Welcome to day 13 of the Lowatus. (Unlucky for some). A little known fact is that the Lowatus is named after Henry Lowatus of Lowatusville. Henry was a cold, miserable man who hated scripted content and campaigned tirelessly against televised entertainment throughout the 80′s. One day Henry mysteriously disappeared -- some say he vanished into thin air, but others believe he’s still out there, planning to take revenge on all quality programming.
Moving on, there’s a distinct lack of Fringe tomorrow night, but we do have some Fringey bits and pieces below the jump. Get them before Henry does.
The LATimes have an interview with Leonard Nimoy -- might be deemed spoilery for some, although it’s nothing we haven’t reported before to tell you the truth:
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.”
Nimoy said that conversation will be “some with J.J. Abrams” but more so with show runner Jeff Pinkner and series creators Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the same tandem that came up with the script for “Star Trek,” which was good enough to coax Nimoy back into Starfleet service despite his initial resistance to the idea. Nimoy said Orci and Kurtzman are “just terrific, very talented and very smart” but it was quite clear that the actor’s goodwill posture toward “Fringe” was earned entirely by the “Trek” experience and that it has its limitations.
Fringe poster “I think they’re talking amongst themselves now so they can present some kind of plan, a story arc of some kind.”
The sci-fi icon surprised me when he said he signed up for the “Fringe” first-season finale without much knowledge of the series at all.
“I never paid much attention until I was asked to work on it and even then I didn’t know a lot. I got the [home video] collection of the first season and [my wife] Susan and I were up in Lake Tahoe and last week we sat there about four or five hours at a time and watched them. And, wow, that show is something. They do a great production job. They have great story hooks, terrific production values and very interesting performances.”
He mentioned in particular the work of John Noble, who portrays the wonderfully eccentric Walter Bishop, Bell’s onetime colleague in the business of mad science.
“We just met for the first time and it was very enjoyable,” Nimoy said, although he was careful not to say whether that encounter was on-screen or off.
As I said, this is nothing we haven’t already read from Nimoy. But it does make me wonder how good a decision it was to cast him in the role in the first place? Nimoy has never been outwardly enthusiastic about working on the show -- disappointing for fans, but he’s probably only on the show as a favor to JJ. for offering him the Star Trek gig. Should it come to it, I think it will easy enough to replace Nimoy or write him out of the show (hey, we have the shapeshifter storyline and Bell is ‘sick’, as in ill), but it’s a situation that the producers could have avoided.
On the other hand, it does read like Nimoy is waiting to see what plans the creators have for fleshing out William Bell. I don’t think anyone can blame him for wanting a meatier role, if that is the case. So there are two ways to look at this. At the end of the day, though, all I care about is that he brings his A-game for however many episodes he has remaining, and, that the writers have a plan for the character that doesn’t interfere with the integrity of the show and its other storylines. The show must come first.
Speaking of which, this video interview with JJ. Abrams talking about Nimoy’s role as Bell does provide a bit of context. (the interview was probably taken last season, but I don’t believe we’ve posted it before):
Stuck for a costume idea this Halloween? Why not go for a Fringe-related theme? Check this out for a few ideas.
Jon Pyle has a few ideas on how to enjoy the Fringe-hating World Series.
Fringe has suffered in the ratings this season -- that Thursday slot is murder. But USA Today report that FOX’s overall Thursday DVR ratings are up, in no small part to Fringe. I wonder what FOX will do with Fringe when Idol returns. Perhaps it’s worth taking the show out of the firing line for a while. Oh, and less Lowatus breaks might help.
Here are some set photos featuring Anna Torv -- here and here. [heads-up: FringeWatch]
Quick shout-out -- If you’re looking for a quality Fringe Podcast, you should definitely check out TheFringePodcast (swish new design). I’m hoping to catch up with their season 2 casts’ myself before the Lowatus is over.
And that’s about it in terms of tidbits. I’m off to look for Henry to tell him what I think of his Lowatus.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Strange…I’ve never heard of Henry Lowatus before. But, I suppose that would be why it’s considered to be a little known fact, huh? No matter. I just hope he will go back to the alternate universe where he belongs so I can enjoy Fringe.
I really don’t see what the big deal is with the Nimoy interview. I think people have completely taken it out of context and have somehow jumped to the conclusion that Nimoy is out for good. But I didn’t get that impression at all. My first thought after reading it was, like you pointed out, that it was nothing we hadn’t already heard before. Essentially it’s the same — Nimoy agreed to do Fringe, but never signed a contract to a specific number of episodes. And it makes sense that now that he’s filmed the third appearance, they would be back in the negotiation stage. It was always up in the air as to how often he would actually appear. And I wouldn’t say he’s lost his excitement with Fringe. He still had very good things to say about it. Honestly, he’s long past the age of retirement and he wants to do the things he wants to do — which is focusing on his art. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
Personally, I think that if the writers and producers fill him in a little bit on where his character is going and they make it clear that there’s a specific reason he should stay for a bit longer, he will do that. I don’t think he’ll just drop out and leave them in a tight position. The fact that he even agreed to do Fringe, despite his retirement status and his desire to focus on his art, tells me that he was interested in the role and wanted to be a part of Fringe. That said, I don’t think he would be against an occasional appearance here and there. I think he just wants to know what to expect — which is perfectly fine.
This strikes me as a bit of a non-story that’s been taken out of context and much more of someone trying to wring a headline out of a simple negotiation. Unfortunately it’s led to a bunch of articles declaring NIMOY TO LEAVE FRINGE!, which doesn’t help the perception of a show already seen as weakened thanks to the new time slot, reduced production values (didn’t Broyles used to have an office?), etc.
And although I don’t think Nimoy would walk away completely from the show (and I don’t think he sounds overly much like he wants to), the expectations of a Bell/Bishop face-off are now such that if he were to do so seriously, it would probably prove fatal to the show’s long-term chances.
Unless he travels back in time and it turns out that a young William Bell turns out to look a lot like Trent Reznor…
I pretty much agree. My only real concern is that the show keeps its integrity. The show and its intended storyline should always come first, in my opinion. You’d have to think that the producers were prepared for the possibility of a long-term Nimoy stint or a short-term role when they hired him, so they should have plenty of options.
The Nimoy coup added flexibility and buzz – and it’s good to take advantage of situations like that, but hopefully the story will come first, even if the next William Bell (if there is to be one) has to be a “no-name” actor.
Re: filling Nimoy in with more details. I too can understand that. Although Bad Robot by their nature don’t really give their actors too many details ahead of the next script (something I totally support for spoiler and directorial reasons). So it will be interesting to see exactly how much they reveal to Nimoy about the future of William Bell. Perhaps a (very) general outline might suffice?
Speaking of young William Bell – how about Zachary Quinto? That would have a nice symmetry to it.
bell gets sacked but his legacy lives through md