Production

Creators

Fringe Creators and Joshua Jackson. From left to right: Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, J. J. Abrams, and Joshua Jackson. ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Company

Fringe was conceived and created by J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. J.J. Abrams is especially noted for creating the series Lost and the 2009 Star Trek feature, as well as working on The Office and Samurai Jack. Abrams has also received numerous awards for his work, including numerous Emmys, a Golden Globe, and the Writers Guild of America Award. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have worked together on many notable movies, including The Island, Mission Impossible III, Transformers, and Star Trek. Together, these three big names have woven an immensely complex plot and character relations into Fringe, the likes of which are hardly rivaled on television.

Main Cast

Central cast from left to right: Anna Trov, John Noble, Joshua Jackson, and Jasika Nicole. ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Company

• Anna Trov as Olivia Dunham
• Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop
• John Noble as Walter Bishop
• Lance Reddick as Phillip Broyles
• Blair Brown as Nina Sharp
• Jasika Nicole as Astrid Farnsworth
• Leonard Nimoy as William Bell
• Michael Cerveris as September

Inspiration

Some argue that the X-Files is the single most influential series on Fringe, to such an extent that Fringe is essentially a remake of the X-Files, though J.J. Abrams denies this claim. ©1993 Fox Broadcasting Company

J.J. Abrams cites many inspirations for the material in Fringe, including (perhaps the most pronounced) X-Files and The Twilight Zone. He also cites various literary authors as inspiration, such as Michael Crichton. Without much difficulty at all, one can see the influence Abrams' other series, Lost, has had on Fringe, and also note the clear parallels with more mainstream cop dramas such as CSI and Law & Order. In fact, in many ways Fringe is an elaborate combination of The Twilight Zone and CSI , with a substantial plot thrown into the mix as is the case with the X-Files.

Facts / Trivia

• William Bell is played by the same actor as the original Spock from Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy. His appearance at the end of the first season brought one if its highest ratings.
• The glyph images with yellow dots that appear from time to time during Fringe episodes are actually a code spelling out a thematic message for each episode. Some glyphs can be seen in the dividers in this blog, they spell out "ENGLISH". Click here for more info.
• As hinted to, the Observers are constantly present in the series, but rarely interacted with. The creative geniuses responsible for Fringe have included the Observers in every episode of Fringe, but sometimes they are extremely hard to locate.
• J.J. Abrams composed the theme music to Fringe himself, which is one of the series' most notable features.
• The cow used in the Pilot episode had to be recast, because livestock restrictions did not allow the cow to enter the United States from Canada where the pilot was filmed
• Fringe contains spectacular visual effects, and has been nominated for numerous awards in this area, yet has not won a single award.
• There are always dead bodies for Walter to examine.
• Although Walter's lab is said to be in Harvard University, it is actually set in multiple different universities, for the most part at Yale University.
• Fringe's Pilot episode was one of the most expensive television pilot episodes ever, costing nearly $10 million to produce.