Fringe

With its paranormal occurrences, ever-autumn aesthetic, extraneous flashlight use at crime scenes, odd bursts of humor, and constant friction between faith and doubt, Fox's new sci-fi serial Fringe just might be a worthy successor--finally--to "The X-Files."

It has good characters and plenty of action. It keeps its science fiction accessible, not abstract. Maybe best of all, it has a great sense of humor.

Although episodes are self-contained, each has a clue that points to the overall involvement of a shadowy, giant corporation, Massive Dynamics. Combine these elements with solid special effects and confident direction and you get some heavy-duty counterprogramming to ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."

Mixing paranoia, bleak humor and post-9/11 exhaustion in a potent story-telling brew, it's one of the new television season's most promising dramas.

Fringe invokes some of the sillier forms of television devices-- teleportation, psychokinesis, transmogrification and even bionic prostheses--but still manages to seem smart and stylish.

Lots of good action and lots of fun to boot.

I wanted to love Fringe, with its extraordinary pedigree and exotic, soulful Australian beauty Torv in the lead role, and splendid Noble in key support. Plus, Blair Brown's here, too, as a top exec at an evil corporation. But I just can't shake this word "derivative."

Though the pilot has some flaws in it--mostly from a clash of tones--it still overdelivers on creativity, creepiness, fine acting and burgeoning character development.

Fox's Fringe doesn't feel especially extreme or original. Well-acted and smoothly produced, yes, but not special.

With what appears to be an infinite number of deadly viruses out there, viewers can only hope the FBI can pinpoint them all.

Fringe does a pretty nifty job of balancing the demands of the paranormal genre against the viewer’s need for some comic relief.

if you're the type of person who needs every little thing, or indeed any little thing, to make sense in a pilot, then you should probably watch Fringe in solitude, preferably with the door closed, so the rest of us can enjoy it for what it is--an uneven but promising jumble of horror, thriller and comedy that is not afraid to reference SpongeBob and "Altered States" in practically the same scene.

The formula set in motion by the Fringe pilot is familiar. That’s not to say it’s not also devious and often delightful.

I'm on the bubble with Fringe. The characters are all interesting and the acting is top notch, but the plot is essentially an update of "The X-Files" with the addition of terrorism and the office of Homeland Security.