Cancelled drama would get seven or eight midseason episodes

Has CBS gone nuts?

According to a wide swath of media reports, CBS is on the verge of bringing "Jericho" back from the dead, ordering the previously cancelled drama for at least a limited midseason run.

The plan appears to be to have "Jericho" back for seven or eight episodes at midseason, which would allow the show's fans to see the resolution of Jericho's ongoing conflict with the neighboring town of New Bern.

After averaging 10.7 million viewers in its first 11 episodes last fall, "Jericho" lost nearly 3 million viewers after an extended mid-year hiatus and a return against FOX's "American Idol." The producers opted not to resolve most of the season's running plotlines, leaving fans furious at CBS when the show failed to make the network's fall schedule. Supporters of the show inundated CBS with nuts, responding to the finale's last line, which echoed General Anthony McAuliffe's famous response to a German surrender request at Bastogne.

Those nuts appear to have done their job.

Although the news was initially broken online, The Hollywood Reporter has the most details on the complications holding up an official announcement.

While CBS has contract options on most of the show's leads, the reduced order would also probably include a reduced budget and, in turn, a reduced regular cast. In addition, many of the show's writers have already migrated to other shows, including season one showrunner Carol Barbee, now serving in a similar capacity on another CBS midseason drama, "Swingtown."

Stay tuned for Zap2it for the official announcement.