Growing up, Abrams spent a lot of time with his mum's father discovering how electricity worked, along with other science mysteries.
"I've always felt drawn to stories about eccentric, creative types in a basement lab or building things out of raw materials," Abrams said.
"As crazy as these guys may seem, I feel connected to that feeling of that laboratory, working on things and taking chances."
Abrams' latest creation, Fringe, centres on the exploration of creepy crimes investigated by the FBI.
In Fringe, Walter (John Noble) has been sprung from a mental institution to help solve the crimes, but the bureau needs his estranged son Peter (Joshua Jackson) to wrangle Walter.
Peter is sucked into the job by the comely agent Olivia (Anna Torv), who serves as the action hero of the series.
From the beginning, the gore factor was off the charts. Humans exploded. A fetus grew into an adult within hours inside the mother's womb; mum didn't survive.
Still, there's always been an undercurrent of humour mixed with horror, such as trading the traditional lab rat for a large cow.
"The cow, it turns out, is a better test subject as opposed to rats," Abrams said.
"There was a preposterousness that felt in line with the series."
In each episode, there's a puzzle and a mystery that needs solving, with the backdrop of a sinister corporation controlling things it probably shouldn't.
Walter plays an integral part in the FBI's continuing investigations that have intersecting story lines with a high-tech company that seems to have its finger in all of these bizarre cases.
Leonard Nimoy has signed on for the season finale to play the often-talked-about William Bell, founder of the ubiquitous Massive Dynamic and Walter's former lab partner.
This ongoing mythology is familiar territory to Abrams, whose other projects include Alias and Lost.
Abrams said that no matter what questions were ultimately answered, viewers will never be fully satisfied.
"The experience is the real journey. If you've been watching Lost to get to the end, then that's a waste, even though there's an amazing endpoint," Abrams said.
"I don't think anyone should watch a TV show for the one answer."
Comparisons were quickly made between Fringe and 1990s cult TV hit The X-Files, with the assumption the relationship between Peter and Olivia would soon be the main focal point of the non-crime-solving elements.
Instead, while Olivia plays an integral part in the series, the strongest relationship on the show has evolved between Walter and Peter.
"I was pleasantly surprised to find how much of the heart of this show lives with these two characters," said Jackson on his role as the son.
"It's a bumpy road in any relationship between a parent and a child, but this also includes redefining that relationship with your parents once you are an adult."
Jackson grew up with an absentee father, so he immediately found common ground with his character, whose father spent more time on his experiments than with his only child.
"My personality type is to laugh at things both painful and joyful, and Peter does that, too," Jackson said.
"Peter is an aggrieved child who wants to punish the parent, but he has also lived a life that at best has been a darker shade of grey."
Forcing Peter and Walter to interact with each other allows confrontations on screen that are familiar to parents and their children.
"Left on our own, we would probably avoid each other, or dummy up if thrown together, but this situation makes us confront each other," Noble said.
Jackson, who often provided the humour in the Dawson's Creek TV series, uses his natural comic sensibilities to soften what could come across as a hard character.
He masks his anger towards his father with smart-aleck behavior, but when it counts, Peter is there for his dad.
"He really blames his father for this emotional missing piece in their life," Abrams said.
"He has love for his father, but he also has tremendous resentment. But now, for the first time in their lives, he sees his father as someone impressive and interesting."
- Fringe screens on Wednesdays at 8.30pm on TV2.
