Fringe stars Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson graces the cover of TV Guide’s October 20 issue.

Well this is certainly good news for TV sci-fi fans — the FOX network, notorious for yanking shows before they’ve even been given the proper time to gestate in the public consciousness and pick up steam, has given J.J. Abrams’ new show Fringe a full first season order, which means no matter what happens, fans of Fringe will get a full season’s worth of their TV show. Of course, FOX could always end up screwing the pooch later on, as they did with Firefly by destroying the show’s cohesion by broadcasting episodes out of order, or the way they did with the underrated Space: Above and Beyond, which FOX shuffled across the schedule so much that it was nearly impossible to figure out when the episodes would even air.

J.J. Abrams’ Fringe was one of the most anticipated shows of 2008, not only because of Abrams’ name attached to it, but because of the sci-fi elements, it was probably expensive as hell to make. So how did it do when it debuted yesterday with a 90-minute pilot? Well, okay, but not great. The pilot pulled in 9 million viewers, which is average, but not nearly the double-digit numbers FOX was probably hoping for. If the numbers don’t go up with each new episode, you are probably looking at a very short life for Fringe.

Here’s the deal about J.J. Abrams’ new TV show on FOX, Fringe: it will either blow up, or it will go gently into that good night after 10 episodes or so. I just don’t see this type of show, with the type of money FOX is probably going to be using to push it, falling somewhere in the middle, with the network being happy with that result. They’ll either want a breakthrough hit in the vein of NBC’s Heroes, or they’re going to shut it down. But that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong, and I usually am. In any case, here are new promo posters and images from Fringe to get you ready for the show’s premiere on August 25. Hey, that’s just around the corner!

Some more character images from J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Fringe TV show for FOX have surfaced online. The show stars Anna Torv, Christopher Britton, Joshua Jackson, Charlotte Rampling, Kirk Acevedo, Lance Reddick, Mark Valley, John Noble, Blair Brown, and Jasika Nicole, and concerns an FBI agent (Torv) who must team up with a scientist (Jackson) to solve unexplainable mysteries that the FBI can’t handle with traditional means.

Here’s an interview with the two stars of J.J. Abrams’ new show Fringe, premiering in the Fall on FOX, Anna Torv and Joshua Jackson. Joshua is an old hand at this; or as he puts it, this isn’t his first rodeo. Poor Anna is probably not used to the American press, and is very reserved. Joshua has to jump in every now and then to help her out, which he does very well. Nice chap. Hopefully Anna will work this out or the Hollywood press will eat the poor girl alive. The show also looks promising, too, so she may end up a real major Hollywood star very soon.

If it seems as if we’re ignoring FOX’s other big-time sci-fi show, J.J. Abrams’ Fringe, it’s really not on purpose. Hey, is it my fault that Joss Whedon has a gorgeous lead in Eliza Dushku, while Abrams has a woman from Australia who I’ve never heard of? Of course not. In any case, at its recent Upfront, FOX has released more details about their upcoming Abrams show (it’s set to premiere on August 26, 2008 with a two-hour pilot), including some posters and images. Check them out below.

There was probably no real chance that FOX wouldn’t pick up J.J. Abrams’ new sci-fi show Fringe, but it’s still good to know that they’ve given the official greenlight to the show after seeing the two-hour pilot from Abrams. The pilot was written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci and directed by Alex Graves.

Fringe TV Series (2008) Images Gallery

Joshua Jackson is headed for the fringes of TV — J.J. Abrams’ upcoming sci-fi show Fringe, to be exact. The former Dawson’s Creek star has joined the Abrams show, about FBI agents investigating paranormal and unexplainable whatevers.