New J.J. Abrams Project "Fringe"

J.J. Abrams, the prolific TV producer and writer has unveiled his newest TV project, a series called Fringe. Abrams describes the work as being a mix of all things good about The X-Files, Altered States, and The Twilight Zone.  The show's central story focuses on three characters, a female FBI agent, an institutionalized scientist, and his estranged son. This trio is called upon to halt increasingly unexplained phenomenon around the world, utilizing all their strengths to succeed at this daunting task.

The Fox Network has bought the idea after Abrams shopped it around a little, and has budgeted out a $10 million dollar budget to shoot the two hour pilot. Joshua Jackson from Dawson's Creek fame has been cast as Peter Bishop, the son of the raving mad Dr. Walter Bishop, who is played by John Noble. Noble more recently has played the role of Denethor in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The role of FBI Agent Olivia Warren has gone to Australian born actress Anna Torv. 

The show is being executively produced by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci (the team that composed most of the upcoming Star Trek film) as well as Bryan Burk (one of the prominent producers on ABC's Lost). Abrams spoke to Variety magazine on the subject, and when discussing the style and feel of Fringe he made the following the comment: "It's definitely meant to scare the hell out of you, but it's also meant to make you laugh... It pushes all the buttons of things we loved from our childhood."

One of the main features of the show, according to Abrams, is ordinary people in extraordinary situations. He wants to exploit the relationships between the three leads  as well, saying they're very relatable characters in and of themselves. Most of the show focuses on could-be-crazy Dr. Walter Bishop played by Noble, who begins the series in, of all things, a mental hospital. It is Torv's character of FBI Agent Warren who brings Dr. Bishop's estranged son to the stage and into the action of the narrative. As per many J.J. Abrams stories, there will be an overarching narrative mythology that will fill the essence of the plot, but unlike Lost most of the episodes will be self-contained phenomena.

The Pilot is currently in production in Toronto and the series will premiere on Fox Networks on September 9th, 2008, at 8pm EST.