Hoping to expand viewers' appetite for dramas beyond traditional franchises, TV networks are looking to so-called "genre" programming. On Sept. 9, Fox launches the science-fiction procedural Fringe.

In recent weeks, the relative calm of summer has been disturbed by the shrill peal of a lifeguard's whistle, as media analysts warned investors about a dark shape that's been spotted in the water. But on closer inspection, the shark