After a season rocked by a writers strike, shortened episode orders and a defecting audience, all eyes are turning to the new fall season and the hope of maybe a new hit or two reigniting the business.

Id hope that this fall is a reset, says Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly, kicking off his networks portion of the TCA press tour Monday (following a performance and panel from summer smash So You Think You Can Dance; Reilly, for the record, stayed in his seat). I believe in my heart it can be, particularly if there is a couple of new exciting shows joining the lineup or maybe some of the returning shows continue to find an audience.

Foxs greatest hope this fall is unquestionably J.J. Abrams big-budget, high-concept sci-fi thriller Fringe, which Reilly and boss Peter Ligouri aggressively pursued. We offered him a series day one. We knew the log line, that it was sort of The X-Files, Indiana Jones kind of thing. This show just feels right, says Reilly.

Abrams, characteristically ebullient about his return to TV"this is the first show he has co-created since Lost"knows that in a fall with less new product than usual (an effect of the strike), Fringe is getting even more attention than usual. I do feel that ultimately any pressure or expectations for this or any other show could ruin a show, he said in a separate TCA panel. Its like if you expect something thats going to change your life, no matter what it is, its almost invariably going to be disappointing. I dont think any one show can save the fall.

Judging by the critical temperature"most critics didnt get a chance to see the pilot until it was screened in-house Sunday night, and reaction has been somewhat guarded" Fringes convoluted but kicky mix of science, mystery and creepy-icky horror may not be embraced quite as immediately as Lost was, or even Alias.

What the show reminds me most of is The X-Files, but unlike that shows quiet build into a cult sensation, Fringe is going to be expected to perform huge right off the bat. After a splashy two-hour premiere Sept. 9, it will be paired with Foxs biggest dramatic hit, House, on Tuesdays. As another of the shows executive producers Roberto Orci noted: We have no excuses. The attention that the shows getting, we cant hide behind, Oh, they didnt promote it. Oh, nobody knew about it. Its no one but us. Its our fault if it doesnt work.

Abrams says Fringe was spawned from his fascination with the work of David Cronenberg and the writings of Michael Crichton and Robin Cook, among others: that weird place where medicine and science meets real life. He also cited The Twilight Zone, The X-Files and Night Stalker as inspirations. Orci adds that Abrams team, including fellow collaborator Alex Kurtzman, sat in a room and kind of listed off our shows. For me, I always wanted to do kind of a real genius solving problems. Alex was a huge fan of Twin Peaks and J.J. was a huge fan of Altered States [whose star Blair Brown has a crucial role in the series]. So its a cross of those things. Obviously, The X-Files left an impression, but thats not where we started.

The premise involves a beautiful FBI agent (Australian newcomer Anna Torv, a ringer in lovely intensity for Cate Blanchett) who teams with a troubled genius (John Noble) and his estranged son (Joshua Jackson) to investigate a bizarre series of strange scientific phenomena. There is humor and conspiracy-driven suspense, but also a procedural element that may not demand as much of viewers as Abrams earlier Lost and Alias did.

Fringe is in many ways an experiment for us, says Abrams. Were trying very deliberately to do a show that doesnt require the insane absolute dedication to a series that if you miss an episode, you have no idea of what is going on. (Abrams told an hilarious story about tuning into an episode of Alias during its run at actor friend Greg Grunbergs house and thinking, I was so confused. It literally was impenetrable. [ Alias] was definitely a show that while I loved working on that show and miss it, I can see how it was difficult.)

Still, at every Fringe commercial break you can expect to see enigmatic flashes of images like frogs and leaves"glyphs, Abrams calls them"that the truly obsessed can try to interpret. Its something that were doing for people who care to figure it out or follow it, but its not something that a viewer has to consider when theyre watching the show, says Abrams.

Fellow executive producer Jeff Pinkner says, The standard we are trying to hold ourselves up to is that when the first commercial hits, ideally people are calling their friends and saying you wont believe what just happened on Fox. You have to change the channel and check out this show.

Fringe is one of only two new shows on the Fox lineup this fall"the other is the thoroughly mediocre sitcom Do Not Disturb (set in a posh hotel)"but Kevin Reilly says, Whether there was a strike or not, we would be putting only two shows on the air. Thats really what Fox should do to marshal its resources. We can be stable in the fall and get one or two shows to work and not just join in all the noise. And then, when 24 and American Idol return in the second half of the season, Fox can pull out its big guns"which include this season the new drama Lie to Me (starring Tim Roth as a human lie-detector) and a new comedy, Boldly Going Forward, from the creators of FXs Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which he describes as The Office in space, petty jealousies and incompetence on a long-term mission to wherever theyre going. Our comedy brand has been a little anemic, for all of our success the last batch of years, and were ready for our next Malcolm in the Middle.

As for the overall state of network comedy, Reilly says hes noticed an understandable lack of confidence in the creative community. I see really talented people coming in very skittish, not knowing what to pitch, what will sell. I see executives trying to figure out where is that nerve to hit. His goal: to mix it up this year, including taking many pitches outside the office. Were going to go out and meet the writers on their own turf, in restaurants or at their homes. Anything that just gets it out of the sterile environment. Intrigued by what he say writers doing on Internet outlets like YouTube during the strike, and the success of Jimmy Kimmels Matt Damon and Ben Affleck spoofs, Reilly also intends to offer comedy writers seed money to go out and shoot something. Dont sit on our coach and pitch us. Go shoot something and then pop it in the machine, even if its not for air. Weve got to do anything to mix it up.

Reilly is also mixing things up when it comes to series development. He talked about formally splitting our development season in two, setting a December pilot screening of at least eight new shows in the pipeline in addition to the usual May pilot screenings. Thats going to be the next step towards year-round [development], which is what weve been experimenting with for quite some time.

More TCA press tour coverage:
Matt Roush: Is Fox on the Fringe of a Breakout Hit?
Fall TV Press Tour: 24, Fringe, Truth Talk & More
Fall TV Press Tour: Prison Break's Big Reunion, Spin-off News, More

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