Yesterday rumors began flying that CBS would un-cancel the first-year drama and instead bring it back as a midseason replacement, following an unusually passionate campaign by fans of the show to get it resurrected.

Though no official decision has been announced, it's widely expected, and it could come as early as today, according to various reports.

The reversal would seem to be prompted by the surprising devotion shown by fans of the show, who have pestered CBS relentless since its cancellation was announced last month. 

But more practically, CBS, the longtime broadcast leader among total viewers, has little to lose by bringing "Jericho" back, despite ratings well below its primetime average, and certainly more to gain.

“Jericho,” which focused on life in a post-apocalyptic town, was a surprise hit in the fall but then saw its ratings plummet in the second half of the season after returning from an extended hiatus.

That hiatus proved costly.  At the time it went off the air, in November, it was averaging a 3.3 rating in adults 18-49.  Upon its return in February, its average plunged by more than a third, and for its May finale it averaged a 2.1, down 38 percent from its September debut.

Among total viewers, the show averaged 9.16 million for the season, well below CBS’s season average of 12.4 million.

Against those numbers, “Jericho’s” cancellation was no surprise.

What was surprising was the reaction among fans and the spirit with which they rallied to have the cancellation reversed.

Though plenty of shows have seen fans campaign in attempts to save their programs, “Jericho’s” was better organized than most. The site Jericholives.com issued daily marching orders to fans, among them the usual tactics like writing and phoning CBS executives.

An online petition urging the renewal of the show garnered more than 109,000 signatures, and Jericholives provided contact information for the show’s advertisers to encourage them to support the cause.

Yet the site also went further, urging fans to send packages of nuts to the CBS offices in New York, both to symbolize the “nutty” decision to cancel the show and in homage to a character in the show’s season finale who called something “nuts.”

Thus far, more than 50,000 pounds of nuts have been sent to the CBS offices.

That prompted CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler to post a message on the still-active “Jericho” CBS messageboards two weeks ago promising fans that some sort of closure would be provided for the show, which ended on a cliffhanger.

Tassler implied it would be in the form of a TV movie or online component.

Then reports began circulating that that second life would come in the form of renewal for a second season as a midseason replacement. CBS has so far done nothing to quash those reports.

Certainly, CBS would face little downside by bringing the show back.

Even pulling modest ratings at midseason, "Jericho" could well draw more viewers than repeats of CBS’s fading veteran dramas that would normally air, and that alone could justify its return.

As it is, the networks are struggling to come up with alternatives to those low-rated reruns, such as ordering more episodes of existing shows, lining up a larger number of midseason replacements, and launching limited-run spinoffs, such as “Heroes: Origins” on NBC.  A limited-run return of "Jericho" would fit right in.

Also, CBS would stand to gain a lot of public goodwill by bringing "Jericho" back, as the network with a heart that listens to viewers.  

The danger, of course, is that in bringing that show back it would encourage fans of other canceled shows to redouble their efforts to get their shows returned from the dead, and that could lead to all manner of bizarre media campaigns.

But the best argument for bringing "Jericho" back is the odd chance that the show would actually build a following, leading to improved ratings and renewal for a third season. 

The revival campaign has gotten loads of media attention, which could draw new and curious viewers to the show. Its online episodes are also one of the network’s top web draws, and with the networks making more and more multimedia deals, that’s attractive to advertisers.

There’s a small but impressive history of first-year shows that struggled only to catch on later and become Emmy-winning hits. NBC’s “Cheers,” “Seinfeld” and “The Office” built from small bases after nearly being canceled in their first year, as did Fox’s “24.”

In the case of "Jericho," the big downer was not fans losing interest after its strong debut but its sudden disappearance at midseason at a point where it was building a following, in what was a serious mistep on the part of CBS.

The question is whether given a second chance, the show will be able to build a second time.