Caffeinated Clint
A new FOX series that’s a little “X-Files”, a little “Altered States”
CBS remade “Angel” as “Moonlight” (and what a shitty remake it is – how many episodes do you give it? 3?). Now FOX is hoping we forget about “The X-Files” in time for “Fringe”, a new similarly-themed spookfest from TV wonder child J.J Abrams, and writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
The trio, the brains behind the new “Star Trek” feature, have generated $10 million bucks to shoot a two-hour pilot for the network.
According to Variety, “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.
Much like “The X-Files” it’ll include ‘monsters of the week’ as well as fix on the personal relationships of the main characters.
“So much of the story is relatable people in extraordinary situations,” Abrams said. “The show is definitely a nod to ‘Altered States’ and ‘Scanners’ and that whole Michael Crichton/Robin Cook world of medicine and science.”
There’ll also be an overriding mythology that will come into play from time to time, as well as a healthy dose of humor.
“It does the stuff my favorite TV shows and movies do, which is to combine genres that shouldn’t fit together,” Abrams said. “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.”
Driving the show will be the Walter Bishop character, a larger-than-life figure who bears some resemblance to the titular character in Fox’s “House.” In the pilot, he’s in a mental hospital.
“Imagine that your father is Frankenstein mixed with Albert Einstein,” Orci said. “He’s someone who has the mental ability to solve so many problems but is so different that communicating with them is almost impossible.”
