First promo for the DVD/Blu Ray release of the first season of Fringe

The PR people at Warner Bros. home video just sent this little tidbit to jump start the promotional campaign leading up the the DVD/Blu Ray release of the first season of Fringe. The JJ Abrams produced pot-boiler actually lost me for the first handful of episodes, as it seemed far too concerned with developing a series-long arc and/or mythology right off the bat. My wife forced me to keep watching, as she was more into it more than I. But it really grew on me and I'm now absolutely a fan. The difference I think is that they stopped making every episode a tiny piece of a mega-conspiracy/astounding mystery (with Massive Dynamic basically being the Cobra/Dr. Claw of every episode). That's still there, but they put the characters forefront and let them play around in (more or less) stand alone episodes.

Most appealing is the way that Anna Torv's Agent Olivia Dumham is completely intelligent, inquisitive, humorous, and attractive, while the show never, ever makes a big deal about her said attributes (unlike Lost, which constantly feels the need to remind us what an empowering bad-ass Kate is, all evidence to the contrary). I still whistle the X-Files theme like a jackass every time the title sequence comes on, but the show has really come into its own as a true successor to that 90s masterpiece. Having said that, I'm still waiting for the episode where someone runs into one of those floating three-dimensional location titles. If Mad TV were still around, I'm sure they would have had fun with that.

Anyway, the first season was a pretty solid and utterly entertaining sci-fi investigative piece that became more character-driven as it went along. I highly recommend sampling it on September 8th. The trailer above pretty much spoils the pilot, but other than that, it's a harmless preview.

Scott Mendelson

Note - here is the official list of bonus features for the DVD release of Fringe: season one.

DVD Special Features: (over 6 hours of brand new special features, plus an additional hour of exclusive content on the Blu-Ray release)

• Evolution: The Genesis of Fringe featurette - The creators of the show discuss how the series unfolded and the qualities that make it so unique
• Behind the Real Science of Fringe featurette - From teleportation to re-animation, Fringe incorporates recent discoveries in science. Consulting experts and scientists who are the authorities in their field address the areas of science which are the inspiration for the show. • A Massive Undertaking: The Making of Fringe (on select episodes) - An in-depth exploration of how select episodes came to be made: from the frozen far reaches of shooting the pilot in Toronto, to the weekly challenges of bringing episodes to air
• The Casting of Fringe- The story, as told by producers and cast, of how Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble and others came to be cast in the series.
• Fringe Visual Effects featurette - Goes deep into the creation of the shared dream state with some of the biggest VFX shots of the show.
• Dissected Files: Unaired Scenes
• Unusual Side Effects: Gag Reel
• Deciphering the Scene
• Roberto Orci Production Diary
• Gene the Cow montage
• Three Full-Length Commentaries from writers/producers, including J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtman, J.R. Orci, David Goodman, Bryan Burk, Akiva Goldsman and Jeff Pinkner