Utterly forgettable police procedural Unforgettable has been rescued from cancellation once again, much to the delight of sarcastically minded entertainment writers everywhere. The former CBS drama, which stars Poppy Montgomery as a detective with perfect recall, is getting the last laugh over those who mocked it, with A&E swooping in to grant the show a fourth season after CBS canceled it for a second time.
Deadline Hollywood reported the deal, which will bring Unforgettable to A&E for 13 new episodes. This is the second time the show has been saved from certain death; it was first canceled in May 2012 despite declarations of love from CBS President Nina Tassler. The network eventually relented and brought Unforgettable back for a third season, presumably thanks to Tassler’s ardor and a successful campaign from its studio, Sony Pictures Television, which has built a reputation for working aggressively to find new homes for its canceled shows.
According to Deadline, Unforgettable has the potential to be very profitable for both Sony and A&E, given its success overseas—it’s apparently huge in France, for instance—which allows Sony to license the show to A&E at a considerable discount. A&E will be able to use the show to plug the gap left by Longmire, which it ditched in August only for Netflix to snap it up in November, in what’s starting to look like a multi-million dollar game of TV musical chairs.
Given Tassler’s passion for Unforgettable, it’s likely she’ll sometime soon see A&E driving ‘round town with the show she loves, and she’ll be like, “forget you, ooh ooh ooh.” If only it could be forgotten.