Channel Surfing: Alex O'Loughlin Heads to "Hawaii Five-O," New Showrunners for "FlashForward," Molly Shannon Finds "Glee," "FNL" to End, and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing.

It's official: former Moonlight star Alex O'Loughlin, last seen in CBS' short-lived medical drama Three Rivers, has signed on to play Detective Steve McGarrett in CBS' remake of cop drama Hawaii Five-O, ending weeks of speculation. This is the third go-around for CBS and O'Loughlin, who will star opposite Lost's Daniel Dae Kim in the project, overseen by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Peter Lenkov. (The Wrap)

It might be a case of third time's the charm for ABC as well. The network announced a new set of showrunners for struggling freshman drama FlashForward, which had its episodic order cut down to 22 episodes. (At one time, the series was meant to air 25 episodes this season.) Co-creator Jessika Borsiczky, Lisa Zwerling (ER), and Tim Lea (Past Life) have replaced David S. Goyer as showrunners on the ABC Studios-produced series. (Goyer himself replaced Marc Guggenheim at the reins last October.) (Variety)

Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello is reporting that former SNL star Molly Shannon (she of the short-lived NBC comedy Kath & Kim) is joining the cast of FOX's Glee in a recurring capacity. Shannon, whose first episode is slated to air in May, will play Brenda Castle, described as "the busty 45-year-old new astronomy teacher and badminton coach at McKinley High School who is both an alcoholic and a pill-popper," and who becomes the nemesis of Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

Ausiello is also reporting that the fifth season of Friday Night Lights will be the series' last, citing multiple sources. "Although an NBC rep insists no official decision on FNL’s future has been made," writes Ausiello, "I’m told the network has informed the show’s cast that they’re free to pursue other work after production on season 5 wraps in June." (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)

David Krumholtz (NUMB3RS) has landed the lead role in FOX's untitled IRS comedy from executive producer Ron Howard, writer Brent Forrester, Imagine Television, and 20th Century Fox Television. Krumholtz will play "an IRS agent who attempts to find nobility in his work." (Variety)

In other pilot casting news, Freddy Rodriguez (Ugly Betty) has been cast as the lead on CBS drama pilot Chaos; David Strathairn (Temple Grandin) has been added to the cast of ABC drama pilot Matadors; Cole Hauser (K-Ville) will star in NBC drama pilot Chase; Ashley Austin Morris has joined the cast of CBS comedy pilot True Love; Keir O'Donnell (Paul Blart: Mall Cop) and Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield) were cast in ABC dramedy pilot Generation Y; Natasha Leggero (He's Just Not That Into You), Cedric Yarbrough and Dave Holmes have joined the cast of NBC comedy pilot The Strip; Ashley Williams (Dollhouse) and Shanley Caswell have been added to NBC's untitled Adam Carolla comedy pilot; and Sean Wing has been cast in ABC drama pilot The Whole Truth. (Hollywood Reporter)

ABC has given a second season order to reality series Shaq Vs., starring Shaquille O'Neal. (Variety)

Andrea Bowen (Desperate Housewives) will star opposite Greg Evigan (My Two Dads) in Hallmark Movie Channel telepic After the Fall. Also cast: Alicia Ziegler, Fiona Dourif, and Rick Malambri. (Hollywood Reporter)

Ellen DeGeneres' eponymous talkshow is staying put at NBC's O&O stations through the 2013-14 season, following the conclusion of a new deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. (Variety)

Stay tuned.

Have a Burning Question for Team Darlton, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, or Michael Emerson?

Lost fans: you don't have to make your way to the island via Ajira Airways in order to ask a question of the creative team or the series' stars. Televisionary is taking questions from fans to put to Lost 's executive producers/showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse and stars Matthew Fox ("Jack Shephard"), Evangeline Lilly ("Kate Austen"), and Michael Emerson ("Benjamin Linus") for a series of on-camera interviews taking place this weekend. If you have a specific question for any of the above producers or actors from Lost , please leave it in the comments section below . I'll be accepting questions until midnight PT tonight and, while I can't promise I'll be able to ask any specific inquiry due to the brevity of these on-camera interviews, I am looking for some insightful and thought-provoking questions to add to the mix. So who knows: your burning question might get asked after all.

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What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season ...

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In Defense of Downton Abbey (Or, Don't Believe Everything You Read)

The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating. Which means, if I can get on my soapbox for a minute, that in order to judge something, one ought to experience it first hand. One can't know how the pudding has turned out until one actually tastes it. I was asked last week--while I was on vacation with my wife--for an interview by a journalist from The Daily Mail, who got in touch to talk to me about PBS' upcoming launch of ITV's period drama Downton Abbey , which stars Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Dan Stevens, Elizabeth McGovern, and a host of others. (It launches on Sunday evening as part of PBS' Masterpiece Classic ; my advance review of the first season can be read here , while my interview with Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes and stars Dan Stevens and Hugh Bonneville can be read here .) Normally, I would have refused, just based on the fact that I was traveling and wasn't working, but I love Downton Abbey and am so enchanted with the proj...

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