When "Medium" was taken off NBC's fall schedule and slated to return in January, there was always a caveat attached — it could show up sooner if another network series tanked in the ratings.

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.

• But then "Kidnapped" bombed on Wednesdays at 9 p.m., leaving NBC with a hole to fill. Enter "Medium" on its new night. ("Kidnapped" will play out its 13-episode order on Saturdays at 8 p.m., when not much of anybody watches network television.)

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