Tonight, Fox's anticipated "Fringe," ESPN2's overlooked "Kicking It"

Seems kind of silly to suggest you give up watching one of the few must-see network TV premieres of the entire fall season (even though it ain't "fall" for two more weeks) to catch a documentary about homeless guys playing futbol.

So I won't. But keep reading after my review of "Fringe" to learn about "Kicking It," one of those neat little Colin Farrell films (OK, he narrates and appears only briefly on camera), airing tonight and Wednesday on ESPN2.

So there's this jet airliner flying in the middle of nowhere ... when something terrible happens.

Even if I hadn't known that "Fringe" was from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams, the opening scene of this new series, which begins at 7 CT tonight on Fox, would've struck me as something that a fan of Abrams might dream up.

Soon after the explosive first few minutes, other ingredients are stirred in that will be familiar to fans of "Lost" and, for that matter, the whole genre of paranormal thrillers: some weird unexplained happenings; two characters -- one a skeptic, one a true believer -- who are paired up and sent on an investigation; and scenes that seem to be set in the future present, where mind-blowing technology works side by side with contraptions from the 1960s.

And for the most part, it works.

I can't honestly say I would be as interested in following yet another conspiracy-theory TV show were "Lost" and "24" on the air right now (they return in early 2009). That said, this would be a promising new show in any fall season, not just one stunted by delays from last year's writers' strike and general network foot-dragging.

A big reason for that is the casting. The first episode revolves around three main characters: Olivia (Anna Torv), an FBI special agent (are there any other kinds of FBI agents on TV?); a mercenary genius named Peter Bishop ("Dawson's Creek" heartthrob Joshua Jackson) and his strange and estranged father, the even more genius Walter Bishop (John Noble).

The threesome first meet up in the loony bin, where Walter, unshaven and babbling, has been institutionalized for years. Peter has brought Olivia here because her investigations have convinced her Walter is the only person who can put a stop to a hyperactive flesh-eating virus that figures so prominently in the gruesome opening airplane scene.

That virus, not coincidentally, has also put her partner and secret lover, John Scott (Mark Valley), on life support, and persuaded the government and Harvard University (in the show's most improbable twist) to give Walter back his lab at Harvard.

It is another conceit of this show that Olivia will submit herself to Walter's crazy experiments to stop the contagion, for reasons that have less to do with duty and country than with "Romeo and Juliet."

But leaving that aside, "Fringe" does a pretty nifty job of balancing the demands of the paranormal genre against the viewer's need for some comic relief. The interactions between the two Bishops, in particular, are priceless, as when Walter mentions to Olivia, almost casually, that he can inject a formula that will let him interview a corpse as much as six hours after it's dead.

"Yeah, because after that it's really dead," sneers Peter, as only a son can.

The one person who's wasted here is Lance Reddick, the Homeland Security suit Olivia must report to. His appearances are so constipated on "Fringe" you'd never know he was capable of half a dozen moods without cracking a smile, as he proved so often on "The Wire."

As I say, this show has great potential, but we've seen Abrams waste that potential in the past, most notably on his old ABC series "Alias."

"Kicking It" (8 p.m. CT, ESPN2) is a non-sappy, straightforward account of a story that's sure to warm your heart anyway -- the homeless World Cup, played every year since 2002 as a way of inspiring men to make something more of their lives, whether they find a home or not.

Filmed during the 2006 Cup, held in South Africa, the documentary moves us easily and unapologetically into the world of men who have battled poverty, addiction and other ailments, thanks to the humane touch of director Susan Koch. She told IndieWire earlier this year how the film came about:

I was reading a blog from the World Economic Forum in Davos, and I came across a brief item about the Homeless World Cup. I was instantly intriqued. It sounded bizarre but the more I looked into it, the more excited I became. When you think about it, many of the best soccer players in the world come from the streets, so I realized there would be a high level of competition. At the same time, this was an opportunity to get a sense of the global issue of homelessness -- and the different reasons for it. I'm always looking for unique stories that can highlight important issues in entertaining ways. Neil Barrett, a Brit and huge football (soccer) fan, came on board as Director of Photography, and together we set out to begin meeting and filming homeless men and women from all over the world as they trained and competed for a spot on their country's homeless world cup team.

If you miss "Kicking It" the film reairs at 9 p.m. CT Wednesday on ESPN2.