Channel Surfing: Elizabeth Mitchell Talks "Lost" Fate, Itzin to Return to "24," TNT Locks Up "Southland," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch has an interview with Elizabeth Mitchell and Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse about the ultimate fate of Mitchell's Juliet, last seen detonating the hydrogen bomb that may or may not have caused The Incident at the end of Season Five. While Mitchell is set to reprise her role as Juliet Burke on Season Six of Lost, it's been confirmed that Juliet is definitely dead. Still, there are still some mysteries about the good (or not so good?) doctor that still need to be resolved. "There’s still something very significant that we have not yet learned about the character," according to Cuse. (Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch)

Gregory Itzin (The Mentalist) will return to FOX's 24 in a multiple-episode story arc that finds him reprising his role as villainous former President Charles Logan, who was last seen being stabbed by his wife Martha (Jean Smart) during Day Six. The Wrap's Josef Adalian is reporting that Logan will return in Day Eight in order to help Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones) deal with a diplomatic crisis. (The Wrap's TVMoJoe)

It's official! TNT has picked up the axed Southland in a deal with Warner Bros. Television that gives the cable exclusive rights to the six unaired episdoes produced for NBC, which TNT will air as well as the series' seven-episode first season. Southland will debut on TNT on Tuesday, January 12th at 10 pm ET/PT. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

NBC has given a script order to hostage crisis drama Zeroes, which depicts the final hour of a hostage crisis. Project, from Universal Media Studios and BermanBraun, will be written by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who are attached to direct should the project be ordered to series. (Hollywood Reporter)

David Tennant said that he's jealous of incoming Doctor Who star Matt Smith, who replaces Tennant in the role of the Doctor next year. "I'm really excited for him but I remember how exciting it was starting out on this kind of a journey - and nervewracking and a bit overwhelming but just such a kick," said Tennant. "So I'm jealous he's going through that now, but [it's] brilliant and it couldn't happen to a nicer chap." (BBC Newsbeat)

Ghost Whisperer executive producers Ian Sander and Kim Moses have three projects in development at ABC via their overall deal with ABC Studios, including legal drama Jane and Dick, about an all-female law firm and its newest partner whose life is sent spinning when she crosses paths with her high school boyfriend from writers Jennifer Weiner and Michael Reisz; Police Surgeon, about a female cop who also happens to be a medical surgeon in Chicago, from writer Lance Gentile; and Ghost World, about a male ghost who solves crimes with a female police detective with the hopes of solving his own death, from writer Daniel Taplitz. (Variety)

Scott Foley (The Unit) has been cast in three episodes of ABC's Cougar Town, where he will play a businessman who is shown several homes by Courteney Cox's Jules and who might just be a potential love interest for Jules. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Anthony Michael Hall is set to guest star in the December 10th episode of NBC's Community, where he will play a bully who challenges Joel McHale's Jeff to a fight in the series' Christmas-themed episode. (TV Guide)

Variety's Michael Schneider talks to original V creator Kenneth Johnson about ABC's reimagination, which launches on Tuesday, and his efforts to get a big-screen remake off the ground. "If the show succeeds, it gives us an opportunity to go out with a one sheet that says, 'You like the show, now see the original classic reborn,'"Johnson told Schneider. "And if the show doesn't do well, we can always say, 'Here is the V you've been waiting for.'" (Variety)

Fox21 and Plantinum Studios are developing a drama series based on graphic novel "Gunplay," about "a buffalo soldier condemned to roam the Old West with a hellish curse slung at his waist: a demonic shooting iron that forces him to kill once a day or suffer soul-searing pain." Project will be adapted by Glen Morgan (The X-Files). (Hollywood Reporter)

Ian McKellan will star in half-hour mockumentary series The Academy, where he will play his own fictional brother, the headmaster of a decrepit drama school. Project, written and directed by Peter Hinton, will also star Jonathan Hyde, Sylvester McCoy, and Frances Barber. Production company DLT Entertainment is shopping the series to buyers on both sides of the pond. (Variety)

Warner Bros. Pictures have stepped in as the sole sponsors of FOX's November 8th Seth MacFarlane primetime variety special (Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show), after Microsoft pulled out of the special last week. The studio will air an extended trailer for Sherlock Holmes during the special. (Variety)

Rena Sofer (24) has been cast on CBS' NCIS, where she will play "a no-nonsense attorney with mysterious motives" in a potentially recurring role. (Hollywood Reporter)

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has been cast in USA's Law & Order: Criminal Intent, where she will play the team's new captain, replacing Eric Bogosian's character. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Has ABC ordered more episodes of its reality series Shark Tank? Not according to an ABC spokesperson. But it's a different story with regard to one of the series' sharks, Robert Herjavec, who announced that the network had ordered additional episodes of Shark Tank via Twitter. (The Wrap's TV MoJoe)

Former Comcast executive Allan Singer has been hired as EVP of distribution and strategy at OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. He'll report to CEO Christina Norman. (Variety)

Stay tuned.