It’s the Upfronts?: Fringe on FOX

Posted by Dan May 23rd, 2008 at 11:24am In All Things TV

It’s upfront season!

Unfortunately, the strike has effed everything up and it’s not really the same week-long parade of new programming we used to know. Maggie used to handle this beat, but I’ll handle it this weird year. However, now I’m adding a question mark to the “It’s the Upfronts” title because it all seemed very after-the-fact and unceremonious.

Instead of highlighting all the inevitably crappy programming that is bound to pop up, I’m going to spotlight some stuff that might actually be good. First stop: Fringe.[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZAu4L5_Fl84" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

First of all, I think J.J. Abrams should buy me a pony. Between Alias, Lost, Felicity and that vomit-orious movie Cloverfield, he must be making enough money that he can buy me and every other red-blooded American boy a pony… on whose head I can superglue a cone and make into a unicorn.

The reason I say this is that Fringe is his ninety millionth new series. If I had Abrams cash, I’d dedicate a room in my house just to store my Judaica.

Fringe looks like it could be intriguing although I have my reservations.

• They boast that it was done by the writers of Transformers.
• There’s a high probability it might be in the distinctive JJ Abrams category of high concept, uneven payoff.

However, it does have some things working for it.

• The always adorably apple-cheeked Joshua Jackson (who, by the way, has one of my favorite celebrity mug shots ever).
• An obviously large budget.
• A strong cast including that mysterious fellow who keeps popping up in flashbacks/flashforwards on Lost.

What do you think? Any other shows you’re looking forward to?