'Medium' rescheduled
Not unexpectedly, "if" turned into "when." And "when" became Wednesdays at 9 p.m., beginning Nov. 15.
Although a lot of "Medium" fans were worried, the show about a woman (Patricia Arquette) who talks to dead people and solves crimes was never canceled — NBC ordered a full, 22-episode season. It was just postponed because of network-TV maneuvering.
• When NBC announced its fall schedule in May, "Medium" was slated to return on Mondays at 9 p.m. and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was scheduled on Thursdays at 8 p.m. Then ABC moved "Grey's Anatomy" to Thursdays at 8 p.m., and NBC didn't want "Studio 60" to have to face both "Grey's" and "CSI," so "Studio 60" moved to Mondays at 9 p.m.
• With the way NBC's schedule was set up, the only available time slot for "Medium" was Fridays at 7 p.m., but airing it opposite the similar "Ghost Whisperer" didn't seem smart. So "Medium" was penciled in on Sunday nights in January, after the end of the NFL season.
There's irony all around in this. NBC moved "Law & Order" out of the Wednesday-at-9 p.m. slot, only to see newcomer "Kidnapped" fail. And its move to protect "Studio 60" hasn't worked, either — that show has lost about a third of its audience since it premiered.
That's worse than starting with a third-fewer viewers, because it means viewers tuned in and tuned out, rejecting the show. NBC remains committed to the high-profile, expensive property for the time being, however.
CBS HAS ANNOUNCED how it will fill the hole created in its schedule by the quick cancellation of "Smith" — the new medical drama "3 Lbs." will premiere Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 9 p.m.
The ever-watchable Stanley Tucci stars a an irascible-but-brilliant doctor; Mark Feurstein plays his protege.
I'd say it sounds suspiciously "House"-like, but I'll reserve judgment until I've actually seen it.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com
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