With the sudden, if saddening, removal of crime drama Smith (we hardly knew ye!) from the schedule, CBS is mulling launching a midseason drama a little earlier than expected.According to the Hollywood Reporter, CBS has ordered four additional scripts for medical drama 3 Lbs., which stars Stanley Tucci as an brilliant but unorthodox surgeon (he obviously graduated from the House School of Medicine) who clashes with an ambitious younger surgeon (series kiss of death star Mark Feuerstein). Series was created by Peter Ocko (Boston Legal, Dead Like Me) and also stars Rome's Indira Varma.
With Smith's, er, arrest from the lineup, CBS could sub in 3 Lbs. to the Tuesdays at 10 pm timeslot as the series, which had previously received a midseason order from the Eye, is already in production. CBS is said to be pleased with what they've seen so far but hasn't yet officially announced the new November launch date. In the meantime, CBS will air repeats of police procedurals CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Criminal Minds in the timeslot vacated by the now-absent thieves.
As for Smith, the crime drama was said to still be in production as late as Friday, but something tells me that the only way those completed episodes will ever be seen is if some criminal mastermind orchestrates a dynamic heist of the tapes from WBTV's vaults.
Comments
As for your comments characterizing Mark Feurerstein being a kiss of death to series television, he did pull off a season long tenure of West Wing, long before it bit the dust. And his series FIRED UP on NBC did last a few seasons (albeit being one of the worst pieces of television - ever (well maybe second to Suddenly Susan).