PASADENA, Calif. -- ABC's "Flash Forward," a new serialized Thursday night drama, has been dubbed "the next 'Lost,'" and there are similarities.

A large international cast tells an unfolding story that begins with a cataclysmic event: Everyone on the planet blanks out for a little more than two minutes. During that time the characters flash forward and see a few moments from t heir lives on a specific future date: 10 p.m. on April 29, 2010. Some like what they see in the future, others do not.

Is the future they see their destiny? Can they change the future? And why does a kangaroo -- a stand-in for the "Lost" polar bear, perhaps? -- hop down a Los Angeles street after everyone awakens? These are questions viewers will be left to wonder about after the pilot airs at 8 p.m. Sept. 24.

"By the end of the first season, most of the questions raised in the pilot ... will be answered," said executive producer David S. Goyer ("Threshold"). "The cause of why the blackout happened, that's our background radiation mystery for the whole series."

"Flash Forward" follows an FBI agent (Joseph Fiennes, "Shakespeare in Love") and his partner (John Cho, "Star Trek"); the agent's surgeon wife (Sonya Walger, "Lost") and assorted other characters. "Lost" veteran Dominic Monaghan will have a role in "Flash Forward" beginning sometime in the first six episodes after the pilot. Details of his character, Simon, remain under wraps. He said the show is less mythology-driven than "Lost."

Although there have been recent TV seasons with a plethora of serialized shows ("The Nine," "Day Break," etc.), this fall "Flash Forward" has that space largely to itself.

"We have only succeeded when we've been ambitious and taken chances and pushed the limits," McPherson said, naming "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" as past high concept successes. He emphasized the importance of a portfolio approach that mixes big shows such as "Flash Forward" with smaller projects. "For me, there's so much great drama out there, you have got to be ambitious. You have to break through the clutter."

Originally announced as a mid-season series, ABC announced Saturday that its remake of the 1980s lizards-from-space-disguised-as-humans-show "V" will now premiere Nov. 3, taking over the 8 p.m. Tuesday time slot after reality show "Shark Tank" finishes its run. "

Read more about the new "V" in Tuned In Journal at post-gazette.com/tv.

Maybe the TV comedy drought will come to an end this fall.

ABC's "Modern Family," fall's best new comedy, offers that hope. The show centers on three families:

• A traditional suburban couple, played by Julie Bowen ("Ed") and Ty Burr ("Back to You").

• An older man-younger woman married couple, Ed O'Neill ("Married with Children") and Sofia Vergara ("The Knights of Prosperity").

• A gay couple -- Jesse Tyler Ferguson of "The Class" and Eric Stronestreet of "CSI" -- who recently adopted a child.

Executive produced by Steve Levitan ("Back to You"), "Modern Family" is filmed in the single-camera style of "The Office." Like "The Office," it's done as a mock documentary, which was of some initial concern to Levitan.

"But it was the way we wanted to tell the story," he said. "When you're doing a family show, it's very easy for it to be sugary and schmaltzy. We thought the documentary form was a nice way to add some grit to it and make it not quite so syrupy."

Cherry Jones, a 1978 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, looks at a Fox publicist for reassurance that she's not giving away too much information about the new season of "24," which returns in January.>

This much she'll say, warily: The first daughter (Sprague Grayden) is not back (presumably she's in jail) and the first gentleman is also history (presumably following a divorce).

"At the end of every day [of production], the prop master comes to take my wedding ring and watch away, and how many times have I started to go like that," she said, making hand motions to pull off a ring that's not there.

Jones asked of Pittsburgh and was excited to hear the G-20 summit is coming to town, wondering about what that will entail and expressed some embarrassment that a woman who plays the United States president on "24"doesn't know the specifics. She spoke admiringly of Pittsburgh's beauty and then launched into a story of a night while she was at CMU when Lily Tomlin was in town for a performance. For an extra $10, audience members could meet Tomlin. She and her friends didn't have the extra cash, so they peered at the comedy star from behind pillars in the lobby of Carnegie Music Hall. Someone with Tomlin invited them to come out afterwards anyway and they ended up scrambling down the hillside into Panther Hollow with Tomlin and up the other side in 15-degree weather.

"It's a night she did not forget," Jones said.

"24" executive producer Howard Gordon said Jones' President Allison Taylor is seeking a peace agreement as part of the new season's story, which takes place 18 months after the season that ended in May. Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) is actually happy for a change but Renee Walker (Annie Wersching) is paying the price for some of what happened last season. Circumstances bring them together.

Much of the action takes place on a multi-level New York CTU set that Gordon said is more compact than old CTU with deep earth colors.

But if you're a fan of President Taylor, prepare to be disappointed. Through 11 episodes, she's not featured all the prominently, according to co-executive producer David Fury.

"We haven't used her enough," he said at a Fox party last week. "These stories take on a life of their own and can veer away from people we most want to see. She's vastly under-utilized."

Fury said Jones is a sport about understanding how the story's need for characters dictates how much screen time any of the show's cast members receive.

"It's difficult to juggle characters and events," Fury added, noting that this season there are many new characters, all of whom require their stories to be told so viewers get to know them. "We have an overabundance of great actors and characters and finding room to tell all their stories is very challenging."

The upcoming season of "24" is the last season Fox has a contract to broadcast. Its future beyond that is uncertain.

Contact TV editor Rob Owen at 412-263-1112 or rowen@post-gazette.com. Follow his TV updates in Tuned In Journal blog at post-gazette.com/tv.