Abrams Wants "Great World"

According to The Hollywood Reporter, JJ Abrams is attempting to secure the rights to "Let the Great World Spin" for his production company Bad Robot. Great World is National Book Award winning novel by Colum McCann about Philippe Petit and his tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers in August 1974.

The book's characters include a young Irish monk living among prostitutes in the Bronx; a group of mothers mourning their sons, killed in Vietnam, in a Park Avenue apartment; and a 38-year-old grandmother walking the streets with her teenage daughter. With comparisons to Don DeLillo's work, McCann's novel serves as an allegory of 9/11 and its aftermath.

"Spin" joins a handful of other projects Abrams has in the works as a producer that spring from literary source material and do not feed his typical genre obsessions. Also at Bad Robot and Paramount are an untitled diamond-heist project derived from a Joshua Davis article in Wired and "Mystery on Fifth Avenue," from a New York Times article about a family's Manhattan apartment that was designed as a giant puzzle.

JJ Abrams' Shelter Script

Script Shadow blog has posted a synopsis and link to an early script from JJ Abrams that kinds of gives you some insight into the evolution of his writing. This script was sold back in 1994 back when Abrams was still writing heavily rather than being the "idea guy" and handing off the writing chores to others.

The script, called Shelter, takes place in New York in 2047. It follows a high-tech thief Jack Muller and his squad as they break into an apartment to get a fluid that allows those with the means to live longer. Hijinks ensue as things fall apart.

Apparently the script is a mess but it shows even those with the reputation of Abrams has to start somewhere and learn through hard won experience and practice.

Click here to read the details and the script.

Abrams One of the Entertainers of the Decade

As part of a look back of the last decade in entertainment, Entertainment Weekly chose what they called "Entertainers of the Decade". JJ Abrams was one of fifteen chosen for the list due to his prolific decade of work including Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible III, Cloverfield, Star Trek, Fringe and more. Other members of EW's list include Johnny Depp, Beyonce, JK Rowling, Peter Jackson, John Lasseter, Will Smith, Jon Stewart and more. The complete list can be found here.

Putting his stamp on the century's first decade with defining entertainment like Alias, Lost, and Star Trek, Abrams, 43, has become a Hollywood power player with ''next Spielberg'' buzz thanks to an uncanny knack for blending capture-the-imagination ideas, emotionally riveting drama, and relatable, memorable characters. Not bad for someone who admits, as he approached the close of the '90s, ''I felt I had lost my way as a writer.'' Ten years later? ''I feel happily lost right now.'' —Jeff Jensen

Samurai Jack: The Movie Produced by Abrams?

According to a report from Frederator Films blog, JJ Abrams has agreed to co-produce Samurai Jack: The Movie. Samurai Jack is an Emmy award winning cartoon series (intro below) that appeared on Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2004 (wiki entry).

The post is from back in September but just recently noticed. Apparently the goal is to create a feature film length animated movie, a first for Abrams if this project moves ahead. Click the link above for the history of the project but as of right now the movie is in the hopeful phase as nothing definitive is planned but the clout of Abram's Bad Robot Productions increases the probabilities of the film being made. Likely the goal at this point is getting a studio to foot the bill for a draft of a script.

The Dark Tower Stalled

Probably thanks to the unexpected success of Star Trek at the box office and a sequel in the works, JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof have been confirmed to currently no longer working on the adapation of Stephen King's magnum opus. As summarized by TrekMovie.com:

Abrams:

The ‘Dark Tower’ thing is tricky. It’s such an important piece of writing. The truth is that Damon and I are not looking at that right now.

Lindelof:

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a huger fan of The Dark Tower than me, but that’s probably the reason that I shouldn’t be the one to adapt it. After working six years on Lost, the last thing I want to do is spend the next seven years adapting one of my favorite books of all time. I’m such a massive Stephen King fan that I’m terrified of screwing it up.

I’d do anything to see those movies written by someone else. My guess is they will get made because they’re so incredible. But not by me.

Abrams Talks About Fringe's Ratings

Last year Fringe was the king of the television ball with the highest rating for a freshman series last year. Now in its sophomore season and moved to Thursdays, the change has caused a massive drop in viewership, down to around 5 million. This is usually the threshold when most of the networks consider cancellation. On the bright side, according EW, Fox remains committed to the show.

“The mood on set and in the writer’s room is as good as the ratings are bad, which is to say, wonderful,” Abrams tells me. “Luckily, Fox has been insanely supportive, for which we are deeply grateful.”

Abrams is encouraged by the show’s “strong” DVR numbers as well as the glowing reviews from critics. “But given that we’re on one of the hardest [nights] on television, we’re just focusing on making the best show we possibly can,” he says. “What else can we do?”

Bottom line: Fringe is in no immediate danger of going “over there” (a.k.a. TV graveyard). The key word there being immediate.

The cause is to me seems obvious. Thursday just isn't a good fit considering the massive level of competition with Grey's Anatomy, CSI, The Office and 30 Rock. Television tends to create loyalty with viewers and a new show attempting to break that loyalty is always an uphill battle that takes time to win. It needs to be moved but likely will not.

Abrams Producing Micronauts?

In a Wall Street Journal article covering the sudden explosive interest that Hollywood has developed in toy products since the massive success of Transformers, it was revealed that "J.J. Abrams, who created the TV show "Lost" and directed this summer's "Star Trek" film, is in discussions to produce a movie about Japanese toy line Micronauts, which Hasbro just acquired."

Micronauts is a toy line from the 70s that lasted about four years in the United States before being cancelled. The toys were at first produced by Mego and then again in 2002 by Palisades Toys. There was also multiple comic book lines produced to go with the toys, first with Marvel and then again in 2002 with Image before moving to Devil's due before publishing on the franchise ended again. The basic idea is a group of adventures living in the Microverse (as in microscopic) fight to end the tyranny of Bara Karza. It was essentially Star Wars were everything occurred at the microscopic scale rather than in space. Click here to read up on the wiki entry for the potential future movie franchise.

Abrams May Direct Undercovers Pilot

The Hollywood Reporter says that JJ Abrams may direct the pilot episode of Undercovers, his potential new television series with NBC that is described as a husband and wife spy team.

Schedule permitting, Abrams will make “Undercovers” the first TV pilot he has directed since 2004’s “Lost” opener. ABC’s two-hour “Lost” opening is considered one of the best-directed pilots of all time and helped launch Abrams’ feature career into helming such films as “Mission: Impossible 3” and “Star Trek.”

Abrams has created and produced several TV shows but is not frequently in the director’s chair. He helmed the pilot and handful of episodes of his ABC spy drama “Alias” but hasn’t directed an episode of his latest series, the Fox sci-fi drama “Fringe,” which he co-created and executive produces.

Abrams also directed an episode of NBC’s “The Office” in 2007 and “guest directed” an episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” in 2006. NBC’s “Undercovers,” about a husband and wife working together as spies, has been described as a mix between “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “The Bourne Identity.”

Abrams Up For Superman

In a new interview with MTV, JJ Abrams has indicated he is up for bringing Superman to the big screen once again. Around 2002 the director, hot due to Alias, had developed a treatment that was wildly panned by the internet as it throughout most of the conventions of Superman, essentially keeping the characters names but not a whole lot else. However, with the success of Mission Impossible, Star Trek and others, the director and producer has a proven track record of re-imagining properties without crapping on what came before.

"No one has talked to me about it," Abrams told MTV News. "Obviously I’m sure Warner Brothers has a plan for what they want to do."

"Writing that script was a long process," he explained. "It was a very passionate character for me. As a kid growing up it meant a lot to me. It would be wonderful and fun to see that brought back. I don’t know what Warners is thinking or what their plan is. It would be a blast."

That version of the movie—the one that was reviewed and vilified—was actually not the latest draft we had at the time and we worked on it well after that. I do think there’s a version of that movie that could be really fun to see," said Abrams. "You never really know. Everything happens for a reason."

I am all for Abrams taking a crack at Superman, as long as someone at DC (or even Kevin Smith) gives him a few stories to read to bring him up to speed on the core characteristics of the character and his universe. I personally recommend Kingdom Come, Superman for All Season, Action Comics #775, Superman: Brainiac TPB, or just a really long conversation with Geoff Johns who has nailed the character better than anyone else in a very long time.

Nimoy Retiring Again?

Hero Complex is reporting that Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy may retire (again) after making a third and likely final appearance on Fringe as William Bell. Nimoy had retired before but took a break to film Abrams' Star Trek movie.

"I have such a great life," the 78-year-old actor said at his home last week. "I'm not looking for work."

"As an actor you're always wondering when you're going to work again, who you're going to work with, what it will be. I don't have that consuming drive," he said. Then he nodded toward an image that will be on display at [his photography] exhibit. "This is my creative outlet. This is what I do."

Nimoy was fresh from a trip to the Vancouver set of "Fringe," where he had shot an upcoming episode. He made it sound as if it might have been his final one in the role of Bell, a rarely seen character on the show but one that is, by all appearances, at the very core of the series' mythology.

"I've done three appearances for them. I don't know if I will do a fourth... "They've asked me to do more, but we have to talk about where the character is going. So far my character, William Bell, and my appearances have been used to lay in information about this alternate universe and the experience of being in this other world. And that's OK, but I don't know yet what plans they have for really developing a dramatic story for the character. I'm waiting for a conversation about that."

"I think they're talking amongst themselves now so they can present some kind of plan, a story arc of some kind."

It sounds like if we want more Nimoy on TV, we need to pray to the writing gods that Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman can come up with something compelling enough to keep Nimoy's interest to keep reprising the role. Considering how small (yet critical) the role seems to be to the Fringe universe, he could probably be killed off screen with relative ease. Be a shame though.

Abrams Wins Best Director Scream Award

Saturday Night, the Spike TV Scream Awards ceremony was held at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA and Star Trek took home six awards including the top award of "Ultimate Scream" and Best Director for JJ Abrams. Star Trek had 17 nominations in 15 categories.

Th wins:
Ultimate Scream
Best Science Fiction Movie
Best Director (JJ Abrams)
Best Science Fiction Actor (Chris Pine)
Best Cameo (Winona Ryder)
Best Fight Scene (Kirk Spock bridge fight)

Probably the highlight of the night for Trek fans was Shatner accepting the Ultimate Scream trophy:

Morgan Freeman presented the Ultimate Scream award (essentially best in show) to "Star Trek" — and William Shatner shocked fans when he stepped on stage to accept the trophy.

"J.J., I'll handle this," Shatner said to J.J. Abrams, seated in the audience, who also won best director and best sci-fi movie for "Star Trek."

"This movie was big," Shatner said. "Imagine how big it could have been with me in it? ... I'll be waiting for your call."

The full list of winners can be found here. The telecast of the award ceremony will air on Spike TV on Tuesday, October 27th from 10:00pm to midnight ET/PT. (via Trekmovie)

Abrams On Fringe, MI4 and More

As part of Paramount Pictures press event to promote their upcoming slate of home video releases including Star Trek, director JJ Abrams was on hand to help promote the release. Trekmovie.com spoke with the man were he discussed Star Trek, Fringe, future projects and more. Below are snippets, the full interview is here.

Question: For the next couple of months of the foreseeable future, what do you see focusing on?
JJ Abrams: Jeff Pinkner and Joel Wyman are running Fringe very well and we’re still very involved, but they’re running that. We have a new series that we just sold to NBC that we’re producing–it’s a pilot. There’s a movie that I’m writing that I would love to direct early next year, so we’ll see if that comes to fruition. There’s a movie called Morning Glory that is coming out next year, with Harrison Ford, Rachel McAdams and Diane Keaton, that’s being edited now. Roger Michell directed that. And obviously we’re hard at work on the Trek and Mission: Impossible, there is a lot.

Question: What are your plans for [Leonard Nimoy] on Fringe, beyond this week’s episode?
JJ Abrams: In terms of his role as William Bell, none of us could believe our luck that we convinced him to say yes to bee in the show. He is wonderful in the show. And, I will say that this is not the last you will see of his character.

Question: Can you rule out Leonard Nimoy reprising the role of Paris in Mission: Impossible: IV?
JJ Abrams: How cool would that be? It is funny, I just got a call that Peter Graves is in great shape. There was that time when he did Airplane!, but I almost feel like you could make him serious-ize again and bringing him back. Whether it’s Nimoy, who., of course, I have an incredible affinity for, or Graves, or anyone, we’ll see. I actually tried to get Martin Landau in Mission III, in a very small little moment just for fun, and was told that he had no interest in doing it. But then, when I met him, after the movie came out, it was the greatest thing. We were at this restaurant in New York, for one of the TV upfront parties, and someone introduced me to Landau. They took me over and Martin Landau came over to me, extended his hand, and [pretended to removes his face mask]. That was the greatest thing I’d ever seen.

JJ Abrams Nears NBC Deal on New Show

According to the Hollywood Reporter, J.J. Abrams is close to signing with NBC to produce a new spy drama for the network. As is typical for Abrams, the details are under wraps but in part thanks to the success of Fringe, the networks competed in a minor bidding war for the spec script written by Abrams and Josh Reims.

All that is known about the show itself is it involves a husband and wife spy team and could lead to interesting "spy" block of programming if joined with Chuck that will return next year.

Abrams Producing Medical Comedy

JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are trading in their Fringe drama hats for medical scrubs for Fox. It was announced today that the Star Trek team are producing a new medical comedy pilot for the network.

From TrekMovie:

News on the new show comes from THR, which reports that JJ will produce the pilot, written by Mike Markowitz (Becker, Duckman). So far the only details on the half hour show is that it is a "medical comedy" developed for FOX via Abrams Bad Robot deal with Warner Brothers Television. As is the last year of ABC’s (formerly NBC’s) Scrubs, that market is wide open. This would be Abrams first comedy TV show, but not his first time with the genre. He wrote and/or produced a few comedies back in the 90s, including Gone Fishin’, The Suburbans, and The Pallbearer, and he also recently produced the comedy Morning Glory starring Harrison Ford, which is in post-production. The new medical comedy for FOX will be added to the growing list of film and TV projects Abrams has going on. In addition to the next Star Trek movie, Abrams has around half a dozen other films development.

In addition, below is a brief interview with the man as he discusses viral marketing. The Fiesta Movement campaign is one such example. I don't know the details, just that G4's Allison Haislip is involved with it.

Nimoy Returns to Fringe

TV Guide is reporting that Leonard Nimoy's reprisal of William Bell for Fringe will occur on the October 8th episode of the show.

Fringe (and Star Trek) fans can circle October 8 on their calendars. That’s the night Leonard Nimoy makes his highly anticipated return to Fox’s hit drama. An eerie procedure will allow Olivia to flashback to her season-finale alternate-reality encounter with Leonard’s William Bell to obtain a “further understanding of what Bell and Walter Bishop hoped to accomplish when they experimented on her as a child,” says executive producer Jeff Pinkner. During the same episode, viewers will also meet another woman (played by Theresa Russell) who was also experimented on by Bishop. And Olivia will be floored when she spies a new cold-blooded antagonist (played by “Valkyrie” vet Thomas Kretschmann). When his character’s secret is revealed, it will be an image you won’t soon forget.

Wizard Talks Fringe with Torv, Abrams

Fringe star and knockout Anna Torv talks about the upcoming season of the show starts September 17th at 9:00pm in the States in the current issue of Wizard Magazine. The October issue (on news stands now) also briefly talks to show creator/executive producer/writer/director J.J. Abrams who provides his usual non-answer answers to any attempt to get secrets about the show. Above and below are the related pages from Wizard issue and snippets from the interviews.

Anna Torv

When did you learn [Peter Bishop was from an alternate reality]?
We should've guessed it. We certainly knew there was something not right about that. But we didn't for sure really until the episode with the gravestone.

How was it filming your one scene with Leonard Nimoy, who played notorious scientist William Bell in the season finale?
Well, it was fast and furious. It was the last scene of the last episode of our last day in New York, but he was so beautiful and gentle. Actually, I think I have a scene coming up soon with him, potentially the rest of the scene that we shot for the last episode.

Do you have a lot of "I can't believe I'm doing this" moments on set?
Yeah. On a regular basis. Like today - we're doing night shoots at the moment [for] the second episode, but I'm about to go in a tunnel and get goop all over myself. I can't tell [you why] or I'll give away the story.

What can we expect from this season?
I think last year was very much about understanding and realizing that there is an enemy - for want of a better word - and I think that this season is kind of about preparing a little. I think that the Fringe team [is] definitely going to be a little more sure-footed, a little bit more aggressive and a little bit more proactive, whereas last season I think they were very, very reactionary.

I read that you keep your American accent on set even when you're not shooting a scene. Is that correct?
No, I'm always dropping in and out. It's funny how your ear changes when you're living in a country. When you first arrive, the differences are really dramatic and your accent's actually better, and then it starts to meld and you can't hear the differences as clearly. But I always get angry because I think if people don't know I'm Australian, they don't hear anything; they just hear me speaking American and accept it. But when people do know I'm Australian they start to listen out and then they'll be all, "Oh, see her accent's terrible!" [Laughs]

J.J. Abrams

What can we expect from the season premiere, which you are writing correct?
I co-wrote the premiere with Akiva Goldsman, and he directed it. One of the cool things about this premiere is how many balls are up in the air at one time. There's a lot going on. It's cool because the moment that propels the story forward is actually in the final episode [of season one]. But it's somewhat cryptic, somewhat hidden. It'll become clear when you see the premiere what it was, and it's great. It's a mystery that centers around of our main characters. It's personal. It's, I think, a very creepy and cool and weird premiere, and I think Akiva did an excellent job directing.

Will we see the other Walter who lost his son at some point?
I'd rather not talk about specifics in that regard, but it sure is a cool idea, isn't it?

Will Peter find out his origin this season do you think?
I would say that it's, of course, something that we're working on figuring out when and how and if he learns the history of his father and himself. It is one of those things that we are toying with.

Fringe Season 1 Next Week

Next week, September 8th, the first season of Fringe will debut on DVD and Blu-ray with 6 hours of extras including deleted scenes, gag reel, production diary and behind the scenes footage. Three of the episodes will have commentaries from the writers and producers of the show. If you plan to order from Amazon, feel free to use the links below.

Order Fringe Season 1 from Amazon: 5-Disc Blu-ray | 7-Disc DVD

DVD Details:
- 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
- Fringe: 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

Additional Blu-ray Bonus Features:
- "Pattern Analysis" – featuring expert commentary on selected scenes
BD-Live enabled with exclusive commentary by JJ Abrams

Fringe "Tweet-Peats" Thursday

In an interseting use of Twitter, Fox is planning a "tweet-peat" of the show this Thursday at 9PM according to Variety. The plan is to have cast and producers log into twitter and comment on the show while using the hash tag #fringe. The "tweets would then be simultaneously telecast in the lower-third scroll on Fox. ...Participants include "Fringe" exec producers Jeff Pinkner and J.H. Wyman, as well as stars Joshua Jackson and John Noble."

Clicking the links I found for three of the four particpants, they all say "Check back this Thursday for the FRINGE Tweet-peat! To participate, follow @FRINGEonFOX." While your adding the others, feel free to add my twitter account. This "tweet-peat" will also occur if the repeat of the pilot episode of Glee.

Cloverfield 2 Viral Video Tease? No

For whatever reason, multiple websites are running the below video suggesting it may be a teaser for Cloverfield 2. I don't know where that conclusion came from, I guess because they mimicked the filming and editing style of the movie to a degree with an ugly creature (or insect close-up) at the end. To my knowledge JJ Abrams has not begun any work on Cloverfield 2 and there currently is no script either.

Fringe Season Premiere Promo

Below is the new promo for the season two premiere of Fringe that starts on Thursday September 17th, at 9/8c on Fox.

Fringe Producers Talk Season 2

The new season of Fringe starts September 17th and producers/writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman spoke with IESB and answered a few questions about the upcoming season. Part of the interview is below, the full article is here.

Q: What is coming up on the show that you can talk about?
Orci: Peter (Joshua Jackson) is going to really take charge. Walter is going to explore freedom that he maybe shouldn't have.
Kurtzman: Last year, it was very much about Peter finding himself blackmailed into the position he was in, of having to be his father's caretaker. He was always faced with the possibility of running. What was interesting to us was that he was a character who could bail on everyone else, at any second. I think a lot of what happened, towards the end of last season, and what we see at the beginning of this season, is leading to his commitment to say, "I'm the guy. If we're going to do this, we're going to do it my way. I'm taking charge now. If you want me to help in the Fringe division, then you have to go through me to figure out how we're going to get to cases." That's going to be a very different way of approach for the character.

Q: How involved will you guys be this season, and what will J.J. Abrams' involvement be?
Orci: We're divvying it up, so that we'll oversee one, J.J. will oversee one and we're all together, once or twice a month, planning what the next big steps are. Then, we have an amazing staff that divvies up the episodes. We get together on the phone and improve the stories, so we're all in there. Jeff and Joel are the ones who are physically on site, handling all the horrible things that we're protected from, in addition to doing what we're doing. But, we're all in there creatively.

Q: What is different in your alternate realm?
Orci: The White House was hit instead of the World Trade Center.
Kurtzman: Kennedy's still alive.

Q: Where's Walter (John Noble) in the alternate world? How does he feel about our Walter taking his son?
Orci: I'd be pissed. That feels like a juicy train to collide into. That's looming somewhere.

Q: How much of Walter is improvised and how much is written? Do you put it in the script, when Walter goes off?
Orci: Absolutely. You say, "In the background, Walter is inspecting whatever thing is catching his eye. You're not even sure what he's doing yet until you get over there." It's still very written, but John's improvs are underlines and exclamation points on the scene. One line can change a scene. It can do so much to everything that came before. Obviously, you can't make some of that stuff up. It takes a team of people. But, he really knows his character and he can get in an out of character almost without the script.

Q: Do you have to wait for word from Leonard Nimoy that he's available or willing, before you do a William Bell script?
Orci: We do two scripts in advance, at a time. We'll go, "Hey, you up for two more?" It's a buy one, get one free kind of thing.

Fringe's Press Panel

Friday the cast and producers of Fringe met with the press to help hype the new season of the television. As usually they are remain wonderfully cryptic about the upcoming season as they dropped hints about what is to come to TV Guide.

2:26 pm/PST: How many dimensions will season 2 take place in? Two, according to Pinkner. “[It's] two versions of reality,” he adds. “It’s not time travel.”

2:28 pm: Leonard Nimoy will be back for “several more” episodes, one of which has already been shot.

2:30 pm: Over the course of season 1, Orci says they “got a better handle on the balance of our characters and our plots, and making sure that our plots are character-centric.”

2:31 pm: Noble calls Walter Bishop “the most enjoyable character I’ve ever played in my life.”

2:33 pm: On balancing the show’s two parallel universes, Pinkner says the season “predominantly takes place over here. But what happens over there is impacting what happens over here.” Got that?

2:35 pm: Pinkner concedes that the “mythology overtook the story and the characters” on Alias. “We’re being very careful not to let that happen [on Fringe].”

2:40 pm: The reveal about the parallel universe was originally going to be held off until the end of season 3. But research showed viewers “were open and ready for more,” explains e.p. Kurtzman, “so [we said], ‘Why stall it?’”

2:42 pm: Old news: There’s a spoilery twist in the premiere concerning Kirk Acevedo’s Charlie.

2:48 pm: Jackson calls Noble an “endlessly inventive actor… and [he] makes my life so much more enjoyable.” The sentiment seems genuine.

2:53 pm: Jackson describes his obsession with The X-Files thusly: “I would watch that show six feet under water with my dying breath in my lungs.” Wow, and I thought I was a fan.

2:54 pm: On a possible Olivia-Peter hookup, “As long as the emotion is true, we’re open to anything,” says Pinkner. Adds Orci: “We want it to be organic. Not just something we planned.”

Fringe Season 2 Promo, Poster

Below is a promo trailer for Fringe Season 2 and as you can see there is also a pretty slick looking poster to go with it. The new season starts in September.

Fringe San Diego Comic Con Panel

Thanks to "DahmerChrist619" below is video of the 2009 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) for Fringe. The panel included actors Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Jasika Nicole, executive producers J.H. Wyman, Jeff Pinkner, and consulting producers and writers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci as they discussed the show and some of the mythology behind it. Like any good convention Q&A, the panel members seem to be having as much fun as the audience.

Part 1 focused on introductions and a little bit on the characters interactions with each other and the mythology. Part 2 continues that track but also talked about the season finale with William Bell's office being in the World Trade Center. Part 3 was a mostly a Fringe trivia contest with the panel asking the audience questions and gets into the alternate worlds history (Twins Towers not hit, maybe White House was). Part 4 gets more into the plausibility of the "Fringe Science" and accuracy of Walter's mental health portrayal.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5

JJ Talks Shop With IF Magazine

In the recent issue of IF Magazine, JJ Abrams briefly talks about the various projects he has worked on in this last few years. A few snippets below, with the full article here.

In the story of Fringe, it is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another," he says. "If you look at this show as a series of standalone episodes, it works in that regard too. This show feels like it’s a tentpole episode in terms of the mythology, but it really does continue the story that from the beginning of the season we were going to tell. The first season was the set up, [the character's] roles, their job and getting a sense of the rhythm of the show, but this is a massive turning point in the long-term arc of the series."

The secret is to keep people around who you trust?
ABRAMS: Yeah, to keep honest people around who are talented and worthy and who will tell you the truth, when you have an idea. The scariest idea is people who are really talented who surround themselves with these sicko-fans, who keep telling them how good they are and say “yes” to everything. I’m always grateful for people who are able to encourage me and inspire me to do better and vice versa. Alex and Bob are incredible collaborators and we have an easy way of working hard together.

When did you realize that you were good at writing?
ABRAMS: I’ll call you when that happens [laughs]. Writing is hard, as you know. It’s more the satisfaction that you get after struggling so long with a story or a character. Directing is what I love to do and writing always feels like the necessary step to get the chance to say “Action”.

Fringe Season 2 Spoilers

The second season of Fringe is prepping and a few spoilers have leaked. UGO TV blog has summarized most that have come out in the last month or so.

- Second season debuts Thursday, September 17th with Bones as the lead-in.
- Kirk Acevedo (Charlie Francis) was fired from the show, possibly to be replaced by "Catherine"
- Catherine's character is "mid to late twenties, FBI agent who is "attractive, brash, outspoken, quick-witted and capable. Catherine has a strong personal center that comes from a deep core belief in the wonders of the universe."
- Leonard Nimoy will be back for at least two additional episodes as William Bell.
- JJ Abrams describes second season arc as "building to a very specific type of confrontation...a really interesting shift in the fundamental paradigm at the beginning of next season in a very cool way."

So sadly nothing earth shattering as JJ Abrams continues his rather remarkable secrecy streak going when it comes to his various projects.

Abrams Solos for MTV Awards Skit

The 2009 MTV Movie Awards were held yesterday and as part of that Andy Samberg created a new musical short called "Explosions" that makes fun of all the moments in movies as characters walk away from explosions without looking at them. As part of the skit, JJ Abrams solos on keyboard in a rather odd outfit.

Abrams on Fringe Season Finale

Tonight is the end of the first season of Fringe and it intends to go out on a high note with the appearance of William Bell as played by Leonard Nimoy. JJ Abrams comments on the season and the arc for season two with The Live Feed.

“The first year is about learning there is an enemy ... I would argue Season 2 is about getting to know the enemy ... Season 1 is building to a very specific type of confrontation ... there will be a really interesting shift in the fundamental paradigm of the show in a very cool way.”

“What’s particularly cool about where we’re finally going now is the story is working on all the character’s strengths,” Abrams said. “Over the course of the season you find what’s most exciting about a character. You’ll get a little piece of Peter’s ultimate story [in the finale], but it’s also a huge turning point for the other two characters as well.”

“There’s nothing more crazy than having that sort of massive chuck of exposition thrown at you in the story,” he said. “Sometimes the desire of producers/writers/network/studio is to provide clarity ... those kind of monologues of exposition don’t help anyone ... [actor Lance Reddick] delivers them beautifully, but any actor tasked with catching people up deserves a drink at the end of the day.”

Abrams added the finale will leave viewers with an idea of what the next season will look like and excited about what comes next.

“What’s particularly cool about where we’re finally going now is the story is working on all the character’s strengths,” Abrams said. “Over the course of the season you find what’s most exciting about a character. You’ll get a little piece of Peter’s ultimate story [in the finale], but it’s also a huge turning point for the other two characters as well.”

Another difference is Season 2 will feature less clunky exposition straining to bring new viewers up to speed.

“There’s nothing more crazy than having that sort of massive chuck of exposition thrown at you in the story,” he said. “Sometimes the desire of producers/writers/network/studio is to provide clarity ... those kind of monologues of exposition don’t help anyone ... [actor Lance Reddick] delivers them beautifully, but any actor tasked with catching people up deserves a drink at the end of the day.”

Fringe Officially Renewed

According to Sci Fi Wire, Fox has made official what we already assumed was true, that Fringe is getting a second season order of 22 episodes. The show is now the number 1 new drama among the critical 18-49 demographic that advertisers covet.

"Fringe proved to be a notable addition to our schedule all season and it really has fans buzzing as it builds to a fantastic season finale," said Fox's president of entertainment, Kevin Reilly. "J.J. and the whole Bad Robot team have been phenomenal partners, and we look forward to years of making great television with them."

Series co-creator and executive producer J.J. Abrams added: "Fringe continues to gain momentum, creatively and with viewers. We couldn't be more thrilled that Fringe will continue to freak people out for at least another season!"

Nimoy Talks Fringe Roll

Leonard Nimoy fresh off of working with JJ Abrams on Star Trek, has joined Fringe for a few episodes playing William Bell, for founder of Massive Dynamics and once partner to Walter Bishop. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he discusses the role.

You worked with J.J. on Trek. Is that how this role came about?
Yeah, he called me and said: "We have this character that's been referred to but never seen." He gave me some backstory on the guy and sent me some episodes to look at. I think the show's extremely well done. And there's enough intrigue about the guy to make it interesting.

There is a lot of intrigue surrounding William Bell. What can you tell us about him?
I can tell you that he's very intriguing.... [Laughs] He has a great sense of his place in the scheme of things. Profoundly successful, very smart.... What's going to be explored is the story of his relationship with [former lab partner Walter Bishop], what he wants with [special agent Olivia Dunham], what he is intending to do with all this money and power that he has, what are his idiosyncrasies. I think we managed to get some interesting touches into the brief scene with Anna [Torv, who plays Olivia]. We're going to have some fun with this guy. I think we're going to ring somebody's bell.... It's a blank canvas, and maybe a misleading blank canvas. Maybe there have been some clues about him that are misleading, and I think that's part of the fun of the show.

Are you open to doing more than three episodes?
Yes, I am, depending on how much fun we have. It's got to be fun for me these days, otherwise why bother? I had a terrific time doing what we already did, and I like [cocreators Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman] a lot. I like the possibility of this character. I'm excited for the first time in a long time.

Fringe Season Finale Teases

At the Paley Festival last week, a few Fringe season finale secrets were revealed by the cast and producers to Sci Fi Wire.

The end of April 21's episode, "Bad Dreams," showed a video of young Olivia in a burnt-out room after one of William Bell and Walter Bishop's Cortexiphan experiments. Is she just a firestarter?

"I think it's more than that," Torv said. "I think for Olivia it's more than that, and I say that only because there's an episode coming up where we meet another subject, and I think it's more than that. I think what they got given or what they got taught is much bigger than just starting fire."

...show runner and executive producer Jeff Pinkner offered more hints about what Olivia's secret power really is. "We saw the consequence," Pinkner said. "We saw that she started a fire at the end of the last episode, but I think it's a mistake to assume that that's her power. I think the truth is, it's probably a consequence of her ability."

Torv also confirmed her scene with Nimoy, adding that it's calm yet threatening. "That's what's kind of cool about working on Fringe, is everything seems kind of calm and lovely, but there's always something going on underneath," Torv said. "Where she meets him is the cooler question, but I'm not saying any more."

"There's a piece of information that gets revealed about Peter at the end that tells you why I think that [Peter was not part of the Cortexiphan experiments]," Jackson said in a separate interview. "It's the last thing that you learn. It's not something that Peter does. It's something that happens around him, and he's not even aware of, but the audience becomes aware of, and it sort of radically changes how you think about this guy."

Pinkner said. "'Is there only one Peter?' I think it's really exciting. We knew the secret of Peter before the season started, and it's been hinted at or sort of laid in the architecture of the show since the pilot. We start to acknowledge to the audience what that secret is. He, Peter himself, will not learn the secret or one of the secrets at the end of this season, but we will."

"I do a series of scenes with Josh Jackson at the end of that, which are really very beautiful," Noble said in a separate interview. "Walter has a manic attack, actually, which is quite scary. It's just the two of us. It's something I thought was really strong work. That's my favorite in the finale. It's pretty powerful."

"Well, you're going to find out what [Nina Sharp's] connection is to the legend of legends, William Bell," Orci said in a separate interview. "Is she his protector? Is she his accomplice? Is she innocent?"

I have to admit, most of those secrets were questions that didn't even occur to me to ask (like is Peter really Peter). Should be an interesting season finale and if Abrams keeps to tradition, he will cause more questions and confusion then clear up.

JJ Abrams Edits Wired Magazine

As part of the return of Star Trek, Wired Magazine turned over editing duties for a month to J.J. Abrams. First is the description, after that is Star Trek and other links of interest from the issue.

Every two years, WIRED creates an issue with the help of a special guest editor. This year the job goes to Hollywood visionary J.J. Abrams, creator of Alias, co-creator of LOST and Fringe, and director of the new Star Trek film, which hits theaters May 8. At first glance, Abrams’ credits may not seem related to core WIRED story topics like tech, business and science. But, says editor in chief Chris Anderson, “What is science but a never-ending detective story? The guest editor’s job is to take our readers to a place they’ve never been before. We learned that mystery is at the center of J.J.’s world, and it’s and a major part of the WIRED world, too.”

More than a year in the making, the May WIRED features a one-issue redesign, mind-boggling puzzles on almost every page and hidden features “that are not apparent at first or second glance," says Abrams. WIRED challenges readers to test their skills with pages of clues, spoilers, games, card tricks and layer upon layer of mystery. Abrams, who says he is a “huge fan of WIRED,” saw his guest editor duties as an opportunity to give mystery a new meaning. “Mystery demands that you stop and consider -- or, at the very least, slow down and discover. It’s a challenge to get there yourself, on its terms, not yours.”

From the world’s leading origami artist to the top puzzle masters, WIRED recruited top talents in a variety of fields for this issue. Contributors include renowned comic book artist Paul Pope, who illustrates an exclusive comic strip featuring a lost chapter of the Star Trek saga. Star Trek concept designer Neville Page gives readers a first look at a new monster, Big Red, a lobster-hued snow-planet scourge that attacks Capt. James T. Kirk.

The details on the issue and online extras can be found here or on newsstands now.

On to the links:
Spock Bio - The full six pages that summarizes the life and times of Spock.
Star Trek's Big Red - 7 pictures of concept art for "Big Red", the large creature that attacks Kirk on the ice planet Delta Vega. It was created by Neville Page who also designed the creature used in Cloverfield.
JJ Abrams on the Magic of Mystery - Abrams discusses love of mystery and putting the issue together. It also helps you understand why it’s just hard to get information about his projects (which makes blogging about them difficult).

Fringe: Final Five Episodes Summary

The final five episodes of the season are planned, probably already shot, and apparently full of answers that likely lead to more questions about the Pattern as the descriptions below from SF Universe seem to indicate.

Unleashed (Air Date: 4/14/08)
As animal rights activists ransack a laboratory, they get more than they bargained for when one of the caged “animals” unleashes a ferocious appetite. Leaving grotesquely mutilated dead bodies in its wake, the scientific engineered beast – with the body of a lion, claws of an eagle, fangs of a viper, skin of a rhinoceros and tail of a serpent – attacks Charlie. With Charlie’s life on the line, Walter must come face-to-face with both his past and the beast.

Bad Dreams (Air Date: 4/21/08)
Episode Written and Directed by Academy Award-winner Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind”)

As a suicide incident occurs at New York’s iconic Grand Central station, Agent Dunham simultaneously witnesses the event while asleep and dreaming in Boston. Rattled by the extraordinary and coincidental circumstances, Olivia, Peter and Walter investigate further, but keep coming up empty-handed. As these violent occurrences continue and worsen, Olivia is sent into an unthinkable direction and shocking details emerge about the ZFT manuscript, the highly experimental drug Cortexiphan and Olivia’s childhood.

Midnight (Air Date: 4/28/08)
Fringe Division is on the case when severely mutilated bodies drained of spinal cord fluid begin to pile up. After their investigation leads them to a scientist (guest star Jefferson Mays) with possible ties to the Z.F.T. bioterrorist cell, they are shocked to discover the identity and motive of the killer. When the kills occur with increasing frequency, Olivia (Anna Torv), Peter (Joshua Jackson) and Walter (John Noble) go to desperate lengths to stop them.

The Road Not Taken (Air Date: 5/5/08)
First her bad dreams became reality, and now Olivia is “dreaming” while awake, seeing elaborate bleak visions of things not really there. While investigating the disturbing case of a woman who apparently spontaneously combusted, Olivia throws caution to the wind and mines her unexplained visions for clues. Meanwhile, Walter comes clean about his prior knowledge of the Z.F.T. manifesto, and Peter’s secret project is revealed and yields surprising help in unraveling the mystery.

There's More Than One of Everything (Air Date: 5/12/08)
The sudden and unexpected attack on someone with close ties to Fringe Division, the return of bioterrorist David Robert Jones (guest star Jared Harris) and the inexplicable disappearance of Walter set the stage for a non-stop, nail-biting season finale of FRINGE. Questions will be answered, observations made, loyalties tested and truths and identities revealed.

This is the season finale were Leonard Nimoy is expected to appear in at least one scene (probably at the end).

Fringe Casts Nimoy (Updated)

Ausiello Files is reporting that J.J. Abrams has tapped legendary Star Trek actor and director Leonard Nimoy to play William Bell. Bell is Walter Bishop's former lab partner that created Massive Dynamic. That corporation is considered central to "The Pattern" problems that the main characters investigate and often have origins to Bishop and Bell experiments.

It was a delight to work with Mr. Nimoy on Star Trek," J.J. tells me. "The idea that he will play the mysterious, much-referenced William Bell is a thrill. I know I sound like a goofy fan boy, but I can't help it: Leonard is an icon of the genre and such a wonderful actor. To have him come on board Fringe is a mind-blowing honor."

The character is slated to debut in next month's season finale and then return in the fall for an extended arc.

Update: E Online has posted an interview with Fringe co-creator Roberto Orci about the casting of Nimoy and plans for the character of William Bell.

is William Bell the answer to some of the questions we've been asking about the Bishops and Olivia?
Several answers will come outside of William Bell, and then William Bell will be the beginning of the answers to even bigger questions.

How do you see the relationship between Walter Bishop (John Noble) and William Bell (Leonard Nimoy)?
We always imagine that they were two of the smartest guys in their classes, and they went through the Ivy League together. At that point in college, you're discovering yourself, but these guys, the intelligent geniuses they are, they might come to conclusions about what's important in this world. So we always imagine that they were very much like each other, very much friends, and very much a team—brothers in a way, and that life took them in different directions, either complementary or not directions, and we're going to find out.

Do Walter and William take those different approaches to the Pattern?
That's absolutely right. They have not only different approaches to the Pattern, but different interpretations of what the Pattern is. The Pattern is slightly in the eye of the beholder, you're going to find out. And sometimes what you think is real can become real. In a way, these two are the top minds in the world attempting to figure out the Pattern and how to react to it, based on their world view.

When will we first see William Bell?
We're going to want to build the anticipation to meeting him as much as we can. So close to the finish line.

EW's Ausiello Files provided a little bit more detail how when the character will show up this season and next.

Question: Leonard Nimoy as William Bell on Fringe? In a word, awesome. How long will he be around for? --Jeremy
Ausiello: He'll appear in one scene in the May 12 finale and then return next season for three more episodes. I hear the character's arc was significantly cut back to accommodate Nimoy, who was only interested in doing a handful of episodes. The moral of this story: A little Leonard Nimoy is better than no Leonard Nimoy.

Fringe Glyph Code Cracked

Julian Sanchez of Ars Technica, Erica Sadun, and UC Irvine computer science professor David Eppstein have cracked the code to all the glyphs that appear just before each commercial break during an episode.

In most cases it is a single word that ties into the theme of the episode so sadly it doesn't seem to provide the hints towards "The Pattern" as hoped. Read the links above for the details on how they did it or just use the picture (from Fringe Television) to determine the word for future episodes.

The words to date:
1: OBSERVER
2: CHILD
3: AEGER [? -- AETHER would make more sense for the episode]
4: ROGUE
5: SURGG [should be SURGE?]
6: CELLS
7: CODES
8: TAKEN
9: VOICE
10: TRADE
11: SAVED
12: BISHOP
13: AVIAN
14: OLIVIA

Star Trek Sequel Gets The Greenlight

Variety is reporting that in a huge sign of confidence on the success of the upcoming movie, Paramount Pictures has decided to move forward on the sequel.

The writing pair of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers I and II) will be joined by longtime Abrams' coworker Damon Lindelof in penning the sequel. The trio will also get producing credit while Abrams stays on as executive producer. Whether JJ Abrams will return as director has not yet been decided. The goal is to have a script ready by Christmas so can have the sequel ready for theatres for a summer 2011 release.

"There's obviously a lot of hubris involved in signing on to write a sequel of a movie that hasn't even come out yet," said Lindelof, co-creator with Abrams of ABC's "Lost" who produced the upcoming "Trek" but did not contribute to Orci and Kurtzman's screenplay. "But we're so excited about the first one that we wanted to proceed."

"Obviously we discussed ideas, but we are waiting to see how audiences respond next month," he said. "With a franchise rebirth, the first movie has to be about origin. But with a second, you have the opportunity to explore incredibly exciting things. We'll be ambitious about what we'll do."

Abrams Extends Paramount Deal

Paramount Pictures and JJ Abram's production company Bad Robot have extended their contract through to 2013. The provides the studio with a first-look relationship for any projects Abrams and Bad Robot is working on. For Bad Robot, this means funding to work on those ideas such as Paramount's recent purchase of the film rights to "The World's Biggest Diamond Heist" the Abrams may direct.

"Today's announcement is meaningful to me in many ways," said Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO, Paramount Pictures Corporation. "Bad Robot was one of the first deals we made to help rebuild the studio. J.J. has since become part of the fabric of Paramount and we look forward to continuing our fruitful creative collaboration for many years to come."

"Bad Robot has had an incredibly fun and productive collaboration with Paramount," added Abrams. "We are all so grateful for their amazing support and creative team, and feel like we're just getting started. We are thrilled that we get to stay right where we are."

Abrams Plans A Diamond Heist

Dark Horizon is reporting that Paramount Pictures has bought film rights to "The Untold Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist" for JJ Abrams to potentially direct. The story is by Joshua Davis that appeared in Wired Magazine.

"The film will follow the true story of an unprecedented $100+ million diamond & gold heist in Belgium in early 2003 by a small group of Italian thieves who circumvented ten layers of security to access a vault beneath the Antwerp Diamond Center."

The movie will be produced by Abrams' Bad Robot company and currently no writer is attached nor is there a release date. Actually it isn't even 100% that Abrams will direct as he has multiple irons in the fire (Fringe, Star Trek, Morning Glory, etc).

Cloverfield 2 Still Possible

At a Star Trek panel at Wondercon '09, JJ Abrams confirmed that Cloverfield 2 is still on his radar.

Abrams was asked about CLOVERFIELD 2 and he said that the key to doing it was to make sure they were doing it because they have a creative need to do it and not make it as a business decision. They’re toying around with a couple ideas right now and he said if they lock it down and they’re as excited about it when they do as they are now then it’d happen. Right now, all he’d say is that the idea, if it comes to fruition, is “something that would be connected to Cloverfield.”

Fringe Moves To Canada

Variety is reporting that due to costs, the production of Fringe is from Long Island's Silvercup Studios to Vancouver, Canada. The area is home to many television productions, especially sci-fi including Stargate, Sanctuary, Eureka, Smallville, Supernatural, and more.

The main reason for the movie is the tax incentives that New York passed over a year ago that caused some programs like Ugly Betty, Fringe, etc to set up stakes in the area has already dried up. With episodes costing $4 million each (!!!), anything that saves money is a good thing. So ironically the Boston set show will have an out of country address but this should open up the production to a wide variety of different locations.

"In this challenging and uncertain economic environment, we have made the very difficult decision to move the production of 'Fringe' from New York to Canada in the event the series is renewed for a second season," said a Warner Bros. Television spokesman. "We are deeply indebted to the talented New York production crew that helped bring the first season of 'Fringe' to life, and we thank them for their invaluable contributions to the show's success."

If it wasn't for the cold, I wouldn't mind moving to Vancouver just for the chance to work in TV or film (behind the scenes of course). I wonder what this will mean for the mostly Hollywood based writing team of Abrams and co? Does it change anything for them?

Fringe Comic Relaunch Explores Origins

Wildstorm plans to "relaunch" the Fringe comic book series by tying it more carefully into the shows mythology by exploring the origin story of young Walter Bishop.

From Comic Book Resources:

In “Fringe” #1, readers were introduced to a young Walter Bishop and his fellow graduate student, William Bell, as they share their first “fringe-like experience” together. Fans of the show know William Bell as the future chairman and CEO of Massive Dynamic – the multi-billion dollar research and development conglomerate that finds itself smack dab in the middle of whatever Agent Dunham and her team are investigating each week.

Johnson revealed the next chapter in Bishop and Bell’s early history is explored in “Fringe” #2, on sale on this week. “Things get even weirder for them,” laughed Johnson. “By this time, [Bishop and Bell] are sharing a lab and starting to experiment with things that the university would probably not approve of, if it knew about them.”

The budding relationship serves as the plot thread stringing the six-issue miniseries together. A series of backup features, telling done-in-one mysteries, are also included. “Each issue in the series is divided into two parts: the first half, or A-story, will continue the story of Bell and Bishop, while the second half, the B-story, will be a self-contained short story with unconnected characters that plays on a different Fringe-y concept, with subtle ties to the show itself,” Johnson explained. “The A-stories with Bell and Bishop form one over-arching story that culminates in both ‘Fringe’ #6 and the pilot for the show, so make sure you watch it again. And the B-stories are each self-contained short stories. We are all huge fans over here of ‘The Twilight Zone’ and ‘The Outer Limits,’ the classics, so our B-stories are homages to sci-fi parables like the ones in those shows.”

Johnson said Walter is an interesting character to write because in the “Fringe” comic stories, he’s a “different guy” than the one we see on the show. “He’s young, he’s just starting his career, and most importantly he’s not crazy,” offered Johnson. “At least not in the conventional way, but we put hints in there that all will not end up well in his world.

“As for Bell, we’re playing with the idea that he will end up the richest man in the world one day, in charge of the biggest corporation in the world, Massive Dynamic, but he starts as an idealistic young scientist.”

Wildstorm’s “Fringe” comic book is very much set within the continuity of the greater “Fringe” mythos. But, Johnson added, “If anything contradicts the show, the show wins because it’s on TV, and comics are on paper.”

Fringe Second Season Likely

Good news for fans and those that work on Fringe, it appears that the show is going to get a second season. In a press Q&A with Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said, while hedges his bet just a bit "I already know 'Fringe' is a keeper, the show's been a bear creatively because it's been very ambitious. They've really found the storytelling model now ... what you're going to see in the second half in the year, if you follow the serialized story you will not be disappointed, yet the stories really do reset themselves each week. I would not expect it to take off after 'Idol,' but I do think it will tick up another level. If I have a show that we love, but we don't think it can be protected on the fall schedule, we might not put any on the fall schedule."

Realistically though, you don't put a show on after juggernaut American Idol unless your confident that it has the potential to grab an audience and keep them watching.