Channel Surfing: ABC Finds Possible Companion for "Lost," Sci Fi Searches in "Warehouse 13," "Heroes," and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. I spent last night holding my sides from laughing so much during the season premiere of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (more on that in a bit) and was on the edge of my seat watching the much anticipated season premiere of The Amazing Race (which kicks off on CBS on September 28th).

Sci Fi has ordered 11 additional episodes of sci-fi dramedy Warehouse 13, which already shot a two-hour backdoor pilot earlier this year. Series, about Secret Service agents tasked with protecting a top secret South Dakota storage facility that contains a seemingly endless supply of supernatural artifacts (hint: like the TARDIS, the place is bigger on the inside), stars Eddie McClintock (Bones), Joanne Kelly (Vanished), CCH Pounder (The Shield), and Saul Rubinek (Blind Justice). Look for Warehouse 13--from writer/executive producer David Simkins, writers Brent Mote and Jane Espenson, and Universal Cable Prods.--to air in July 2009 as a companion series to the net's Eureka. (Variety)

ABC has found a possible companion for Lost in Threshold's David S. Goyer and Brannon Braga's spec script Flash Forward, about what happens after everyone in the world blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds and experiences a vision of the world's future. Project, originally developed at HBO, is based on a Robert J. Sawyer novel. Goyer will direct the pilot and executive produce with Braga, Jessika Borsiczky Goyer, Vince Gerardis, and Ralph M. Vicinanza. ABC Studios is in negotiations to produce Flash Forward. (Hollywood Reporter)

Jonathan Goldstein (Old Christine) will serve as an executive producer on FOX's space-set single-camera comedy pilot Boldly Going Nowhere, from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia creators/stars Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, and Charlie Day. Project is about the lazy crew of a wayward spaceship in the distant future. (Variety)

NBC has confirmed that Oprah Winfrey will appear in the November 6th episode of 30 Rock.

Heroes' Tim Kring admits that the downtime following the start of the writer's strike last year was a good thing for the series. "We don't really get a break," said Kring," so the time off creatively helped us." He admits that it allowed for the creative team to be reinvigotated and that Season Three may pacify fans frustrated with the twins storyline and Hiro being trapped in feudal Japan. What else should fans expect for Season Three? Find out here. (Associated Press)

In other FOX news, the network has given a cast-contingent pilot order to single-camera comedy Save Us Then the Whales from Sameer Asad Gardezi (Mind of Mencia) about a middle-aged nonprofit organization staffer who "approaches the world of fundraising as if he's bartering at a Moroccan bazaar," which irks the idealistic co-director of the organization. (Hollywood Reporter)

Wade Allain Marcus (The American Mall) has joined the cast of Gossip Girl as Max, a manipulative 19-year-old photographer with ties to Manhattan's fashion and art scenes. I can only venture a guess and say that he'll likely be a potential love interest for one Miss Jenny Humphrey though I wouldn't mind it if he manipulated Vanessa right off of the series. (Hollywood Reporter)

Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings) will lead a cast that includes Andrew Garfield (Doctor Who), David Morrissey (State of Play), and Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz) in Red Riding, a new three-part series for UK's Channel 4 that will adapt David Peace's novel trilogy about life--and its inherent struggles of morality and human nature--in Yorkshire in the 1970s and 1980s. (Digital Spy)

Stay tuned.

What's On Tonight

8 pm: Ghost Whisperer (CBS); America's Toughest Jobs (NBC); Friday Night SmackDown! (CW; 8-10 pm); America's Funniest Home Videos (ABC; 8-10 pm); Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (FOX)

9 pm: NUMB3RS (CBS); Dateline (NBC; 9-11 pm); Don't Forget the Lyrics (FOX)

10 pm: NUMB3RS (CBS); 20/20 (ABC)

What I'll Be Watching

Um, I think I'll just go out instead...