HDTV Update: Fringe, No Ordinary Family, City Homicide
March 31, 2011 
3 Comments
If you can't remember this trip down Memory Lane from Fringe, read on ...
TV2 will screen the episodes of Fringe and No Ordinary Family it pre-empted because of the Christchurch earthquake but TV One won’t be resuming HD transmissions of City Homicide.
The Australian police drama was acquired in HD for seasons one and two, when the network anticipated it would be a hit.
But when the ratings failed to materialise, and the series was consigned to the late shift (11pm Monday), it opted to take seasons three and four in SD.
That’s because SD tapes are cheaper than HD tapes, a cost factor the network feels it has to consider when a series like City Homicide can no longer command top ad rates.
Hopefully the same fate won’t await season three of Fringe, now that HD series has switched from 9.30pm Tuesdays to 10.30pm Thursdays.
TV2 is nearing the end of season two quicker than expected because it’s skipped episode 15, Jacksonville, as Disgruntled Fringe Fan points out.
According to an IGN review, it opens with a Manhattan office worker waking up after a violent earthquake with “more than the usual number of body parts, including an extra set of arms and legs, and a head growing out of his torso (not to mention the steel beam merged with his shoulder)”.
It was out of sensitivity to the impact of the earthquake in Christchurch that TV2 pre-empted Jacksonville and the No Ordinary Quake episode of No Ordinary Family.
If you wondered what you missed, the AV Club has one of the best summaries.
TV2 has confirmed both Jacksonville and No Ordinary Quake will screen as part of the current seasons.
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April 1, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Thank you for the information about why they skipped the Fringe episode. After numerous complaints to TVNZ, us fans were ignored, so it is nice to see that TVNZ still cares enough to answer some people’s questions…
It would have been great if TVNZ had told their viewers that information. The episode that they skipped is apparently and extremely crucial episode for the whole series. In fact it is kinda seen as the key episode as it significantly advances the plot of the whole show. Had viewers been informed about TVNZ’s decision to not air the episode, we could have made other arrangements to see the episode or at least could have read a description of the episode so that we could some idea about the significance of the two episodes that have since aired.
Sorry to rant like this, but my complaints to TVNZ never get any response, and they removed their messageboards from their website, probably because of all the complaints (and abuse) they were getting from viewers who were pissed off not only with TVNZ’s treatment of the show, but their treatment of the fans who actually waited all that time to watch the episode on TV2 when it would have been easier and much less frustrating to watch both seasons two AND three online. TVNZ keeps complaining about low ratings, but people aren’t watching because 1) we are so, SO far behind the American airdates, 2) we never know when Fringe is gonna be on or whether the episodes will even be order, and 3) because of those above reasons, people would rather watch online. It baffles me that TVNZ doesn’t understand that and continues to dick around with shows that people would gladly watch if the broadcaster was reliable.
Thanks for this. I did not even notice a Fringe episode had been skipped and TV2 wasn’t kind enough to inform us. I wonder if they think we don’t care that late at night what we’re watching.
I remember they always used to mess with X-Files, too, always changing the time from week to week so it was almost impossible to record it every time. At least now there are HDD recorders so I can record an hour either side and delete the excess. VCR was a nightmare. Remember the season finale of Fringe last year where TV2 suddenly changed the time because “it wasn’t rating well in that slot”? So we were all forced to watch it on on-demand.
I see No Ordinary Quake has gone now from on-demand. I wonder if it will be played around midnight on a different night from normal like the aforementioned Fringe episode. For now I’m saving my recorded NOF episodes so I can watch them in order later when the Quake one comes out – hope I didn’t miss it already. Pity I didn’t know a Fringe episode was also missing, have already watched and deleted all those.
Could always wait a couple of months and buy them in an Amazon sale I guess. TVNZ are really annoying me lately.
Just watched the Jacksonville episode as we catchup on Fringe episodes recorded on My Sky. My comment is: how pathetic. Not the episode, the fact the episode was postponed at all. The link between the earthquake and what was on the show was tenuous at best. Coupled with the fact it screens at 10.30pm and a warning could have been added at the start, there was no reason to delay the screening. Extending that theory, I’d expect coal to be removed from sale this winter in case it brings back memories of Pike River. TVNZ, hang your head in shame.