Upfront notes: Elizabeth Mitchell and 'Lost,' Seth MacFarlane, 'Friday Night Lights'

By Rick Porter

    

May 19, 2009 8:49 PM ET

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Between ABC unveiling 11 new shows and NBC announcing its schedule, Tuesday was a pretty crazy day at the TV upfronts. A quick roundup of some of the other news of the day:

When we last saw Elizabeth Mitchell on "Lost," she was banging a nuclear device with a rock in an effort to get it to detonate, which apparently worked. Despite that -- and the more practical matter that she's starring in ABC's midseason series "V" -- ABC boss Steve McPherson isn't ready to write Juliet's obit just yet.

"We were thrilled to be able to have her do both" her work on "Lost" and the "V" pilot, McPherson says. "There was a little bit of a juggling act when we cast her, and we're really thankful to the ['Lost'] producers in Hawaii, who did some amazing juggling of the production schedule. I think you'll see her on 'Lost,' but 'V' is her next piece."

Dead doesn't always mean dead on "Lost," of course, so there may yet be hope for Mitchell's character to return.

Speaking of "Lost," the show will get a big promotional push for its final season next year (it started, in fact, at the upfront presentation with a video looking back at the first five seasons). McPherson just doesn't know exactly where it will land on the schedule.

"We'll wait and see how things perform," he says. "I think it will be an asset for us to move around." The show will have its audience pretty much wherever it goes at this point, but the safe money would probably be on it returning to Wednesday nights, where it's spent most of its life.

In the preview clip of "Flash Forward" ABC showed to reporters Tuesday morning, a familiar face popped up in a scene set in a conference room. "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane has a cameo in the pilot, courtesy of his friendship with co-creator Brannon Braga. MacFarlane has made a handful of on-camera appearances in the past, including a couple of cameos on "Star Trek: Enterprise," which Braga executive produced.

McPherson only got a couple of "Grey's Anatomy" questions Tuesday morning, one of which was the inevitable one about whether Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight, whose characters were on the verge of death in last week's finale, had signed on for next season.

"They've both signed on," McPherson deadpanned. "I can't say whether or not they'll both be there."

One extra bit of scheduling news from NBC: Because of its tightened, Jay Leno-heavy schedule next season, the network won't air the fourth season of "Friday Night Lights" until summer 2010. DirecTV will air it in the fall.

Related:

First impressions: ABC has a lot of shows
NBC's 2009-10 schedules
ABC's fall 2009 schedule