It's Official: CBS PIcks Up "Medium"

According to the New York Daily News, CBS has purchased the NBC show "Medium," saving it from the brink of cancellation.

As Daily Variety reported Tuesday, the show, which stars Patricia Arquette, will run alongside the Jennifer Love Hewitt series "Ghost Whisperer" on Friday nights, solidifying the network's grip on paranormal dramas.

CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler announced the decision.

"If 'Ghost Whisperer' and 'Numb3rs' had an offspring, it would be 'medium.'" Tassler said.

The coup comes amid an attempt by the network to reshuffle it's programming schedule and hold on to it's place at the top of the ratings charts.

In addition to "Medium", CBS is picking up five new shows, including "Accidentally on Purpose," a Jenna Elfman program about a San Francisco film critic who has a fateful one night stand, "NCIS: Los Angeles," an offshoot of "NCIS" which follows Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J as undercover agents in LA, and "The Good Wife" featuring "ER" star Juliana Marguiles as the lawyer wife of a ruined politician.

"This is a schedule where I can see potential for growth every night of the week." Said Kelly Kahl, CBS executive vice president of program planning and scheduling.

The new slate of shows join 18 other returning programs, including "Rules of Engagement" and "How I Met Your Mother."

The news isn't all good. Three shows are being dropped from the lineup, signaling cancellation. They are "The Unit," "Without a Trace," and "The 11th Hour." In a announcement Tuesday, the network singled out the cancellation of "The Unit", saying that the series has had it's run and that the show has tied up all the loose ends it possibly could.