Ugly Betty would benefit from strong comedic partners, and its champions are loudly campaigning to get the show out of the Friday Night Death Slot.  And as Lost moves into its final season, 10:00 Wednesdays could be a good home for them, too.

Matt Roush from TV Guide Magazine had a really interesting piece a couple of weeks ago, which described what he thought ABC’s strategy should be for scheduling Lost.  Basically, it’s the last season.  They’re not necessarily trying to pick up new viewers–they may be able to recoup some former watchers who gave up along the way but still want to know what the smoke monster is, but they’re not going to find any brand new fans this year.  And they know that.  But they also want to give it a hero’s send-off, and they want to give it a timeslot where it can thrive week-to-week, without getting preempted–preferably at all.  They also should be figuring out how to use the last season of Lost to get the fans to shift toward their new shows, like FlashForward and V.  So while it may not matter whether or not they pick up new fans, they definitely don’t want to waste Lost and toss it off to, say, Ugly Betty‘s current timeslot.

(I’m also a big fan of the 10:00 hour, simply because they might be more inclined to show explosions, violence, and sex in this timeslot, and I am totally pro-that.)

Ultimately, though, my prediction/suggestion is that Lost will end up as the grounder for a new Tuesday night, taking the Dancing with the Stars results show’s place when it goes on hiatus.  Then it’s flanked on either side by (hopefully) V and either The Forgotten (which is currently holding ground on Tuesdays at 10:00) or a rescheduled FlashForward.  But that still leaves Monday nights open, with only the laggard Castle on the schedule after DWTS finishes up. And aside from Lost, the Alphabet still has two new scripteds and three new or returning realities to get on the schedule.  So Ugly Betty may end up staying on Friday just to give a new show a fighting chance on Wednesday night.

you're still juliet to me, lady // abc promotional photo

Ever since ABC announced that Elizabeth Mitchell would be (at least partially) leaving Lost for their new alien series V, I’ve been scared.

Partly because Suliet was the best thing ever to happen to my personal fandom life, and partly because alien abduction stories are really freaking scary.

But I’m also intrigued by it, if only because I love the idea of Elizabeth Mitchell sleeping her way through the Salinger family–I could definitely get behind an EM/Scott Wolf OTP. (PS Scott Wolf went to my college. If I ever meet him, I can make small talk.)

It’s  a little premature to get excited about this show already, since the show seems to be mired in production problems. Production was stopped for awhile while the network tweaked it, and it was recently announced that the show will be airing in miniseries-like chunks in the fall and spring–not exactly a show of confidence.

Anyway, ABC released the first act of the pilot today and it is, as I could have expected, both terrifying and intriguing.

Because part of me totally believes that this kind of thing is possible and lives in constant fear that today will be the day they decide to hover over Manhattan and make their presence known.

First of all, if these really are the show’s bad guys, they’re about the least sinister-looking baddies in the history of television. And I highly doubt that these guys can pull off Michael Emerson creepitude.

Here’s a nice featurette recently released by ABC that shines a little light on the Lloyd character. (Minor spoilers.)

In other FlashForward news, it was revealed overnight that the co-showrunner, Marc Guggenheim, is leaving the show. The Hollywood Reporter says that this was not a creative decision, that this was always the plan, as Guggenheim, of Eli Stone non-fame, was brought in to show David S. Goyer, the creator with little television experience, the ropes of running a serial.  THR says those ropes are learned, and that Guggenheim’s talents are no longer needed going into the back nine.

Others are reporting that this reflects ABC’s displeasure with the way the series is unfolding thus far. I can’t say I don’t agree with their concerns, as these first four episodes have felt a little dragging. In my opinion, this show is surviving on the last ten seconds of their episodes (Somebody was awake during the blackout! D. Gibbons is a bad man! Crows down in Somalia! Charlie and Lloyd did it!), while the rest of the plots struggle to make connections and use the large ensemble effectively.

It’s still too early to say, really, but I wonder if we’ll look back on FlashForward as a show that would’ve made a better miniseries. It would’ve allowed the stories to be told more economically, to avoid digging unnecessary plot holes, and to completely avert the upcoming trap of what happens after April 29, 2010.

Also on board are Tommy Schlamme, the longtime production partner of Aaron Sorkin who worked with Perry on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Jamie Tarses, the inspiration for Amanda Peet’s Studio 60 character, Jordan McDeere.  (Does this mean she’s a hot mess?)

Instead of this pilot project, can Matthew Perry just go and get in an OTP with Lauren Graham on Parenthood already?