TV viewers across America are already falling in love with the new JJ Abrams show Fringe, which premiered last week on the FOX network. What they do not know, however, is that the program almost never made it to the small screen.

It turns out that when the producers of the program went to trademark the new name of their TV show, they discovered that there was already a program called Fringe which starred none other than C2C's own George Noory.

The original Fringe saw the beloved C2C host playing the role of Noor Ramos, a private detective framed for a crime he didn't commit, forced to go on the run and become a bounty hunter (ala 90's syndicated program Renegade).

The odd title for the show came from the character's trademark fringe jacket, which earned him the nickname "Fringe" from both his friends and enemies on the program.

Luckily for the makers of the new Fringe, Noory's vehicle has long since left the airwaves and he also has a longstanding friendship with JJ Abrams, after they worked together briefly on Lost.

As such, Noory allowed Abrams to use the name Fringe, but held on to the name rights to the original Fringe's spin-off series Bolo, a Richard C. Hoagland vehicle, still rumoured to be in development.