Jeff Pinkner eschewing parallel universes for time-travelling dinosaurs? But don't worry, in an alternate universe, he's still working on Fringe...

In the run up to Fringe's fifth and final season, executive producer and co-showrunner Jeff Pinkner has left the show. TVGuide says:

"Sources tell us it was Pinkner's decision to exit the series to pursue other projects and that it was an amicable split."

His co-showrunner J.H. Wyman will continue as sole showrunner, and tweeted:

"I will be here until the last frame. We always encourage everyone to pursue their creative paths."

Back in February 2011, it was announced that Jeff Pinkner was working on a script for the movie version of Primeval, which would be separate from the TV series. If you're not familiar with Primeval, it's a fun British sci-fi adventure show where anomalies (basically, wormholes through time) mysteriously appear, then dinosaurs and other creatures come through, and people have to run around trying to stop them. Yes, that's right: time-travelling dinosaurs. Unlike in Terra Nova, where it's just the humans who travel through time, and then they encounter the dinosaurs. Occasionally.

So perhaps this is one of the projects he's prioritising, which would suggest that we might see the Primeval movie sooner rather than later. Of course, even once the script's finished, they still have to actually make the movie. Wrangling dinosaurs takes time, you know. Especially if they eat the wranglers.

If this theory is correct, then he probably spent all his time in the writers' room playing with dinosaurs, after which someone got fed up and went, "Look, Jeff, can you just give the dinosaurs a rest for a bit, please? Otherwise we're going to have to ask you to leave." Upon which he probably declared, "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" and walked out, taking the dinosaurs with him.

Or perhaps he's not even actively working on the Primeval movie any more. Perhaps he's making a black-and-white art film about the existential ennui of tablespoons. Who knows?

Fringe is considered to be a serious, complex, thought-provoking sci-fi show. Primeval is not. However, that doesn't mean Primeval doesn't have story arcs, or entertainment value for that matter. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Alternate universe apples and time-travelling oranges. (On that note, can orange juice be considered to be freshly squeezed if the oranges were picked several million years ago?)

This isn't the first time Fringe has been linked with another sci-fi show. Leonard Nimoy has had a recurring guest star role, and he was in...some sci-fi show or other several decades ago...

Like with Primeval, Star Trek was cancelled, then brought back after fan outcry, and led to spin-off series and movies (well, there's at least one of each for Primeval in the works so far).

Also, when Fringe was on the brink of cancellation (well, one of the times), Fox's marketing referenced another cult sci-fi show, Joss Whedon's Firefly, which, like Primeval, was cancelled and then brought back (though in Firefly's case, as the movie continuation Serenity).

Fringe is back for its fifth season, which will also be its last, on September 28, 2012. Similarly, Primeval's fifth (and possibly last) season is currenly airing in the UK on ITV.

See also:

New Dark Knight Rises trailer isn't good; it's stunning

Awesome details for Dinosaurs vs Aliens

Primeval webisodes online

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