CBS picks up ‘Medium’ and adds four new series to fall lineup

NEW YORK -- It didn't take a psychic to see this coming.

When we went to bed last night,"Medium," the show that stars Patricia Arquette as a woman who uses her dreams to fight crime, has been canceled by NBC.

Twenty-four hours later, CBS announced it had added the series – which is, not coincidentally, produced by CBS Television Studios – to its 2009-10 lineup, sandwiched between "Ghost Whisperer" and "Numbers" on Friday nights.

. "If 'Ghost Whisperer' and 'Numbers' had an offspring, it would be 'Medium,'" CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler told reporters this morning at the network's traditional press breakfast, hours before presenting the new schedule to advertisers.

Not everyone's going to be happy, though. While the Philadelphia-set police drama "Cold Case" is safe for another season, both "Without a Trace" and "The Unit" got the ax as the most-watched network added four new series for the fall, including a spinoff of its seemingly "American Idol"-proof "NCIS."

Taking advantage of the opportunity it sees for drama growth opposite NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" at 10 p.m., CBS will move its freshman hit "The Mentalist" to 10 p.m. Thursdays this fall, while launching "The Good Wife," which stars Julianna Margulies ("ER") as a woman who goes back to work as a defense lawyer after a scandal lands her politician husband (Chris Noth) in prison, at 10 p.m. Tuesdays.

Other new shows include "NCIS: Los Angeles," which will follow the original at 9 p.m. Tuesdays and star Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J as agents who work undercover; "Three Rivers," a medical drama set in an organ transplant unit that stars Alex O'Loughlin ("Moonlight") and "Accidentally on Purpose," a comedy starring Jenna Elfman that's based on a journalist's account of becoming pregnant after a one-night stand.