Trivia / Fringe

• Acting for Two: All of the characters who have doubles on the other side.
  • Anna Torv acts for three: Olivia, Alternate Olivia, and William Bell (when his consciousness possesses Olivia's body).
• Actor-Shared Background: Both Peter and Josh Jackson have mothers who are from Ireland.
• Ascended Fan Nickname: Even the captions refer to alternate Olivia as her Fan Nickname "Bolivia".
• California Doubling: The show was mostly set around Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with cases taking place mostly around New England. However, the first season was produced in New York City while the remainder was produced in Vancouver.
• Creator Backlash: Jasika Nicole has no fond memories of the series, complaining that Astrid was poorly written and "relegated to a caretaker role of white people for 5 seasons" and speaking about mistreatment from producers and directors, such as numerous ones who refused to pronounce her name properly, even when her co-stars stood up for her, which resulted in her strongly disliking the running joke of Astrid's name being mispronounced.
• Fake American: Anna Torv (Olivia) and John Noble (Walter) are Australian, and Joshua Jackson (Peter) is Canadian.
• Fake Brit: Sebastian Roché, who plays British Thomas Newton, is French.
• Friday Night Death Slot: Was moved here midway through its third season. It's been renewed for season 4, meaning Fringe has actually survived the Friday Night Death Slot, making this only the third Friday/9PM show (after Millenium and Dollhouse) to get renewed since X-Files left.
  • Although it was likely a coincidence (the name comes from a line of dialogue from the episode), it is amusing that the first episode aired after its move to Friday was "The Firefly," sharing the name of Firefly, another science-fiction show that aired on FOX that was canceled after a move to a Friday timeslot.
• Network to the Rescue: Season 4 saw a mild drop in critical acclaim and a large drop in viewers, essentially spelling the end of the show, ESPECIALLY since it was on Fox...right? Wrong! Fox renewed it for a 13 episode fifth and final season instead to let them finish up their story, and bring the episode number up to 100 so that it could be syndicated.
• The alternate comic-book covers briefly seen in Over There Pt. 2 aren't just alterations of the originals; they were apparently redrawn basically from scratch. (DC is publishing the little-known Fringe comic book anyway.)
• The Other Darrin:
  • Gene, the team cow. The cow used in the pilot had to be replaced because of livestock restrictions.
  • The Observer child, Michael, due to Spencer List visibly aging, in the final season he was portrayed by Rowan Longworth.
• Real-Life Relative: John Noble's daughter Samantha appears in "Brave New World, Part 1" as Doctor Benlo, the new administrator of St. Claire's.
• Romance on the Set: Anna Torv married Mark Valley, who played her partner and lover in the pilot, but they separated after a year.
• Spared by the Cut: Facing cancellation, the final two scenes from season 3 were filmed as the death of Peter Bishop when he bridges the two worlds. The scene was hastily modified to the evaporation of Peter Bishop once the show was picked up the week it aired.
• Viral Marketing: In J. J. Abrams fashion. Massive Dynamic has their own website.

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