Lost's 100-Episode Fox Replacement Is The Best Sci-Fi Thriller Of The Last 18 Years

Published Oct 6, 2026, 1:00 AM EDT

Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.

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Lost is one of the best sci-fi TV shows of all time, but its Fox replacement ended up being even better, even if it’s now one of the most underrated shows of the 2000s. The sci-fi genre is one of the most popular ones on TV, thanks to its variety, quality, and how well it can blend with other genres, especially horror and drama. TV shows like The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, Dark, and Doctor Who now rank among the best sci-fi TV shows of all time, and another notable title is Lost.

Created by Jeffrey Lieber, J. J. Abrams, and Damon Lindelof, Lost is a sci-fi adventure drama TV series that followed the survivors of a plane crash and their efforts to survive on a mysterious island. Lost aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010 for six seasons, and despite its controversial finale, it’s still regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time. Replacing a show like Lost isn’t easy, but in 2008, Fringe successfully took its place.

Fringe is a sci-fi TV show created by Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci, and ran for five seasons from 2008 to 2013. Although it had a slow start, Fringe ended up becoming a critical success and developing a cult following, and though it’s now regarded as one of the best TV shows of the 2000s, it’s also one of the most underrated. However, its quality, even after all these years, is undeniable.

Fringe Became One Of The Best Sci-Fi Shows Of All Time

Fringe follows Agent Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble), and his son Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), who form the Fringe Division, a Joint Federal Task Force supported by the FBI. The team investigates cases related to fringe science, such as a possible collision of parallel universes, the prospect of a destructive technological singularity, and more. They each bring a different type of knowledge and experience to the team, with Peter being brought in as a civilian consultant.

Although they investigate different cases throughout the show’s five seasons, Fringe has core story arcs, such as parallel universes. Fringe ended up creating its own complex but fascinating mythology, which became one of its biggest strengths. Fringe earned the praise of critics thanks to its themes, character development, creativity, and world-building, but despite all these strengths and more, the show didn’t have high viewership numbers – still, it ended up becoming one of the best sci-fi shows.

The topic of parallel universes is one used quite often in sci-fi, especially in TV shows, but it’s quite complex and can cause a story to lose its ground. Fringe avoided this thanks to how well-written and developed it is, and it never sacrificed character development and emotional depth. Fringe is also a very re-watchable show, thanks to all the clues and details scattered all over the show.

How Fringe Has Continued To Expand After Its Finale

Fringe also avoided one of the biggest traps of sci-fi TV shows, which is a messy finale, and its final episode is regarded as one of the best. Fringe gave a definitive and satisfying conclusion to the stories of its main characters, and it’s especially notable as the show was given a shorter final season to wrap everything up. Despite its great finale, it wasn’t the definitive end for the world of Fringe.

In 2008, Fringe got a prequel comic book that leads up to the events in the pilot, and it was the beginning of a six-issue limited series. A second series, Tales From the Fringe, was released in 2010, followed by the Beyond the Fringe series in 2011. An encyclopedia guide titled September’s Notebook – The Bishop Paradox was published in 2013, followed by a trilogy of prequel novels, each exploring the past of a member of the team.

In 2012, the possibility of a Fringe movie was addressed during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, but the project never happened. At the time of writing, there are no more expansions of any kind planned for the Fringe franchise, but as mentioned above, it’s a show that’s worth revisiting more than once.