's terrific on it. These summer shows (including The Closer) are changing the way we think about TV. I like that.

Very happy for Julia Louis Dreyfus. New Christine was a show that was too funny to be canceled. (Ausiello's got an post-nomination interview with JLD here.) Too bad Better Off Ted didn't get any love either. Man, that show was hilarious--like Arrested Development with less of a mean streak.

Glee...well, I've been thinking a lot about this, and I am not sure how I feel about all the Glee nominations. Don't get me wrong: I love, love, love the show, but part of me doesn't believe it's superior TV. I think that what I love so much is the music. The writing can be so sloppy and cliched, some of the acting is pretty bad, and lots of times, you can't tell if it is a big old satire or serious. Lea Michelle deserves her nomination, as does Jane Lynch (someone needs to put together a gift book of Sue Sylvester insults), and Matthew Morrison's nod doesn't bother me.

The Glee nomination that intrigues me is the nomination for Chris Colfer. No one saw that coming. I'm not sure if it was his performance that was Emmy-worthy or the writing of his storylines, especially with his dad, played Mike O'Malley (who totally deserved his nomination). That was excellent stuff. A friend and I have had conversations about the character of Kurt: she hates him because he's so obnoxious and bitchy, but I think that makes him more realistic. What that portrayal shows you is that it is hard to be a gay high school boy (duh, right?) but instead of making him a sweet, always-victim, he's a bit of a brat at times. He makes a play for Finn even though he knows Finn is totally straight. That seems real. I don't know...it works for me. The same is true for Artie's struggles as a disabled person.

But other storylines (Finn's sadness over his absent dad, Rachel and Finn's on-again/off-again status, Ken and Emma's relationship early in the season) confuse me about the show's tone. It's like the show can't make up its mind about what it wants to be. (Kind of like Nip/Tuck, also created by Ryan Murphy.) Watch an hour of Glee and then an hour of Chuck. Chuck hits all the notes (seems like an appropriate metaphor): acting, writing, production, and has a sort of central theme/heart. Glee puts on a good show in terms of music and some laughs, but minute for minute, it seems to me to be the weaker show. Anyway, if any of you, dear readers, watch Glee, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this show--especially the whole satire vs. serious question.

Some snubs that bug me: No best drama for Friday Night Lights? No love for Chuck? No nomination for FNL's Zach Gilford? Nothing for John Noble on Fringe? Each of these is an absolute crime. But here's the deal: this year, it seems, there are far fewer of these types of crimes, and that's progress.