Fox on the Fringe of a hit?

Comparing a show that hasn’t even aired yet to sci-fi heavyweights like The X-Files and The Twilight Zone is a gutsy maneuver (and one that usually reeks of desperation and quick cancellation) but in the case of Fox’s upcoming show Fringe, it might be justified.

Co-created by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Cloverfield) and two guys who apparently had something to do with the Transformers movie (not sure why that’s a selling point), here’s a summation care of Variety:

Net has made a series commitment to the Warner Bros.-Bad Robot production, which will start off with a two-hour pilot budgeted at more than $10 million. Abrams, Kurtzman and Orci — the brain trust behind Par’s new “Star Trek” feature — wrote the project on spec and shopped it to nets this week.

Trio will exec produce “Fringe” along with Bryan Burk (”Lost”). A search has begun for a pilot helmer as well as a series showrunner.

Deal also marks Fox’s acceptance of a new digital template hammered out by Warners and ABC last month (Daily Variety, Sept. 6). Pact gives Fox broad streaming rights to Warners shows in their first season and lets Warners start monetizing skeins via digital platforms by season two.
More than one option

“Fringe” mixes elements of “The X-Files” and Paddy Chayefsky’s “Altered States” with what Abrams calls “a slight ‘Twilight Zone’ vibe.” It will focus on brilliant but possibly crazy research scientist Walter Bishop, his estranged son and a female FBI agent who brings them together.

Episodes will explore self-contained mysteries of the paranormal, as well as the relationships between the three leads.

You remain unconvinced, you say? Well, check out the trailer below.

So, let’s recap:

Checklist for awesome success:

Checklist for immediate cancellation:

We mentioned Fringe before back in our Fox 2008 preview, but as the summer months roll on, more and more tidbits of info are leaking out in deliberate viral form. It is a J.J. Abrams show, after all. Lately, references to weird alternate reality games and viral marketing involving, of all things, a 12-fingered man have surfaced. Wait, how many fingers?

For anyone interested, the mystery is driven (as all viral marketing campaigns are) by an anonymous blogger posting up querulous connections between two organizations: Holomove and Freyja Capital. And, of course, that video with Mr. Fingers.

I know a lot of people are irked by these weird non-canonical viral marketing crap, but me? I can’t resist this stuff. I’m like a moth drawn to flame.

Come fall, looks like Fringe will be sitting nicely on the top of my list, if only to see what all the fuss is about.