"Fringe" Gets Its Leading Man: Joshua Jackson!

Wowzers! J.J. Abrams' two-hour backdoor pilot Fringe has finally found its leading man: Joshua Jackson.

The FOX pilot, currently budgeted at $10 million, has been on a bit of a casting spree lately, securing several talents in key roles in the last few weeks, including Aussie actress Anna Torv, as well as John Noble, Lance Reddick (currently on Lost), Kirk Acevedo, and Mark Valley.

But the key role of Peter Bishop, a surly misfit on the run from some unsavory types who reluctantly agrees to work with FBI Agent Olivia Warren (Torv) and his estranged father, an institutionalized research scientist, had been uncast. That is, until now.

Executive producer J.J. Abrams has landed Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek) as Peter Bishop, in a bit of a casting coup that also signals the return of the actor, best known for playing Pacey on Dawson's Creek, to television.

Production on the pilot is expected to begin later this month. But in the meantime, you can read my exclusive review of Fringe's pilot script right here. You know you want to.

I wonder what this means regarding his planned multiple-episode arc on Grey's Anatomy...

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); 1 vs. 100 (NBC); Friday Night SmackDown (CW; 8-10 pm); Grey's Anatomy (ABC); Bones (FOX)

9 pm: Moonlight (CBS); Friday Night Lights (NBC); Desperate Housewives (ABC); House (FOX)

10 pm: NUMB3RS (CBS); Las Vegas (NBC); 20/20 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

8-11 pm: BBC America.

If you happen to be staying in after a long work week, why not do it in true Anglophile style with back-to-back episodes of Coupling and new sketch comedy series That Mitchell and Webb Look, from the stars of Peep Show? On tonight's episode, Nazis discover that they are the bad guys in WWII, a woman in a burka gets a makeover, and the US is introduced to Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit.