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160 comments in total

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218 out of 383 people found the following comment useful :-
Complete Waste Of Time, 15 November 2008

Author: JoseKelly

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Well I like the pilot to this show, it was awesome! It had everything I wanted... a giant corporation of evil masterminds, waking up to find out your Dad is an evil scientist, going on a mission to save your lover from dying and chasing down a madmen bent on dissolving peoples flesh... to top it off the boss is a real jerk.

I thought I was going to be hooked on this for sure! Then the second episode came on and the formula began. Son hates crazy father, woman not sure of what she wants, conspiracy at hand, investigations like CSI. It's all boring formula, something jaw dropping happens, they slowly figure it out in the most boring ways. The bigger story? Not going anywhere... at all... 3 episodes in and we're going blind.

Every show seems to be doomed to the lead actress getting picked on by her boss, missing her lover and getting information from the big corporation while the smart son and the crazy evil scientist dad meddle around with theories. Way to reel us in and chop our heads off.

This show sucks to the CORE

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218 out of 384 people found the following comment useful :-
Fringe Fails in every category, 16 November 2008

Author: StephaNiaZ

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I've bent over backwards and given the show 3 weeks to suck me in. I can do bad TV as long as it's not too stupid, or the characters intrigue me. I've stuck with "Prison Break," because of the characters, although I'm hanging on by a thread. I've stuck with "24" because it moves so fast and furiously and throws in so many curves I don't have time to suspend disbelief.

Now I've had it with the "Fringe." There's only one character I like and that's the main guy, and he has no business in the show. His only reason for being there is to act as a balance for his crazy father, and yet they have him acting like Torv's FBI partner. He has no discernible professional reason for being part of the group. His humor is the best thing in the show.

Then there's the cute FBI agent in the lab, who has no science skills, and who seems to be there to look cute. Then there's the crazy scientist whose crazy as a loon, until he's focused on doing some sci-fi magic, thanks to a bunch of machinery that's been rusting away in a lab for 3 decades, but now seems to be just right for every wacky project that comes their way.

The sci fi is ludicrous! It doesn't have to be accurate, obviously - it's fiction - but it has to be believable.

It has to be semi rational. In the last show a guy gets on a bus, puts on a gas mask, gases the entire bus, then waits for the bus driver to crash so he can get off with something he's stolen. Excuse me? You're going to risk your life on a careening bus? They love to show people with bulging veins, a la "scanners," who then survive what would certainly result in a brain hemmorhage.

Worst show ever

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232 out of 412 people found the following comment useful :-
Worst show Ever !!, 30 October 2008
Author: OldClassics from India

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This show is Rip-off of many shows together which includes LOST, X-files, Twin peaks , Twilight zones and the OMEGA factor First of all to be HONEST i respect JJ Abrams he created many classic shows like " LOST " (And i think he should stick with that) and " Alias " another good show , the reason this two shows rocked was creativity and originality of the Concept on the other hand Fringe was build upon FAKE science , no creativity , BAD acting and Writing

ANNA Torv who is suppose to be the leading actress of the show has given the terrible performance one could ever imagine, She is always acts WOODEN and her Weird expressions as if she is Constipating all the time adds upto the misery of the show , The only saving Grace of the show that i consider is the Mad scientist and his son played by JOSHUA JACKSON (which always reminds me of Mighty ducks) their acting is upto the mark and their characters are well written

The main problem of this show is in the Writing department the stories are very weak and seems to be Far fetched

i would recommend Viewers to watch the Best and Classic show ever to deal with Paranormal stuff " The X-files " from the scratch or if your looking for new Material.... i would recommend " Supernatural ' another great show

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194 out of 337 people found the following comment useful :-
Bad show, 1 December 2008

Author: KateJackSawyer

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the most hyped show of the new season aired on FOX: "Fringe". Its pilot is the second most expensive TV pilot ever that cost $10 million ("Lost" is first with well over $10 million). "Fringe" is primarily a detective story with parapsychology and sci-fi elements, and a background story arc. It is, as you have heard, similar to "X-Files" in many ways.

Unfortunately, the good things end here. I felt almost no connection with the main character, as except knowing who her lover was, we know or feel nothing for her. Then, the whole story felt out of place. From one side you have some X-Files-like science that is acceptable (as it's part of what you expect on a series like this), and from the other one you are shown a Terminator-like robotic arm — a robotic arm that's not questioned by the lead character when she sees it in front of her. If Scully was to see this robotic arm she would say "this is impossible, we don't have the technology for this yet". And yet, the lead character just looks at it, and then she just goes away like nothing happened. This scene in itself shows that the show is not taking itself seriously. It is not making the unbelievable "fringe science", believable to us.

And then, finding some gross excuse to have the lead character take off her clothes, or the stupidity of having the FBI not be able to visit a mental hospital patient with a warrant. Both excuses are shallow, and especially the second one, that serves as a plot device, is underestimating our intelligence.

All in all, "Fringe" is an expensive production, it feels bad ass at first look, but it doesn't leave you with a feeling of wanting to shout: "Awesome!".

In all honesty, "Fringe" is a bad show. It's just an expensive TV series and it looks like one, made (possibly) for less intelligent people (e.g. FOX executives). If I was a FOX share holder I would feel ripped off. It definitely is no "Lost", and it won't enjoy not even the moderate success of " LOST ", let alone " THE X-FILES " Cult like mania that took over the Whole World.

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240 out of 429 people found the following comment useful :-
Worst Science Fiction Show ever, 31 October 2008
Author: GirlsNightOut

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This has to be the worst science fiction show of all time, JJ abrams has tried to use a concept which has already been applied and tested The X-files, Twillight zones, Twin Peaks this show is a lame attempt of Old Classics !! I am an admirer of jj abrams work since he created a classic show like LOST which i would recommend all users to watch it The acting totally sucks especially the leading lady ANNA Torv much better actress could have been casted in her place because she simply doesn't know how to Act !! Fringe falls flat in all departments including Writing , directing and acting , i wasted 45 minutes of my life watching this Awful show hopefully this show will Fade into Oblivion more sooner than we think because it simply lacks potential , it is a lame attempt to recapture the X-files phenomenon i would recommend people to Watch X-files

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187 out of 328 people found the following comment useful :-
Not Impressed, 10 September 2008

Author: Reginald Stoker from Houston, TX USA

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This had to be the most hyped show in recent memory. What a dud!!! The plot was slow and plodded along in the beginning. I tuned in with an open mind, but this show was so disappointing that I kept looking at the time remaining and hoped it would get better. To be fair there were a couple of scenes that I liked such as the LSD line and the Cow in the hall. However, the plot had some continuity holes and the writing just was not tight. If they expect this to keep and build a loyal following the writing and plot better start improving on the future episodes they have in the can or they will not make it to next season (imho). I did think John Noble's character was the best acted in the pilot he was the only one that was really believable. I guess playing crazies is his calling.

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114 out of 197 people found the following comment useful :-
Oh please, turn it off ! Have mercy !, 17 February 2009

Author: hurricane_san from Belgium

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Where to begin ? I've watched the "pilot" and the second episode to be sure it was not "bad luck".

"Fringe" is an insufferable show.

Its "pseudo-science" is so dumb, so clueless, so 1-bit IQ that it alone could cause a class-action law-suit for brain-cell genocide.

Electric signal frozen in the body by the usage of a sleeping drug ?

Rapid-growth/aging of a complex organism ? Where did the matter come from ? Void ?

Let's forget adults who can turn their brain off and accept this (to each his own). What will stop children that could still be saved to watch that nonsense ?

The reasoning in the investigations are nuts, stupid shortcuts.

An orange gel is found in the room where a dead woman (dead while giving birth, not murdered) The bed sheets have been changed. Immediate conclusion from the main investigator : it's a murderer that was killing women by removing a piece of their brains 5 years ago, and that was not arrested. Why that bold assumption ? He was using an orange drug to numb them and used to change the sheets to remove all traces of his passage.

First : a murderer who wants to remove all his traces makes the room and leave the sheets with his DNA in a desk in the room. He also leaves a fluorescent orange numbing drug on top a white sink. Not a genius obviously. And what could be said about an agent unable to find that criminal mastermind ? Come on : the writer(s) didn't saw that one when they were writing it ?

Next : there are lots of people using an orange gel for their hair that sometimes put their bedsheets in a box before cleaning. And most or them do not kill women by taking part of their brain out through their nose.

The link between that woman dead at the hospital and a series of horrible murder : orange paste and a bed ? In what plane of reality ? I just cannot believe somebody though it was an acceptable script.

Actually it's so stupid that the "genius" with the investigator asks "why such a conclusion" or something of this effect. But the writer's lantern does not cover planetary-sized plot-holes.

Do I have to tell anything about the acting going from bad to acceptable ?

Don't waste your precious time with the Fringe. There are better thing to do instead. Breaking your leg in a car accident maybe ? Granted it would be a minor improvement but its a start.

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128 out of 227 people found the following comment useful :-
Fringe is Cringe., 5 February 2009

Author: adrianmooregraphics

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Fringe has to be one of the worst shows on T.V. I was very surprise that J.J. Abrams was behind it.

The show is not in any way original.

The script: is full of silly boring over used clichés. The best thing to do with this unimaginative garbage is to pull the plug on it and burn all the recordings. Pretend it never existed.

The Acting is absolutely terrible from all the leads. John Noble/Walter Bishop: is doing a terrible 'Vincent Price' imitation that is really and truly annoying. Josh Jackson/Peter Bishop: is a very annoying 1 dimensional character. He spouts silly comments, that are supposed to be sarcastic and funny but are not. He is a worn out cliché. The father/son relationship idea has been done to death over the years. Can any of these over-paid writers think of anything more original ???? Anna Torv/Olivia Dunham: is weak and unbelievable. The casting director has a lot to answer for. There is a serious lack of acting talent. Some of the secondary actors are actually better than the lead actors.

This would be better if it was a spoof/comic series. It so lame, stupid and laughable it's almost half way there anyway. It's like X-files/Police Squad. Sadly though they are trying to be serious.

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240 out of 451 people found the following comment useful :-
The Pattern is "Limp", 15 November 2008

Author: Hugo Yates from Isle of Man

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I've watched all the episodes aired so far, the idea of the show sounded like it could be fun but it's delivery is just poor. I guess I been watching it in the hope it'd get better but frankly, it just gets worse.

The plots are paper thin at best, the series continues to string you along with the ongoing investigation into "The Pattern" (a bunch of weird scientific events that happen all over the world). The lead character Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) is horribly delivered, she must have gone to the Steven Segal school of acting because she nearly always looks annoyed or angry. Her character she spends, what feels like, most of the time moping over her boyfriend/partner. The end result is a fairly grating experience to watch.

The only two good characters are Peter and Walter Bishop (Joshua Jackson & John Noble) but they struggle to make any real presence with the awful scripts handed to them. Walter Bishop's quirky character elevates some of the pain but then his mental health issue tends to get over used in each script. (they're the only reason for the extra star in the rating) The bad guys are ridiculously one dimensional, when caught or cornered they'll purposely get themselves killed - like they're fanatics. It's more a cheap get-out-of-supply-answers mechanic used by lazy writers. They're made out to be extremely cunning, going to any selfless lengths to reach their goal. It just doesn't wash, especially given the nature of the show.

If you watch the episode "The Arrival" you'll get a good scope on just how weak and stupid the show is able to get. The rest aren't much better.

I'd be very surprised if this makes it to a second series, it sure doesn't deserve it, far better programmes have sunk for less. If you enjoy thin-stupid plots, no tangible answers, awful lead character and a lot of melodrama then you'll like this.

"Someone is experimenting and the whole world is their lab" - yes, someone is experimenting with rubbish television.

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72 out of 121 people found the following comment useful :-
Fringe of Pseudoscience, 23 April 2009

Author: rogerdottin from Earth

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"Fringe" or more accurately "Pseudo", is a series I really tried to like. Some have compared this series to The X-Files, but unlike X-Files, Fringe is peppered with shortcuts, sloppy editing, lazy writing and unimaginative (and unbelievable) story lines. The science component has barely any grounding in reality, and when it does it is clear the writers have done no research at all on the subject. Its as if the whole series was written by people high on the same illegal drugs the show constantly glorifies. The Dr. Bishop character incessantly encourages drug use with a particular preference for LSD. I'm writing this in the middle of watching episode 11, where the female FBI agent has just survived being kidnapped and experimented on, and unfriendly forces are threatening to shut down her work on the "Fringe-Files" Sound familiar? Jeez. Its like they stopped trying altogether at this point. Each new location we see is distinctively labeled much like they did on X-Files, except these labels are 3D lettering digitally inserted into the scene. Since this is the only way they can outdo X-Files ill ignore the fact that its an old trick I first saw on Panic Room seven years ago. But it really gets old fast. As is typical of new shows, Fringe (like Lost) attempts to to get the viewer hooked by hinting about some great secret to be uncovered, except this show is just a hook with no worm. The story revolves around a series of strange incidents called "the pattern", a term so sickeningly dull it gives me the sensation of swallowing mud when I hear it. The only "pattern" I see here is the one where this show is an amalgamation of ideas from other hit shows in an attempt to grab an easily impressed audience and make some quick money for the studio. It has nothing to keep you coming back except the curiosity to find out why some people seem to like it so much. The creator J.J. Abrams is also doing the new star trek. That's kind of scary for a guy that hasn't gotten anything right since Alias.

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