During last Friday’s episode of the Fox sci-fi show Fringe titled “Lysergic Acid Diethylamide,” Walter, Peter, Broyles, and Bellivia were tripping on LSD.  I almost thought  that I was tripping when I saw “#Fringe” just above the logo of Fox 5 (WTTG – the DC affiliate) in the lower right hand side of the screen (different affiliate logo pictured below).

When I was watching the Glee episode “A Night of Neglect” last night, I also saw “#Glee” above the Fox 5 logo.  So, Raising Hope was going to have a hashtag, right?  Wrong.  Hmm… So, when I was searching for a Glee screenshot to get its hashtag, I found one from Fox 41 (WDRB of Louisville), and there is no hashtag.

Further, I checked these episodes on Hulu, and there were no hashtags there.  That makes sense since Twitter is more about real-time communicating, and Hulu is not about the here and now.  It allows you to an extent watch shows when you want to.

Granted, Fox in the past has used Twitter to host tweet ups with show cast and crew members during episode airings.  So, what about this new development?  Here’s my thinking about this…

• Fox probably thinks that fans of some shows tweet more than fans of other shows.  With Fringe attracting a vocal sci-fi crowd and Glee a more youthful crowd, it makes sense to encourage them to tweet. So, why doesn’t Fox think Raising Hope fans tweet that much about the show?

• TV network and affiliate politics likely obliges (if not requires) Fox to request affiliate permission to place the hashtags above their logo.

• Fox probably chooses to place this hash tag on the screen on a show-by-show and affiliate-by-affiliate basis.

• This is a good time to experiment since show plots are now rapidly progressing toward their season finales.  That means more people will likely tweet about the late season plot twists and turns.

Some of my biggest questions about Fox placing these hashtags on screens are: What are Fox’s goals?  How are they going to measure success?  Has Fox monitored and cataloged show-related tweeting in the past and will compare it to when the hash tags appear on TV screens?

Further, what is Fox expecting from more Twitter activity?  Does Fox hope that greater buzz will attract more viewers to its shows?  Is it planning to sell “sponsored” tweets from one of its official Twitter accounts during the conversation of an episode that is currently airing?

What do you think?  During which, if any, shows did you see the hashtags on your TV?

On a personal note, I would like to thank Fox for renewing Fringe for a 22 episode fourth season.  THANKS!