Tonight brings news of another big Hollywood deal for the members of the Trek team – this time a new sci-fi show for Fox. The trades are reporting that Star Trek director J.J. Abrams, along with co-writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and executive producer Bryan Burk, have sold a paranormal drama series called Fringe to Fox. The quartet will each have executive producer credits and there is a search on for a showrunner. The show is described as a mix of The X-Files and Altered States with (according to Abrams) "a slight Twilight Zone vibe." According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fringe was born and written between Star Trek production meetings.
Like other shows from the team it is said to have an overall mythology and mix in a bit of humor. Abrams describes the show thusly…
The show is definitely a nod to Altered States and Scanners and that whole Michael Crichton/Robin Cook world of medicine and science….It does the stuff my favorite TV shows and movies do, which is to combine genres that shouldn’t fit together, 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.
Trust No One…except those selling X-Files-like shows
Variety points out that Fringe will be the third project for the 2008/2009 season with an X-Files spin. It joins CBS’s Eleventh Hour (reported last month) and a show called Section 8 at ABC. Could this be a repeat of the 2005 sci-fi face off of Threshold, Invasion and Surface? Fox Entertainment president tells Variety that he believes Abrams show has the biggest sci-fi angle and issues the challenge "may the best show win."
Being that yesterday’s news of Bad Robot’s sale of Boundaries to ABC was only for a pilot, Fringe marks the first network series sale under Abrams new Warner Bros. TV deal (he also has sold a medical drama to HBO). This is Abrams first show on Fox and the network is is making a big commitment with the pilot reportedly costing over $10 million (rivaling the cost of the pilot for Lost). Fox has a long history of supporting genre TV (The X-Files ran for almost a decade), but is also quick to cancel (Firefly, Space Above and Beyond, Dark Angel, Alien Nation, etc). May JJ and his band of brothers fare better.
More on this cool sounding new show at Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
VOTE: Miss Mulder and Scully?
So do you think the time is ripe for another X-Files llike paranormal investigation TV show? Were you a fan of the X-Files…vote in the latest poll (right column)
Hope this rocks, it’s been too long since a good Sci-Fi show has been on basic TV.
This just in……JJ Abrams has just signed a multi-year deal to develop, produce and direct every single show and program that will ever air on Fox!
In conjunction with their new Fox deal (as highlighted Harry Ballz’ post) Abrams, Kurtzman, and Orci to direct, produce, write, and provide the voices for the (inevitable) Simpsons Movie 2.
JJ seems to be in a real “retro” mode with the Trek film set in the original timeline and now this show – a nod to Altered States and Scanners?
Good luck with that.
Sounds very cool…but makes me think about the image posted here a few weeks back with JJ and Lucas. Now I think that article should have been called.
“This is how Steven and I did it…might still work for you guys”
Good luck boys
Fox- The Home of the Simpsons and JJ Abrams
Too much to watch… so little time. Maybe I should get a life.
sounds interesting – Scanners and Altered States are really unique and have that whole realistic science thing going on…
Meh. Fox cancelled Firefly. It may have been years, but it’s still not forgiven.
Here’s wishing Fringe more luck than that.
Like #9 said, Fox has a poor record of supporting Sci-Fi / fantasy shows.
From Firefly to Sliders and Futurama to name a few, Fox bounces a show around it’s schedule and don’t advertise when it’s on and (suprise surprise) when it doesn’t get good ratings they are quick to cancel it.
Hell, even the actor that played Mal on Firefly, Nathon Fillion, went back to Fox in the ill fated show Drive and it was cancelled after what, 4 episodes.
At least give a show some time to grow and find an audience, I thought Drive was alot better than some of the other crap on Fox.
Good Luck Mr. Abrams.
Finally, a series that sounds interesting enough to watch. I’ll definitely be watching this one. When is it? Next fall? So long to wait … But I think it’s worth it.
The new Star Wars TV show will leave all other space shows irrelevant.
TV shows are way too loaded down with commercials, promos and logos on screen. I can’t bare to watch anymore. If it’s any good, I can Netflix it.
#11 “So long to wait…But I think it’s worth it”
Sound familiar?? C’mon Trek XI!!!
Like what #9 and #10 said, I’m still bitter over Firefly being canceled. I pretty much dont watch anything on the fox network as not to get my hopes up. (I refuse to watch the fox “news” network as well, but thats because its not actially a news network, just a propaganda tool.)
The show sounds exciting, but it’s too bad that it’s on Fox.
I’m sure that none of the networks got to where they are by acting like Mother Theresa, but the malefaction of Fox’s sister network is far beyond the pale.
As for the X-Files, I own the series on DVD (hey how about an HD remaster there?), and have it on good authority that they are working on restarting the franchise (?) with new movies. As far as I know Chris Carter, Gillian Anderson, and David Duchovny are all on board. From what I have heard, they are planning on focusing more on the creature or paranormal aspect rather than the mythology. This was all about a week ago that I read it so I don’t know if things have changed since then. Or is this old news to everybody, I didn’t hear it mentioned?
Knowing FOX, they’ll show all the episodes out of order, forget to advertise it and then can it before the 14th episode.
Seriously, why do producers put their shows on FOX. Fox management is a bunch of doofuses. Firefly was a potential breakout hit. Futurama too. And need we mention Family Guy?
#14 & #15
Let’s keep the politics out of it guys.
18….agreed
everyone should know this site is a rare politics free zone.
Although critiquing Fox’s tendency to cancel shows is fair game, but in their defense they also seem to greenlight more genre/scifi than any other network. It is interesting to see Fox claim that their show is ‘more scifi’ than other shows. I think both Abrams and Lindelof have spoken about how just a few years ago they had to ‘hide’ the fact that Lost was scifi/genre from ABC.
Of course ‘real’ scifi (eg future and space shps) is still no where to be seen, but in a couple of years Lucas will give it a try with Star Wars. If that works and Abrams new movie works…I find it hard to imagine that CBS would not make a new Trek for TV (if not for their own networks, then maybe sold to another)
Not much of a face-off. Didn’t Threshold, Invasion and Surface all get squashed? I was getting into Threshold in particular.
And yeah, add me to the Firefly grudge holders.
At the very least I hope the new shows aren’t all moody and depressing, that hasn’t gotten so old.
It’s a weird and difficult choice, but one that should be acknowledged: whether to rob Peter to pay Paul.
I’d bet real money that Gene would concur.
I won’t harp on it. I’ve no wish to be a buzz-kill.
“May JJ and his band of brothers fare better”
Maybe. Maybe not. Fox has a record of screwing up a show. For example, Firefly, if I recall right, was not shown in order. The suits at Fox thought they wanted to show action and adventure and started with what was actually the second show. Thus when folks watched the show, they did not know the characters. They saw the train robbery episode, if I recall right. That was dumb. Only a suit is that dumb. The characters are what brings folks back. You have to intrduce them first.
What a sci-fi show? Do something for the Sci-ff channel. They’ll give you the best shot. If they’ll give a hunk of junk like Flash Gordon–a show that could have made it had they not toyed with it the way they did–22 episodes.
A show: Phillip K. Dick’s: The Blade Runner the Series. This time the first two or the shows who follow Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep closer than the great 1982 movie starring Harriosn Ford. And I am not joking when I say “great.”
Set the new show in 2119 San Fransico and follow the new adventures of Rck Deckard starring someone like Ben Browder or Michael Trucco in the role of Rick Deckard. Because it will be a show, the show will be able to follow the book, Do Androids Dream of Electic Sheep, more closely than the genious film did. It will not be a remake of the movie, mind you. But it will have a lot of the dark feel and a lot of the dialogue will come from the novel as the film. The key differences will be Rick Deckard will be human as is made clear in the novel, hel’ll be married as in the book, there will be a messiah like character in the book.etc. If it’s not clear, the first two to four shows will follow the book pretty close.
Who wants to see this as a movie? I know I do.