During the traditional window from September to May of first run series a few always seem to end up being tagged for later viewing as time, opportunity, and personal whimsy conspire against making them required viewing.
Fringe fell into that category for me. While the concept intrigued, and John Noble’s portrayal of addled genius Walter Bishop tickled my funny bone, other shows had a stronger pull on me. However the same people responsible for this show had just pulled off a fantastic reboot of the Star Trek franchise with the recent movie so my curiousity was peaked enough for me to revisit the series.
This revisit mutated into a, ‘Big Gulp,’ marathon and I ended up watching the 20 first season hour long episodes in a short two day period. Fringe is a series that works better in this approach in my opinion because the character beats are small and kept in the background. By the time the last episode played I was very intrigued as the show’s main conceit was finally revealed. Throw in a cast addition with one of the members from the original Star Trek series and mark me down as a devoted follower now.
Details of the first season boxset can be found in the accompanying press release.
WHV Press Release: Fringe: The Complete First Season (DVD/Blu-ray)
EXPLORE THE UNKOWN, UNEXPECTED
AND UNBELIEVABLE AS WARNER HOME VIDEO RELEASES
FRINGE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
ON DVD AND BLU-RAY™ HI DEF SEPTEMBER 8, 2009Smash Hit Garners More Than 10 Million Viewers Per Week
Loaded with Over Six Hours of Exclusive Bonus Features and an Extra Hour of Blu-ray Content and BD-Live Features
BURBANK, CA (May 28, 2009) – Teleportation. Mind control. Invisibility. Astral projection. Mutation. Reanimation. Phenomena that exist on the Fringe of science unleash their strange powers in this thrilling, critically-acclaimed series, as Warner Home Video releases Fringe: The Complete First Season on DVD and Blu-ray™ Hi Def on September 8, 2009 for $59.98/ $79.98.
Featuring a collectible lenticular slipcase, and packed with nearly 6 hours of special features, including featurettes, production diaries, producer and writer commentaries, deleted scenes, gag reel, Blu-Ray exclusive content and much more, this is one release that fans definitely won’t want to miss this fall. The release is timed to the premiere of Season 2 on FOX.
From J.J. Abrams (Lost), Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (the team behind Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III and Alias) and executive producers Jeff Pinkner and Bryan Burk (both of Lost and Alias), Fringe revolves around three unlikely colleagues – a beautiful, young and determined FBI agent (Anna Torv), a brilliant but off-the-wall scientist (John Noble), and his sardonic, roguish son (Joshua Jackson) – who team up to investigate a series of peculiar deaths and disasters known as “The Pattern.” The trio suspects that someone is using the world as a laboratory. And many of the clues lead them to Massive Dynamic, a shadowy global corporation that may be more powerful than any nation. Season 1 also starred Lance Reddick, Kirk Acevedo, Blair Brown, Jasika Nicole and Mark Valley. Fringe is from Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Fringe has been showered with critical accolades, named as one of the 10 Best TV Shows of 2008 by Entertainment Weekly, and was nominated for a 2009 Writers Guild Award for Best New Series. In addition, the show has achieved ratings success, averaging more than 10 million viewers a week and ranking as the top new show among Adults 18–49 in its first season.*
“Fringe: The Complete First Season features 20 episodes of the most exciting new show on television, including over six hours of never-before-seen bonus features and collectible lenticular packaging,” said Rosemary Markson, WHV Vice President, TV and Special Interest Marketing. “Warner Home Video is ecstatic to release this much-anticipated science-fiction hit on DVD and Blu-Ray.”
DVD Special Features Include:
· 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 PinknerAdditional Blu-Ray Bonus Features:
· Fringe Pattern Analysis – Take a closer look at 6 select scenes from Season 1 with experts who dissect each scene with notes, photos, and diagrams.
· BD-Live enabled features include Media Center, My Commentary, and commentary on Season 1 finale episode.*Nielsen, 2009 season-to-date thru 05/17/09, broadcast prime, L+SD US AA%
