Press Tour: J.J. Abrams talks "Fringe"

One of the most talked-about shows of the fall season is Fox's "Fringe," a paranormal-conspiracy thriller from J.J. Abrams (right), the man who created "Alias" and "Lost."

Like "Alias," "Fringe" has its share of shadowy intrigues and a strong young woman in the lead. And like "Lost," some very bad things happen to people on an airplane.

But Abrams promised that "Fringe" won't require the same total immersion those shows demand from viewers. To prove he understands the issue, he told a story about a night when he was at a friend's house and "Alias" came on.

"I watched a few minutes, and I was so confused," he said, drawing a roar of laughter from the critics. "Literally it was impenetrable! I was like, I know I should understand this - I read the - but what the - who the fuck is that guy? I saw the show from that place.

"'Fringe' is in many ways an experiment for us, which is, we believe it is possible to do a show that does have an overall story and an end game, which 'Fringe' absolutely does...but also a show that you don't have to watch episodes one, two and three to tune in episode four," Abrams said.

"'Alias' had the craziest storyline, where she was a good guy working for the bad guys but she didn't know it, because the bad guys were pretending to be good guys, while the good guys were - it was definitely a show that while I so loved working on that show and miss it, I can see how it could be difficult," Abrams said.

"With 'Fringe,' we're trying very diligently to do a show that doesn't require that kind of insane absolute dedication to a series, where if you miss an episode you truly have no idea what is going on," he said. "But hopefully you want to see every episode because they'll be exciting."

Australian newcomer Anna Torv stars as FBI agent Olivia Dunham, part of the team called in when an international flight lands at Boston's Logan Airport full of gooey corpses that used to be the passengers and crew. Something horrific happened onboard, but what?

Her investigation leads her to the brilliant scientist Dr. Walter Bishop, played by John Noble. But he's been locked up in the nuthouse for 17 years, and the only way to get him out is with the help of his estranged son Peter, played by Joshua Jackson of "Dawson's Creek" fame (and not much since). This unlikely trio and Olivia's FBI pals find themselves walking back a mystery that is much larger than one jetload of decomposing travelers. It leads them to a mysterious corporation called Massive Dynamic and its manipulative boss Nina Sharp, played by Blair Brown.

The setup is strongly reminiscent of "The X-Files," another show with a complicated mythology.

"The genesis of this show is... 'What do you want to see?'" Abrams said. "It wasn't like, 'OK, let's do the X-Files again.' It was, 'What kind of show is something neat you'd want to see?' I thought we'd get slammed for doing the David Cronenberg, 'Altered States' stuff because for me that was something I was obsessed with when I was growing up. ... that weird place where medicine and science meet real life."

Oh, right, "Altered States."  Crazy old Dr. Bishop has a unique method for allowing Olivia to question her comatose FBI boyfriend.

"The man who was just released from a mental institution wants to give you a drug overdose and stick a metal rod into your head and lower you naked into a rusty tank of water...it's insane!" says Peter.

"John would do it for me," Olivia says.

"Excellent! Let's make some LSD!" says Dr. Bishop.

The five producers were in the room at press tour here in Beverly Hills, while the three leads actors appeared on big screens on either side of the stage, via satellite from the set in New York. A reporter asked Torv what it was like playing an action lead as her first starring role.

"Did you ask what it's like playing a role where I get to kick ass? it's great!" Torv said. "It makes life at work fun, I get to wear flat shoes and run really hard, and I feel strong and tough. ... We're just starting to do some fight training, which I'm really looking forward to."

"Just tell them you come by the kicking ass naturally," Jackson said.

The show's on-screen look is unusual too, with interstitial glimpses of frogs and leaves and other mysterious little icons.

"It works simply as weird, eerie imagery, but these images will also be, there will be references in the show...it's part of sort of the code of the show," said Abrams. In other words, pay attention, no matter what he said before.

Did I mention that a cow that has a recurring role?

"Yes, the cow is now a regular," executive producer Jeff Pinkner said drily, "but we now have a new cow because we weren't able to travel our cow down from Canada (where the pilot was filmed). We had to recast the one from the pilot. We literally had a conversation about making up the cow, in case anyone notices the spots are different."