It’s such a dire shame when quality shows, jam-packed with excellent writing, chilling performances, and downright unparalleled creativity struggle to find an audience, nay, whose audiences are deemed by their networks as not good enough. (Surprise! It’s Fox in the hot seat. Again.) So is the case with Fringe: the best layered Sci-Fi drama on television right now. Hell, it’s simply the best show on television overall.

Ken Tucker over at EW just wrote an amazing plea and guide for newbies trying to jump into the worlds (count ’em!) of Fringe. If I felt I could write something that was at least half as effective, I would. Rather, his story (“‘Fringe’: Save this show! A guide (and a plea) for new fans“) should be read by all, former fans and noobs alike. Share the story on Facebook, link to it on Twitter, leave Tucker a comment, anything: just make some noise.

Tucker writes:

The bonds of family, the ecstasy of romance, the exhilaration of intellectual inquiry, and a secret government agency working to protect you from all kinds of crazy, weird stuff. If I told you there was a TV series featuring all of that, plus great acting and superb action sequences, wouldn’t you want to watch that?

Sure you would. And people who are watching Fringe now know  it’s doing something rare: It’s a TV show working on all levels, characters with which anyone can identify, imaginative scripts, crackling dialogue, and a positive message (boiled-down: All you need is love). It’s the kind of show that, every time you finish watching the latest installment, you want to see its next episode right now.

And:

I’m not going to guilt-trip you and say that if you don’t watch Fringe, you’re helping to create an atmosphere in which daring new shows won’t make it onto future network schedules. Instead, I’ll be sad that you’re not sharing in what could be the best puzzle-pieced epic since Lost, and the best portrait of a fractious family since Frasier, or M*A*S*H.

Fringe truly is one of a kind, and should this show fall by the wayside, television fans everywhere will suffer. Not only are we telling the networks that we only want to be spoonfed babble-bullshit Reality shows and safe, middle-of-the-road sitcoms, but we’re also not stimulating our minds with fiction that will (GASP) make us think.