WHY DO NETWORKS INSIST ON SPOILING THEIR OWN SHOWS IN SEARCH OF THE ALL MIGHTY RATINGS POINT? That’s the infuriating question we find ourselves asking hot on the heels of the recent news that has a certain actor* appearing in a cameo capacity on an upcoming episode of FRINGE.
Now don’t get us wrong, we completely appreciate the perilously bubblicious** position FRINGE currently finds itself in when it comes to their renewal prospects, and of course applaud anything and everything that helps contribute to an uptick in ratings. That said, despite his popular following as a result of his previous role(s), we highly doubt this cameo by an actor who shall not be named is going to make even the slightest bit of difference ratings wise.
In fact, as someone who has been observing (Not in a creepy bald-headed black fedora kind of way we assure you) this business we call show for quite some time now, we feel quite confident in prognosticating that there will be virtually no ratings improvement based on this actor’s appearance***. After-all, if almost three seasons of FRINGE have taught us anything, it’s that much like CHUCK, what you see is what you get. And unfortunately, in the case of the best show on television that you, yes YOU, currently aren’t watching, what you get is a weekly average of 4 – 6 million. A number which by no means is going to double based on a highly buzzed about guest appearance. Unless of course that guest appearance is by Charlie Sheen.
What’s more, Fox, in leaking this information has essentially robbed their most loyal viewers of television’s most endangered of endangered species… the element of surprise. Leaving us to wonder just how much cooler an episode could have been had so-and-so simply appeared on screen unexpectedly.
Alas, we will never know. 
* In an effort to not spoil the surprise for the portion of our readership who may-or-may-not be as addicted to twitter as we are, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to conceal the actor’s identity.
** Being on the proverbial “bubble” sounds a lot more fun the way we say it.
*** By the way, if you still have yet to click through to discover the actor’s identity, give yourself a pat on the back for demonstrating far more self-control spoiler wise than we ever could!