Poppy Montgomery stars in "Unforgettable"

The world of television is cutthroat and unforgiving. Once a show is canceled, the odds of it making a comeback are almost nonexistent.

Usually.

This year, one show has beaten the odds and is returning for a second -- albeit summer -- season after being canceled in May 2012.

"Unforgettable," a cop drama about a crime-fighting woman with hyperthymesia (a condition that allows her to remember everything that has ever happened to her) has been brought back from the dead -- Season 2 kicks off Sunday, July 28, on CBS.

"Unforgettable" made a strong start when it debuted in the 10 p.m. slot on Tuesday nights in September 2011. While ratings had dipped by the end of Season 1, at its worst, the show was still drawing in an average of more than 12 million viewers, so many were surprised when CBS canned the show after only one season. The president of CBS Entertainment, Nina Tassler, told reporters that "it started very strong in the beginning of the season. They were continuing to produce great episodes. Every show knows that when they get to end of their first season, they are gonna be in competition with new pilots, and that's what happened. We had a very strong, very good crop of pilots coming in. That forces you to make very difficult decisions."

Soon after the cancelation, rumors began to circulate that cable networks Lifetime and TNT were interested in picking up the show. Fans held their breath, hoping someone, anyone, would revive it. In the end, though, it was CBS itself that came to the rescue.

To the delight of the show's many fans, in June 2012 CBS tweeted that "Unforgettable" would indeed be returning for a second season in the summer of 2013. Poppy Montgomery, the show's star, was just as excited as many of her fans. In an interview with "Give Me My Remote," Montgomery said: "It’s like someone told me Santa Claus didn't exist and then he appeared. So I'm thrilled!"

Montgomery is reprising the role of Det. Carrie Wells, a woman with a rare medical condition that allows her to remember everything she has ever seen or heard -- a condition that makes her an excellent detective. There's one exception to her remembering skills, though: she cannot recall what happened on the day her sister was murdered when she was a little girl. The mystery of who killed Carrie's sister drives her throughout the series, and serves as an over-arching plot line.

Montgomery is a television veteran who most avid TV watchers will recognize from CBS' "Without a Trace," in which she starred as FBI Agent Samantha Spade for all of its seven seasons. Her first gig was as a guest star on TV's "Silk Stalkings" in 1994, and since then, she's been an almost constant presence on the small screen. She has guest starred on hit programs such as "Party of Five" and "NYPD Blue," starred in a few short-lived series such as "Relativity" (1996) and "Glory Days" (2002), and starred in made-for-TV movies such as "Blonde" (2001), as Marilyn Monroe, and "Magic Beyond Words: The JK Rowling Story" (2011), as Rowling herself. Montgomery's success isn't limited to one medium, though -- she also landed in such feature films as "Dead Man on Campus" (1998), "The Other Sister" (1999) and "Life" (1999), with Eddie Murphy.

Poppy Montgomery and Dylan Walsh in "Unforgettable"

Starring alongside Montgomery is Dylan Walsh as Det. Al Burns, Carrie's ex-partner and former boyfriend. Despite their former entanglements, Al and Carrie have developed a close friendship and a good working relationship. In fact, it was Al who asked Carrie to join the NYPD in the first place. Like Montgomery, Walsh should be familiar to most TV fans. As well as making appearances in such critical and box office hits as "We Were Soldiers" (2002), "Blood Work" (2002) and "The Lake House" (2006), he starred as Dr. Sean McNamara for all six seasons of FX's "Nip/Tuck."

Also returning for Season 2 is Jane Curtin ("SNL" 1975-1980, "3rd Rock from the Sun" 1996-2001), who plays Dr. Joanne Webster, New York's gruff-but-gifted chief medical examiner. The feisty Curtin is a great fit in this role, as her character has been banished to her current position for speaking out on issues her superiors would prefer were kept quiet. Dr. Webster is a friend of Carrie's and helps with her investigation of her sister's murder.

Besides these three headliners, though, most of the "Unforgettable" cast will not be returning for Season 2. Key players in Season 1 — Kevin Rankin ("Justified"), Michael Gaston ("The Mentalist") and Daya Vaidya ("April Fools" 2007) — will not be returning. Instead, Dallas Roberts will join the "Unforgettable" team as Eliot, a tenacious and well-connected detective brought in to bring some positive attention to the unit. Roberts has been guest starring regularly on CBS's "The Good Wife" and AMC's "The Walking Dead," and has appeared in big-screen hits such as "Walk the Line" (2005) and "3:10 to Yuma" (2007).

Also slated for Season 2 appearance is ’80s heartthrob Andrew McCarthy. McCarthy will guest star in the season premiere as real estate tycoon Ari Sonnenland, whose daughter has been kidnapped.

Be sure to tune in to this resurrected procedural drama when Season 2 premieres Sunday, July 28, on CBS.