Well, with that being the case, you can read the descriptions and check out the clips of what Fox has for us for the upcoming season. Just be sure to let us know what you think about what they’re offering up! Oh, and before you ask, we didn’t forget to include a clip for the last series. They didn’t offer a clip for the last series…but, hell, I don’t even think they’ve cast it yet, so at least they’ve got a good excuse.

MONDAY

8 – 9 PM: HOUSE

9 – 10 PM: LONESTAR: a provocative soap set against the backdrop of big Texas oil, from Chris Keyser and Amy Lippman, the creators of “Party of Five”; Marc Webb, the director of “(500) Days of Summer”; and creator Kyle Killen. Robert / Bob Allen (newcomer James Wolk) is a charismatic and brilliant schemer who has meticulously constructed two lives in two different parts of Texas. He’s juggling two identities and two women in two very different worlds – all under one mountain of lies. As “Bob,” he lives in Houston and is married to Cat (Adrianne Palicki, “Friday Night Lights”), the beautiful daughter of Clint (Jon Voight, 24, “Midnight Cowboy”), the patriarch of an ultra-wealthy Texas oil family. More than 400 miles away in the suburban west Texas town of Midland, he’s “Robert,” living a second life with his sweet, naïve girlfriend, Lindsay (Eloise Mumford, “Mercy,” “Law & Order: SVU”). In Midland, he plays the perfect boyfriend while secretly bilking local investors of their savings. In Houston, he’s a devoted husband, charming Cat and her family to cement his position in the rich family business he aims to clean out. Bob has lived both lives successfully for years without arousing any suspicions…so far.

While one brother-in-law, Drew (Bryce Johnson, “Popular,” “The Mentalist”), admires Bob, his other brother-in-law, Trammell (Mark Deklin, “Nip/Tuck,” “Desperate Housewives”), is suspicious of his motives. Bob begins to fear his secret lives may unravel. With the cons closing in on him, Bob is divided by his love for two women; his loyalty to his father and mentor, John (David Keith, “An Officer and a Gentleman,” “The Class”); and his respect for his father-in-law, Clint. Now as he tries to hold his two lives together, while fending off angry investors and the suspicions of those around him, Bob puts it all on the line hoping he can beat the odds, leave the schemes behind and keep two separate relationships afloat.

TUESDAY

8 – 9 PM: GLEE

9 – 9:30 PM: RAISING HOPE: a new single-camera family comedy from Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia (“My Name Is Earl”) that follows the Chance family as they find themselves adding an unexpected new member into their already terribly flawed household. At 23 years old, Jimmy Chance (Lucas Neff, “The Beast”) is going nowhere in life. He skims pools for a living, parties every night and still lives at home with his family, including his Maw Maw (guest star Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Cloris Leachman); his mother, Virginia (Martha Plimpton, “How to Make It in America”); his father, Burt (Garret Dillahunt, “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Damages”); and his cousin, Mike (Skyler Stone, “The Mentalist,” “Dollhouse”). Jimmy’s life takes a drastic turn when a chance romantic encounter with Lucy (guest star Bijou Phillips, “Choke,” “Almost Famous”) goes awry once he discovers she is a wanted felon. Months later, when Jimmy pays a visit to the local prison, he discovers Lucy gave birth to their baby, who he is now charged with raising.

At home with his new daughter, Jimmy’s family is less than enthusiastic about a new addition to the household. His parents, who had him when they were 15, never knew anything about raising a child and have no interest in trying again. If Jimmy can work up the nerve to ask her out on a date, he might get some help from Sabrina (Shannon Woodward, “The Riches,” “ER”), a sardonic checkout clerk he met at the supermarket. Cousin Mike is only concerned about how the baby is going to affect their social life, and out-of-touch Maw Maw is no help either. But Jimmy is determined to take care of his baby – whom Virginia thinks they should name Hope. With very few useful skills but their hearts in the right place, will the Chance family be successful when they step into the unpredictable and immensely challenging world of parenting?

9:30 – 10 PM: RUNNING WILDE: a romantic comedy from the Emmy Award-winning creator and the star of the critically acclaimed FOX series “Arrested Development,” starring Will Arnett (“Arrested Development,” “30 Rock”) as Steve Wilde, a filthy-rich, immature playboy trying desperately to win (or buy) the heart of his childhood sweetheart, Emmy Kadubic (Keri Russell, “Waitress,” “Felicity”), the über-liberal humanitarian who got away – all told through the perspective of a 12-year-old girl. Steve Wilde has never performed a selfless act. But why should he – he’s rich! The son of an oil tycoon, Steve hasn’t had to work a day in his life and has always gotten everything he’s wanted – with one exception: the love of Emmy. The daughter of a former Wilde housekeeper, Emmy is an earnest do-gooder who has spent her adult life trying to save the world. And though Emmy is content living with an indigenous tribe in the Amazon rainforest, her 12-year-old daughter, Puddle (Stefania Owen, “The Lovely Bones”), just wants to be a normal kid experiencing her adolescence in a normal place. And she would speak up except for the fact that she hasn’t spoken in years.

When Wilde Oil’s expansion in the rainforest threatens her adopted tribe, Emmy decides to attend Steve’s self-thrown “Humanitarian of the Year” award ceremony in hopes of convincing him to help her cause…and also maybe because she still has a thing for Steve. But same-old Steve is unwilling to help because fighting Wilde Oil (a/k/a Dad) means putting his meal ticket in jeopardy. Rather than run the risk of letting Emmy slip away again, Steve pulls out all the stops to win her heart. To do so, he enlists the only other people in his life who can help: Migo Salazar (Joe Nuñez, “Superbad,” “Prison Break”), Steve’s employee/sidekick/errand-boy, and Gertie Stellvertretter (Jayne Houdyshell, “Law & Order”), Steve’s nanny-turned-head-of-security as well as the biggest protector of Steve…and her own job. Despite having everything he ever wanted, Steve knows he can’t buy love and happiness, which falls in sharp contrast to Emmy, who has nothing but love and happiness. So with Emmy committed to doing good for nothing, and Steve being a good for nothing, will this hopelessly mismatched pair ever be able to reconcile their differences?

WEDNESDAY

8 – 9 PM: LIE TO ME

9 -10 PM: HELL’S KITCHEN

THURSDAY

8 – 9 PM: BONES

9 -10 PM: FRINGE

FRIDAY

8 – 9 PM: HUMAN TARGET

9 – 10 PM: THE GOOD GUYS

SATURDAY

8 – 9 PM: COPS

9 – 10 PM: AMERICA’S MOST WANTED

SUNDAY

7 – 8 PM: THE OT (NFL post-game)

8 – 8:30 PM : THE SIMPSONS

8:30 – 9 PM : THE CLEVELAND SHOW

9 – 9:30 PM : FAMILY GUY

9:30 – 10 PM: AMERICAN DAD

Canceled:

* 24
* Brothers
* Sons of Tucson
* ‘Til Death

Returning midseason:

* American Idol
* Kitchen Nightmares

New at midseason:

* BOB’S BURGERS: a new animated series about a man, his family and a burger joint. A third-generation restaurateur, Bob Belcher (H. Jon Benjamin, “Family Guy,” “Archer”) runs Bob’s Burgers with the help of his wife and their three kids. Bob has big ideas about burgers, condiments and sides, but only a few thoughts on customer service and business management. Despite his greasy counters, lousy location and occasionally spotty service, Bob is convinced his burgers speak for themselves. Even though business is slow, Bob gets to work with his family.

His wife, Linda Belcher (John Roberts, “The Christmas Tree,” “Jackie & Debra”), supports Bob’s dream through thick and thin (but truth be told, she’s getting a little sick of the thin). Their eldest daughter, Tina (Dan Mintz, “Important Things with Demetri Martin,” “The Andy Milonakis Show”), is a 13-year-old hopeless romantic with minimal social skills. Middle child Gene (Eugene Mirman, “Flight of the Conchords,” “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”) is an aspiring musician and a prankster who serves up more jokes than burgers. Their youngest, Louise (Kristen Schaal, “Flight of the Conchords,” “Modern Family”), is the most enthusiastic about her dad’s business, but an off-balance sense of humor and her elevated energy level make her somewhat of a liability in the kitchen. Beyond the restaurant is a city rich with character. Next door to Bob’s is It’s Your Funeral Home and Crematorium; down the street is Wonder Wharf, the oceanside amusement pier; and a few blocks away is Wagstaff Middle School, where Bob and Linda’s kids go to school. And across the street is Jimmy Pesto’s Pizzeria, Bob’s Burgers’ main competition and the thorn in Bob’s side.

* MIXED SIGNALS: a new comedy series about three longtime friends and their attempts to reconcile the irreconcilable: to balance their relationships with their need for freedom. The series reveals how friendships and romances enhance – and further complicate – the lives of men and the women who love them. Ethan (Kris Marshall, “Human Target,” “My Family”) is the perpetual bachelor. He loves women, and when he’s in, he’s all in – at least for three weeks. Charming, genuine and hopelessly independent, Ethan is finding out that as he gets older, the pool of women who are willing to take things day by day is rapidly evaporating.

Adam (Nelson Franklin, “The Office,” “I Love You Man”) recently moved in with his girlfriend, Callie (Alexandra Breckenridge, “Family Guy”), and is learning how vastly different “she comes over a lot” and “she lives with me” really are. Adam is discovering there isn’t much “me” time any more, there’s only “us” time. Mike (David Denman, “The Office”) is a married lawyer still trying to figure out the male-female dynamic. He wants nothing more than to be a good family man to his wife, Lisa (Liza Lapira, “Dexter,” “Dollhouse”), and his infant son, but he’s also trying to carve out a little space for himself. Currently that space is in his car, where he watches action movies in 15-minute chunks while telling his wife he’s stuck in traffic.

* RIDE-ALONG: The city of Chicago is a paradox that serves as the setting for a new drama from Shawn Ryan (“The Shield,” “The Unit”). During a ride-along, a civilian spends a shift in the passenger seat of a squad car, observing the work day of a police officer. But in this series, the audience is the passenger, taking an unpredictable ride through the streets of Chicago and navigating crime and corruption with the most respected – and notorious – cops in the city. Jarek Wysocki (Jason Clarke, “Public Enemies,” “Brotherhood”) is a local legend and larger-than-life veteran of the Chicago Police Department. Like the city of Chicago, Jarek is razor blades and brass knuckles wrapped in politeness and egoless charm – a man who throws away partners the way others throw away tissues. Teresa Colvin (Jennifer Beals, “Lie to Me,” “The L Word”) arrived at the pinnacle of the Chicago Police Department in a short period of time. She’s determined to implement changes before the mud that is Chicago politics clogs her office. As a result of Teresa’s difficult choices, she has made some powerful enemies along the way, including two street gangs, the police officers’ union and a city alderman who proves to be a dangerous adversary.

Jarek’s new partner, Caleb Evers (Matt Lauria, “Friday Night Lights”), is a smart and observant young detective who desperately wants to prove himself. He is savvier and more observant than most people give him credit for, and just might make the perfect yin to Jarek’s yang. Also in Jarek’s charge is his niece, Vonda Wysocki (Devin Kelley, “Tease”), a rookie beat cop whose father, Jarek’s brother, was killed in the line of duty when she was young. Jarek keeps close tabs on her and is less than thrilled to discover she’s falling for her partner, Isaac Joiner (Todd Williams, “In Plain Sight,” “CSI”), a charismatic cop who takes unnecessary risks on the job that land him and Vonda in some dangerous situations. Alderman Ronin Gibbons (Delroy Lindo, “Kidnapped”) is a building-magnate-turned-politician who has ruled his ward with a velvet glove for three decades. Jarek and Teresa are convinced Gibbons and his cohorts, including Liam Hennessey (Billy Lush, “The Black Donnellys”), an Irish tough guy in Gibbons’ construction empire, are dirty to the core, but they’ve never had the evidence to prove it. When a murder investigation leads them to Gibbons, they are determined to bring him to justice and clean up Chicago – if that’s even possible.

* TERRA NOVA: an epic family adventure 85 million years in the making, from executive producers Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, Brannon Braga (24, “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and David Fury (“Lost,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”). “Terra Nova” follows an ordinary family embarking on an incredible journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a small part of a massive experiment to save the human race. In the year 2149 the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped, overcrowded and overpolluted. With the majority of plant and animal life extinct, devotion to science has brought mankind to the brink of destruction, but has also provided its only hope for salvation. Knowing there is no way to reverse the damage to the planet, a coalition of scientists has managed to open up a fracture in the space-time continuum, creating a portal to prehistoric Earth. This doorway leads to an amazing world, one that allows for a last-ditch effort to save the human race…possibly changing the future by correcting the mistakes of the past.

The series centers on the Shannon family as they join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova, the first colony of humans in this second chance for civilization. Jim Shannon, a devoted father with a checkered past, guides his family through this new land of limitless beauty, mystery and terror. Jim’s wife, Elisabeth Shannon, is a trauma surgeon chosen through a global lottery as a new addition to Terra Nova’s medical team. Josh Shannon is their son, mourning the girl he left behind, as he’s torn between two role models – his father and the charismatic Commander Frank Taylor, the leader of the settlement, and the heroic first pioneer through the time portal. Maddy Shannon, Jim and Elizabeth’s teen daughter, is as independent and adventurous as her parents, but her distrust of authority soon leads her on a dangerous path. In addition to blue skies, rolling rivers and lush vegetation, Terra Nova offers new opportunities and fresh beginnings to its recent arrivals, but the Shannons have brought with them a familial secret that may threaten their citizenship in this utopia. Additionally these adventurers soon discover that this healthy, vibrant world is not as idyllic as it initially appears. The areas surrounding Terra Nova are filled with dangerous dinosaurs, and other prehistoric threats, as well as external forces that may be intent on destroying this new world before it begins. But perhaps even more threatening than what lies outside the protective walls is the Shannons’ realization that something sinister may be happening inside Terra Nova as not everyone on this mission has the same intentions of how best to save mankind.

Anyway, Monday’s episode of “Fringe” started like any other episode of the series — with some sort of strange or creepy event. This time, it was a young girl who was considered brain dead and was about to have her organs harvested for donation when she woke up and started spewing military codes to the surgeon.

Fine, no problem. But then something strange happened — Charlie Francis appeared on screen! And it didn’t seem to be Shapeshifter Charlie (the one who looks dastardly no matter what he’s doing), it was the actual Charlie Francis. I paused the show and had the following conversation with my wife:

Me: “Wait, isn’t he dead?”
Her: “Yeah, didn’t she shoot him in the alley?”
Me: “The shapeshifter guy killed the original Charlie, right?”
Her: “I thought so.”

My guess is that some form of this conversation happened in millions of living rooms around the country during the first 15 minutes of the episode. I hit play and pulled out my trusty laptop, determined to find out what exactly was going on.

Can zombies do math? Find out on the next episode of “Fringe.”

As it turns out, this episode (“Unearthed”) was an unaired episode from Season 1, before Charlie was replaced by Shapeshifter Charlie. Why the producers would decide to air this episode as the first of 2010 is beyond me. Wouldn’t it be better not to thoroughly confuse your audience as you try to retain all those viewers that lived just fine without “Fringe” during the holiday break?

I don’t mind the unaired episode (I guess), but how about reshooting the scenes without Charlie? Or, at the very least, how about a graphic that says “15 months ago” or somesuch thing? Better yet, let’s have Kirk Acevedo (who plays Charlie) introduce the episode by telling people not to be alarmed when Zombie Charlie appears out of nowhere.

For their part, Fox put out the following press release before the episode aired:

While the girl’s mind-bending condition intensifies, Walter dusts off some old lab videos and hypothesizes the unthinkable, sending Olivia and Peter to investigate the bewildering case in an original “Unearthed” episode of FRINGE and here’s another mystery: is it an unaired episode from Season One or is it from an alternate universe?

Wait…what?

This sounds like a half-baked justification of airing an old episode in the middle of a new season. Normally, that would be somewhat acceptable, but what percentage of the audience was aware that this was an unaired episode (or one from an alternate universe–oooh) before they sat down to watch it? One percent? Two percent?

“Fringe” producers, what were you thinking?

A few examples from the piece:

5. Glee (Fox): There isn’t a show on this list that we love and hate with the same enthusiasm that we have for “Glee.” It contains some of the best-drawn characters in Fox’s history (aspiring diva Rachel Berry, adorable germaphobe Emma Pillsbury, cantankerous alpha female Sue Sylvester), and the iTunes chart-burning musical numbers, lip synching aside, are deliriously fun. Imagine, then, if they didn’t make these characters jump through such ridiculous hoops. Will’s wife is actually going to take her fake pregnancy to term? Emma agrees to marry Ken, but only as long as they never tell a soul? (Those plot threads brought to you by Bad Idea Jeans.) Yet for each blunder the show makes, they come up with something as brilliantly funny as Finn’s technique for not climaxing (he thinks about the time when he hit the mailman with his car), or the drama queen freak show that is Sandy Ryerson (a pitch-perfect Stephen Tobolowsky). Getting Josh Groban to do a cameo as a horndog version of himself, meanwhile – and hit on Will’s drunk mother – was a moment of “Arrested Development”-style genius. Yes, it’s made mistakes, but “Glee” gets a spot in our Top Five because no other show on TV sports dialogue like “mentally ill ginger pygmy with eyes like a bush baby.” But man, it would be a wonderful world if they did. – David Medsker

15. Dexter (Showtime): Like “The Sopranos,” Dexter always has a theme that is explored within a season as a backdrop to the episodic progression of the show. Last season, it examined friendship within the context of Dexter’s secret world, and Jimmy Smits was brilliant as his first and only pal. This year explores the facets of intimate relationships, and balancing work and the rest of your life as it relates to it. Dexter (played with brilliant sincerity and conviction by Michael C. Hall) is struggling to find balance between his work as a blood splatter analyst, a new dad of an infant, stepfather to his wife’s kids, and his hobby of killing and dismembering other bad guys, while his entertainingly foul-mouthed sister Deb implodes the most stable relationship of her life when she sleeps with returning lover and retired FBI agent Frank Lundy. John Lithgow is also scary good as the Trinity Killer, the latest object of Dexter’s attention. When Trinity kills Lundy and wounds Deb while making it look like another killer’s signature, Dex is commanded by the ghost of Harry to seek revenge, making this season as entertaining as any in the past – no easy feat considering how consistently good this show has been. – R. David Smola

Honorable Mention – Cougar Town (ABC): Yeah, yeah, we know: the title’s a bit dodgy. But Bill Lawrence, who co-created the show with Kevin Biegel, has said, “The roll of the dice I’ve made is that the title is noisy and that people will be aware of this show.” True enough, though the fact that the series stars Courtney Cox would’ve probably done a pretty decent job of putting it on people’s radar, anyway. The pilot alone was strong enough to suggest that “Cougar Town” could prove to be the perfect series for female viewers who’ve outgrown “Sex and the City,” but with enough of a dysfunctional family element to fit perfectly into the closing slot in ABC’s new Wednesday night comedy line-up. Although the show continues to hone its comedic formula, the trio of Cox, Christa Miller and Busy Philipps clicked immediately (particularly the latter two, with their characters’ diametrically opposed personalities), and the relationship between the teenaged Travis and his man-child of a father rings true with its blend of unconditional love and complete embarrassment. Now that Jules’s fling with Josh is over, however, we’re curious to see who’ll be next on her slate to date — and how long this one will last. – Will Harris

Returning in 2010 – Lost (ABC): Here we are, folks. After five seasons of confusing viewers with one of the most elaborate mythologies on television, “Lost” is finally in the home stretch. Want to know what the heck that smoke monster really is? How about the weird statue? Heck, what about the Dharma Initiative itself? All will supposedly be revealed in the sixth and final season of one of the smartest, most fearless shows network television has ever bothered to offer. Of course, this being “Lost,” we still have something to bitch about – namely, that the goddamn Olympics will interrupt the show’s final 18 episodes – but if we’ve waited this long to determine the ultimate fate of our favorite island castaways, what’s a few weeks of curling and cross-country skiing? We’ve all had our issues with the way “Lost” has unfolded over the years, and the show isn’t the phenomenon it was in its first couple of seasons. To cop one of the fall’s most popular phrases, though, this is it – and if there’s ever been a serialized drama with the guts to stick the landing and make its finale truly count, we’re betting it’s “Lost.” – Jeff Giles

Check out Bullz-Eye’s TV Power Rankings in their entirety by clicking here or on the big-arse graphic you see before you. Also, be sure to check out the accompanying interviews with folks associated with the various shows, including David Goyer (“FlashForward”), Kurt Sutter (“Sons of Anarchy”), Jonathan Ames (“Bored to Death”), and Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”).

Did any of your favorite shows miss the cut? Let us know by replying below!

* This interview with director Mary Harron has been linked to by several different bloggers throughout the week. If memory serves, it may not actually be new news that Christian Bale partially based his genius-level breakthrough performance in 2000’s “American Psycho” on Tom Cruise, but it’s perhaps more intriguing now that we think we more about both actors’ quirks.

* It might be inside critic/film blogger baseball to you but it’s big — and somewhat distressing — news to me. The thought provoking and just plain cool Karina Longworth, who has helped me out via the miracle of linking many times at her Spout blog home, will be leaving the site at the end of the month, which will also no longer be providing new content including the work of Christopher Campbell (I frequently link to his “The Day in Film Bloggery” posts.).

Somewhat oddly, her soon to be ex-boss attributed her departure not to fiscal issues but to a difference over “vision” for the blog. So, his “vision” was not to have one at all? Anyhow, the consensus is that the hardworking Longworth will be going places regardless.

* I strongly disliked the pilot for “Fringe” (and said so right here) and, unlike David Medsker, I outright hated “Transformers.” (I didn’t even make it through the whole movie…oh, the pleasures of not reviewing.) Then screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman surprised the heck out of me by crafting a perfectly terrific script for “Star Trek,” marred only a little by director J.J. Abram’s hyperactive visual proclivities. (What’s wrong with using a tripod sometimes? Still, he got terrific performances and told a dandy tale, so I’m not complaining too much.) Anyhow, the  writers’ thoughts on the sequel are worth a look.

* Jackie Chan and Andy Lau are remaking Jet Li‘s 1981 breakthrough film, which I’m ashamed to say I’ve never even heard of before (at least not that I can remember), “Shaolin Temple.” I guess I should try to see it. Considering that Li was barely 19 back then and that Chan is now 55 (Lau’s in his forties), I trust he’s not playing the same character…or it’s been seriously rewritten.

* Disney is reportedly working on a “digital cloud,” in which content will be purchased and viewable in multiple formats. I generally get the consumer appeal of this, but I still fail to see why anyone would want to watch a movie on a cell phone. In fact, I think even the larger online version of this is way too small for this kind of beauty. (There’s a very brief Spanish language intro, by far the best version of this Disney classic I found on YouTube — the segment starts at 0:23.)

“As we went along, I think we got a better handle on the balance of our characters and the plots and making sure that our plots were character-centric,” admitted executive producer Jeff Pinkner. “I think that we learned how to write for these actors, these characters over time, and I think we learned this in ‘Alias’ and ‘Lost.’ The shows that are really about the characters, the characters and the actors playing them start to meld a little bit more, and I think we’ve gotten better at that.”

Orci noted that one of the series’ biggest issue from the very beginning was figuring out the percentage of standalone episodes versus a larger serialization. “We’ve all read the research that says a regular viewer watches three episodes in a year, etcetera, etcetera, so you try to modulate,” he explained. “In the first season, we actually had to sort of plan around resetting the series once or twice and doing it around three- or four-week-long breaks. And that kind of exercise makes us, in Season Two, a little more flexible, a little bit more able to read the green. And I think, you know, the fact that we are closer than we were from New York is also helpful. We can all be up there a little bit more; we can communicate better with each other. I think we’re just a tighter ship this year.”

If you weren’t entirely sure whether or not that shot of the World Trade Center took place in the past or in an alternate universe, Pinker is glad to clarify. “We have decided that, though science acknowledges a multi-verse and an infinite number of universes, we are only going to tell a story about two: here and what we are referring to internally as ‘over there,'” he said. “But they are two versions of reality. It’s not time travel.” (Season 2 will predominantly take place here, he said, “but what’s happening over there is impacting what’s happening over here.”)

Pinkner admits that it’s a challenge to come up with the most succinct way to convey the show’s science to the average viewer.

“One of our co-producers, Brian Burk…we literally say that we try to write the show for his dog and for my dad (to comprehend),” he said, scoring a laugh. “Both his dog and my dad are really bright, but…how do you convey a parallel universe, which science has actually acknowledged or hypothesized for decades, and the idea that there’s literally a Doppelganger for each of us living in another universe where very similar, although different events are taking place?

“At the end of the season, when we made the choice that we were going to see our character, Olivia, cross over to the other side and meet William Bell, who we now know is over there, we tried to figure out what would be the most iconic symbol to represent this is very much like here but different. And we talked about using the World Trade Center as the visual representation of that, such an iconic thing that tragically is no longer here, and we immediately thought, ‘Okay, that’s perfect.’ That’s the end of ‘Planet of the Apes,’ when you’d see the Statue of Liberty buried in the sand, and then you know, ‘Oh, we landed back on Earth.’ And we struggled with whether it would be appropriate or disrespectful, but we thought that, ultimately, it’s an honest way to represent that there’s another version of Earth in New York where different choices were made and, therefore, different consequences.”

If you’re wondering, Leonard Nimoy will absolutely be back on the show as William Bell, and the option is available for him to appear “as much as he wants, truly,” according to Pinkner. “We’ve made an open invitation.” One has been filmed, and fellow executive producer J.H. Wyman says that there will be several more for sure.

Although it was cool to have Nimoy on the set, that’s talking in terms of general awesomeness rather than temperature. “It was 106 degrees outside,” said Pinkner, “and unlike Los Angeles or New York, the sound stages in Vancouver don’t have air-conditioning. It was 120-some degrees inside, and like a pro, he sat there all day. He never went back to his trailer, and did pages and pages and pages of dialogue and scenes with Anna.”

“Well, he’s from the planet Vulcan,” observed Joshua Jackson. “He’s after that kind of heat.”

“Sincerely, his wife told me that he practices biofeedback,” said Pinkner. “He just sort of, like, regulates his body temperature, which is very Spock-like.”