JJ Abrams Strikes Again (with New Show)

If you don't recognize his name, or his dorky, bespectacled face above, you should be ashamed of yourself. He's responsible for TV shows like Alias and the unmatched Lost. He's responsible for movies like last summer's Mission: Impossible III and next winter's Star Trek reboot. He's even the producer behind tomorrow night's Cloverfield.

And now he's rolling out another TV series called Fringe, about a father-and-son science team brought back together by a female FBI agent to help her with "paranormal" cases.

I know what you're thinking: "Haven't I already seen that show? Isn't it called The X-Files?" Let me assure you that I once thought the exact same thing when I first heard about Lost. "Isn't that just Survivor with a script?" And we all know the answer to that question is a resounding no.

This guy from Oz and this guy from Gladiator (who knew?) were announced today as playing the father and son. Not exactly A-listers, but I'd never heard of Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Terry O'Quinn either. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are on writing duty, which is good news for anyone who enjoyed Transformers last summer. Wait. Was there anyone who didn't?

There are three more great pieces of news about the show:

1) Fox is spending $10 million on the pilot episode alone. WOW. It must be one heck of a script. Wait a second, Fox? Really? I can't believe I'm going to be watching something on Fox next year...

2) Abrams promises an "overarching mythology" like the one on Lost. Which means I'll watch it on any network.

3) Quoth JJ, "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." I don't even know what that means, but I like it.

Oh and speaking of The X-Files, did you know they're currently shooting a movie?