Medium

CBS swooped in after NBC canceled Medium and picked up the Patricia Arquette drama at its Upfront this morning. Medium joins four other new dramas on CBS's Fall schedule, which seems downright reasonable after, say, ABC's 11 new series.

CBS's newcomers are the NCIS spinoff with LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell; Three Rivers, a medical drama about organ transplants headed by Moonlight's Alex O'Loughlin; The Good Wife, starring Julianna Margulies as an attorney who goes back to work after her husband's public scandal; and Accidentally on Purpose, a comedy starring Jenna Elfman as a movie critic who gets pregnant from a one-night stand. Two more dramas — Miami Trauma and The Bridge — will join the network for midseason, along with two new reality shows.

On the scheduling front, The Mentalist shifts to Thursdays at 10 p.m., while The Big Bang Theory gets a promotion of sorts to the plum slot after Two and a Half Men on Monday nights. The NCIS spinoff (now officially called NCIS: Los Angeles) will air right after NCIS proper on Tuesdays. And Medium will air on Fridays — though I suppose fans should just be glad it's airing at all after its cancellation yesterday.

To check out the full schedule and see how CBS describes its new series, just read more

NBC's Medium is one of those shows that just never grabbed me. It's an intriguing premise, and Patricia Arquette has gotten a fair amount of acclaim (and one Emmy) for her performance as psychic Allison DuBois. But I've never felt compelled to tune in.

But now the writers' strike is upon us, and Medium is returning tonight with all-new episodes. So, all you Medium fans, it's time for you to defend your show to disbelievers like me and tell us why it's time to tune in.

Check out this video for a refresher of what happened in last season's finale — and then it's on your mark, get set, defend!

Photo courtesy of NBC

• The James McAvoy-Angelina Jolie action flick Wanted has moved release dates from March to June 27, writes ComingSoon.
• Johnny Depp will star in a Depression-era crime drama titled Public Enemies, Variety reports.
• Some scheduling notes: Fox has renewed Don't Forget the Lyrics, writes Zap2it; Medium is headed to Monday nights, according to Variety; and The Futon Critic says ABC will start airing a tournament-style game show called The Duel.
• A group of documentary directors will team up to make a documentary based on the bestselling book Freakonomics, writes Variety.
• According to Hollywood Reporter, Zach Gilford will star opposite Alexis Bledel in the comedy The Post-Grad Survival Guide.
• Reuters has the news that Michelle Williams will play the wife of Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Scorsese's film Shutter Island.
• ComingSoon reports that five more actors have joined the cast of Judd Apatow's next comedy Year One, including David Cross and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
• Want Reba McEntire's Valentine's Day album? You'll have to buy it at Hallmark, Billboard reports.
• Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson will star together in a wedding-themed comedy Bride Wars, according to Zap2It.

Source

• "Desperate Housewives" has found its desperate house-husbands — and it's not David Beckham and Robbie Williams, as rumored (gee, who would have thought that was a lie?). The actual couple will be portrayed by Tuc Watkins and Kevin Rahm. Watkins, of "One Life to Live," will play Bob, a country boy seeking solace from the city; Rahm, of "Judging Amy," will play his partner, Lee.
• Anjelica Huston will guest-star on "Medium" this season, appearing in six of the show's episodes. According to the Hollywood Reporter, she will play a character named Cynthia Keener, an investigator with an "unusual partnership" with Allison Dubois (Patricia Arquette).
• "Heroes" is getting its second "Star Trek" guest star: Nichelle Nichols — aka Uhura — will play the grandmother of new hero Monica. George "Sulu" Takei played Hiro's father last season.
• "The Today Show" has named its cohosts for when it expands to a fourth hour in September: Ann Curry, Natalie Morales and Hoda Kotb will host the show, while several guest hosts including Tiki Barber and Giada De Laurentiis will also chip in.

Source and Source

Apparently, Monday at 10 p.m. is NBC's Time Slot O' Death. NBC's latest attempt to get something going in the post-"Heroes" hour, "The Real Wedding Crashers," has crashed and burned, just like "The Black Donnellys" and "Studio 60" before it. Tonight's episode is still on the schedule, but NBC will air repeats of "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" in its place for the rest of the season. USA Today is reporting that the three remaining "Crashers" episodes will air on Mondays at 8 sometime over the summer.

Frankly, I find it hard to believe that NBC hasn't been able to find a single show all season that can work after a hit as big as "Heroes." They already have a ton of viewers at that time of night; why can't they manage to keep them?

Meanwhile, another NBC show can foresee good things in its future: "Medium" has been renewed for next season. I hadn't expected the network to make any more announcements about returning shows until it reveals its full fall schedule next week, so this was a bit of a surprise. I can't help but wonder what it means for NBC's other dramas that haven't been renewed yet, including "Crossing Jordan" and, of course, "Friday Night Lights," which got an order for more scripts at the same time as "Medium."

Source