The Internet has been all atwitter since Dominic Monaghan, aka the dearly departed Charlie Pace on Lost, showed up in a new ABC promo. In it, Dominic/Charlie is playing Foosball with current and upcoming ABC stars, including Patrick Dempsey from Grey's Anatomy and Courteney Cox from the upcoming Cougar Town. Jason Hughes theorizes that this could very well mean that Monaghan is returning to Lost next season.

This of course, is not out of the realm of possibility: death, after all, rarely means goodbye on Lost. On the other hand, it's not unheard of for stars who have exited the island to find themselves on other ABC shows (see: Harold Perrineau on The Unusuals). So which is it? Well, that crafty cad Michael Ausiello thinks he has the answer. See what spoilers ABC execs shared with him after the jump.

ABC is saying goodbye to a whopping five series.

Absent from the network's fall schedule launch this morning (see the full schedule at Variety) were a number of freshman series, including 'Cupid,' 'In the Motherhood' and 'The Unusuals.'

'Motherhood' faced a number of hurdles early on, including poor ratings that subsequently caused the series' episode order to be sliced in half. ABC also tried numerous ways to promote 'The Unusuals' -- even airing it twice a week -- but the show never caught on.

Also getting the boot are 'According to Jim,' which finally ends its eight season run, and the previously announced 'Samantha Who?' 'Samantha' was reportedly cancelled when the show failed to come up with appropriate budget cuts.

Harold Perrineau is worried. He's worried that viewers won't give his new show, The Unusuals, a chance. He has a valid concern: The Unusuals, which just premiered, is on Wednesday nights at 10, on ABC; otherwise known as the post-Lost timeslot (of doom).

ABC is showing faith in The Unusuals. After all, it's not stuck in the Friday night graveyard or anything. The post-Lost slot is tricky though; shows generally don't do well there. It could be that the minds of everybody who watches Lost are so blown, they can't even stick around for another hour of television. Whatever it is, the quirky cop show Life On Mars recently died a sad death there. Will this quirky cop show do better? Harold Perrineau certainly hopes so.

Warning: Spoilers ahead. We talk about plot points in the recently aired pilot, some spoilers for upcoming episodes, as well as the fate of Michael, Perrineau's character on Lost.

(S01E01) ABC's quirky new crime procedural is not the brilliant blend of drama and absurd comedy the network might want it to be, but it does have a few good things going for it. First, there's the great cast. It's hard to pick a favorite among these talented TV vets, but series star Amber Tamblyn is genuine and beleiveable as Casey Shraeger, a detective working to weed out corruption in a kooky NYPD homicide unit, one of her first grown-up roles. Jeremy Renner, adding some Nathan Fillion-esque goofiness to his all-around good guy persona, is a good fit for Detective Jason Walsh, Tamblyn's possibly duplicitous partner.

I'm convinced that Lost's Harold Perrineau can do almost anything, even turn a one-note character like Detective Leo Banks, who's obsessed with the idea that he'll die at the age of 42, into something special. Perrineau didn't exactly get the best material here, but he and partner Adam Goldberg, playing a nervous depressive who is actually dying, managed to elevate their short scenes together.

ABC is about to reveal one of its biggest secret weapons -- the premiere of the new cop drama series 'The Unusuals,' airing tonight at 10PM.

The show stars Amber Tamblyn as Casey Shraeger, a young detective who enters the NYPD Homicide unit with her fair share of mystery. There, she's joined by fellow TV vets like Adam Goldberg, 'Oz''s Terry Kinney, 'Lost''s Harold Perrineau and others -- all of whom carry their own intriguing back stories.

AOL TV recently visited the set of 'The Unusuals' to dig up dirt on the show. So what unusual things did we discover? Read through our gallery to find out what to expect from the show, why Perrineau's character is so paranoid and uncover Amber Tamblyn's true identity (or maybe not).

'The Unusuals'
(10PM, ABC) series premiere
The title pithily sums up the quirky, secrets-keeping detectives of the NYPD's Homicide unit, where Det. Casey Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn) is transferred to after working undercover as a hooker in Vice.

She's paired with Det. Walsh (Jeremy Renner), who's obsessed with tracking down the murderer of his former partner. The rest of the motley crew includes Delahoy (Adam Goldberg), who wants to get killed on the job and his partner, Banks (Harold Perrineau), who's so afraid of dying on the job that he won't remove his bulletproof vest.

Then there's super religious Cole (Josh Close), who's trying to keep his shady past a secret from his partner and his boss.

With the exception of promo clips and my own personal high expectations, I haven't seen a ton of material about the new show The Unusuals. It will make its debut on April 8, 10 PM ET/PT. In this day of so many shows canceled way too early before they can get a steady audience, I'm hoping this one makes it.

Why, might you ask? After all, most of my posts are about the reality television genre. But I'm a cop show buff at heart. I expect a lot out of my cop shows. Some I watch just because -- you know, the Law and Order franchise kind of dealings. Some I watch for the amazing storytelling. The Wire comes to mind as not just a cop show, but stellar storytelling. I don't expect either the straight crime drama, nor the intensity of The Wire.

The Unusuals looks like one of those funny little shows that could either be a complete bust or a major mid-season breakout -- especially given the cast and crew. The ABC ensemble dramedy stars:

1. Amber Tamblyn. I've loved her since she played Emily on General Hospital, and she has that something-different quality that will surely rocket her to super-stardom ... in an indie-film sort of way. She broke into the mainstream consciousness with Joan of Arcadia, the talk-to-God series that ran from 2003 to 2005. I was so disappointed when Tamblyn's I-see-dead-people series Babylon Fields wasn't picked up last year, but The Unusuals sounds even better.

2. Harold Perrineau. We know him as Michael on Lost, and the actor was disappointed that his character wouldn't have a happy ending with son Walt. But he's on to bigger and better things with his role in The Unusuals. It was also announced today that he's joining the cast of (and exec producing) the feature film The Killing Jar, an indie thriller also starring Michael Madsen and Danny Trejo. It was time for Perrineau to leave the island.

I am about to write something that I normally don't do when it comes to the way networks program their primetime schedules. It's something that will shake your foundations, rock the world, turn Republicans into Democrats (and vice-versa) and make Amy Winehouse finally get sober. Ready? ABC is being smart with its programming schedule.

There, it's done. Now to sit back and wait for the accolades.

Seriously, after years of relying on only a handful of shows to carry the schedule throughout the year, ABC has been filling out their schedules with a number of backup shows to fill those gaps that always appear when a fall premiere tanks. Granted, some of these mid-season replacements also tank, but at least the network is letting them try. Because of that we have been lucky to enjoy shows like Samantha Who? and Eli Stone. This time around, ABC has five new series - all scripted - that will be premiering during the 2008-09 season. You'll find a brief explanation of each after the jump.

The star of CBS's drama Joan of Arcadia is coming back to television.
Amber Tamblyn, pictured right with Ugly Betty's America Ferrara, has just signed to star in ABC's pilot The Unusuals. The show, a one-hour dramedy, is set in a Manhattan and will feature Tamblyn as a police officer whose choice of profession has made her the black sheep of her wealthy family. Tamblyn will play Casey Shraeger, a newly transferred homicide detective who learns that her fellow officers have quirks and secrets.

TV Squad reported last week that Lost's Harold Perrineau will be joining The Unusuals as well. The former castaway plays a detective who never takes off his bullet proof vest because he's terrified of being shot. Perrineau and Tamblyn are joined by Monique Curnen whose credits include The Dark Knight and Adam Goldberg from HBO's Entourage.

You can see Amber Tamblyn in theatres soon; she's back for a second installment of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Just last week, Harold Perrineau was wondering why his character was killed off on Lost, wishing the producers hadn't blown Michael up with the freighter. He wasn't out of work for long. Harold Perrineau has just been cast on a new ABC comedy/drama called The Unusuals. The pilot, which could be a mid-season replacement on ABC, is an hour set in a New York City police precinct.

Harold will play Detective Leo Banks, an agitated cop who's so afraid of being shot or attacked that he's never without his Kevlar bullet-proof vest. (Does he wear it in the john?) Sounds potentially funny. The writer of The Unusuals is Bones' Noah Hawley and the executive producer is Peter Tolan (Rescue Me, The Larry Sanders Show), so there will be an emphasis on humor. Maybe not full-out Barney Miller, but still funny.

There was more pilot news percolating out of ABC yesterday, including three dramas and a sitcom. On the funny side, writer/producers Jennifer Konner and Alexandra Rushfield are working on Bad Mother's Handbook. It follows the life of a busy, thirtysomething mom dealing with the needs/wants/desires of her teenaged daughter and 48-year old mother. Hmm, sounds like a close knit family! You think they're all under one roof? The sitcom will be a single-camera affair, half-hour laugh fest (or so we hope). I vote for Jamie Lee Curtis as the 48-year old mom. She can still play 48; yes, she can. She looks great on those yogurt commercials!