Fringe

The Silence of the Lambs and Lost gave birth to Fringe. It isn't pretty. Fringe is a creation with too much DNA with JJ Abrams's thumbprint squarely on its blodgy head. Great if you're a die-hard JJ Abrams fan. Great if you're an adolescent boy. Great if you're an animal rights activist who likes shows that demonize science and universities. I suppose this is why Fringe is on Fox and not ABC.

The best part of the show is Anna Torv who plays an FBI agent. Abrams's real talent is in picking female leads that have the knack of giving his scripts a great deal more complexity than they deserve. The most disappointing part of the show, for me, was Joshua Jackson. Listen, I'm a huge Joshua Jackson fan, so I can't figure out why he seems so at a loss in the role. It's a simple role: smart-ass genius who fucked his life up and blames it on his weirdo father, the crazy scientist. Isn't that sort of basic? Don't tell me the only thing you can do is angsty, rebellious teens, Joshua!

Oh -- and the music sounds like something out of Outer Limits -- actually, the whole show is glorified Outer Limits -- without the promise of a payout. Because there's never a payout with Abrams. He's all talk.