A cool little, but very clever promo for FOX’s TV show Fringe occurred during American Idol tonight (yes, I admit I’ve been watching American Idol this season).

The mysterious “Observer” character  from Fringe (played by Michael Gaston) was sitting in the audience, and the camera focused on him quite a few times in the beginning of the show. He wasn’t merely Michael Gaston as himself in the audience, like many other celebrities that have sat as guests in the audience. He was totally in character of the Observer from Fringe,  sitting very still and completely expressionless, looking totally insane! After those first few times the camera focused on him, you could occassionally spot him to Simon Cowell’s left side. Then, later I caught him in a completely different seat a few rows behind the judges during their critique of Allison’s performance. He was out of focus this time, but it was clear that it was him.

Fringe premiered its first new episode since February 10th tonight. What clever marketing!