Fox has heard the anxious cries of ‘Fringe’ fans and even cast members over the past few weeks who have feared the cult sci-fi show from J.J. Abrams would be canceled. Rather than drawing out the wait any longer, Fox renewed ‘Fringe’ for a full 22-episode fourth season as first revealed via a tweet by executive producer J.H. Wyman.
‘Fringe’ has been riding a cancellation bubble all year and a potential death blow was dealt when it was moved from Thursday to Friday evenings during a long holiday hiatus, a slot Fox is notorious for sending underperforming shows to quietly die off. Ratings in 18-49 advertiser-friendly demographic initially picked up in the new Friday time slot, but have been progressively stagnant or moving south since mid-to-late January. The last episode drew a 1.3 18-49 rating, an unfortunate series low.
Wyman and his ‘Fringe’ team have not been coy about preparing for a fourth and even fifth season of the show. Nary an interview goes by where he or someone on the production team doesn’t talk about narrative points in the current and past seasons setting up planned events in seasons to come. Only yesterday a new cast member was added to ‘Fringe’ who will debut in the season 3 finale and likely recur in season 4.
With the season 4 uncertainty brushed aside, ‘Fringe’ will continue its excellent third season run leading into the early May season finale.
