The JJ Abrams/Alex Kurtzman/Roberto Orci show on Fox... it follows the footsteps of X-Files, but it takes the gore to a new level. X-Files at least hid some of the horrible sights and left much to the viewers' imagination, but Fringe is quite explicit, taking its cue from what you might see in R-rated horror movies. Or is it just taking what shows like CSI have already done, depicting dead bodies in various states or being autopsied, and going one step further? If it's just a piece of meat, then why not show the transition from life to death in an as graphic manner as possible? We can acknowledge that it's not real and thus not feel guilty seeing people die in gruesome ways, and yet at the same time pretend that it is real, thus satiating some strange desire to witness violent deaths. Even if Fringe had a philosophically interesting storyline (at this point I agree with those who think it is derivative--the latest big revelation, that of an alternate universe which may be preparing for a possible conflict or invasion of the 'home' universe, has already been done in Star Trek and Sliders), the display of gore is barbaric and drags the quality of the show way down. The philistines indeed are in control of Hollywood.
One might think that Fringe won't be shown over in the UK, which has stricter standards about violence and gore, but having seen what has been shown on Torchwood, I think that even the Brits are losing their repulsion to such visuals.
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