What does Fox have against Fringe? While on the surface it seems like the network is supporting J.J. Abrams’ alternate reality jumping series to the fullest—Fringe moves to the big leagues this fall with a Thursdays at 9 time slot—we’re not convinced Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly and his cohorts are actually that invested in its future. Take the shift in shooting locale from New York to Vancouver: While the series will still take place on the eastern seaboard, the filming will move to the cheaper Canadian city. Not a big deal, until you remember that Vancouver looks nothing like New York (for reference, see Rumble in the Bronx). Then yesterday, in what seems like another cost-cutting move, word spread through the internets that Kirk Acevedo, the actor who plays Agent Charlie Francis, had been fired from the series.
(Hilariously, the story disseminated from Mr. Acevedo’s personal Facebook page: “WELL BOYS AND GIRLS THEY DONE DID YER BOY WRONG! THEY FIRED ME OFF OF FRINGE, AND IVE NEVER BEEN FIRED IN MY LIFE!!!!” Ouch. Note to Mr. Acevedo: we feel bad for you, but lay off the caps lock.)
Look, no one is really going to miss Charlie on Fringe. The character was more of a Greek chorus than anything else—constantly commenting on the crazy disasters happening around him. And since this is a series with Joshua Jackson, that deadpan humor can probably be easily taken up by his character, Peter. Still, for a series that Fox purports to love, they’re treating it like an unwanted misfit toy: production cuts, cast firings and that aforementioned move to Thursdays at 9. Does Fox really think Fringe can compete with Grey’s Anatomy and CSI? This “reward” seems like a death sentence more than anything else.
We guess Fringe is really like a microcosm of what’s going on with so many other mid-range television shows: it’s liked, but not liked enough to prevent network tinkering. Naturally, we have a solution. Instead of running 22 or more episodes next season, why not cut the order to 16 or less. It would lower costs for the network, and, prevent the show from hitting narrative soft spots, which so routinely happen during drawn out seasons. Everyone wins! Well, everyone but Kirk Acevedo.
