When The Magnificent Seven gallops back into living rooms tonight, be on the lookout for ghosts.

You see, pardner, the show had suffered the hangman's noose back in May. A judge, CBS, had decided the series was guilty of not being good enough, and ordered the moody Western canceled.

R.I.P.

Ah, but CBS didn't reckon on the series' ardent fans. An intense e-mail campaign -- one that blossomed into "save this show" ads in Variety and USA Today -- caught the Eye's eye. And when a rival network, Ted Turner's TNT, expressed an interest in the show ... well, let's just say CBS recognized just how magnificent The Magnificent Seven is.

"I was very confident we would be on the fall schedule, so when we weren't, it was a real blow," said Michael Biehn, arguably the show's most recognizable star. "It was like somebody punched me in the chest. It was disappointing, and I was hurt because not only did I think we did decent (ratings) numbers, but I also thought it was a good show."

Biehn's career has crossed three decades, from his role as Jake in the 1977 series James at 15 to three high-profile James Cameron films in the '80s (The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss) and such raw-action '90s films as Tombstone and The Rock.

In other words, he didn't need this treatment or this show.

Upon learning of the cancellation, "I went on," he said. "I had already started a John Landis film (Susan's Plan, with Dan Aykroyd and Lara Flynn Boyle), my first real comedy. Then I immediately started work on another film (Silver Wolf, which just completed filming) and then I got a call saying CBS was interested in picking us up again as a midseason replacement. Seven episodes."

Seven episodes? Midseason?

"I was like, `That's good, I guess.' It was one of those bittersweet kind of things."

No wonder. This was how the series launched in January, a spit-cough kind of start that included four weeks of pre-emptions for the Olympics.

Still, the show did as well in the ratings as the show it replaced, Dr. Quinn.

So while CBS studied the Internet and hemmed and hawed, TNT stepped up with a 13-episode commitment. CBS dug a little deeper and matched it.

Now CBS is replaying the episodes that have already aired, beginning at 7 tonight with the two-hour pilot. By airing them consecutively and in the summer, the hope is the show will pick up viewers who succumbed to the clutter of the Olympics and other first-run shows.

When it comes back, perhaps in January, all the original stars will return: Eric Close, Rick Worthy, Anthony Starke, Dale Midkiff, Ron Perlman, Andrew Kavovit and Laurie Holden.

"This year, we're going to make the show the way we want to make it -- harder and darker," said Biehn. He took this gig in the first place because it satisfied some personal criteria -- it had good scripts, an ensemble cast and solid production personnel.

"These guys listen to the cast and themselves, and we sit around and we fix things, and we make it better," said Biehn. "It's been a brilliant experience for me. I really owe a lot to Les (Moonves, CBS Entertainment chief) because he really opened my eyes to television.

"Anyone who watches the early shows should know it's like a football team in preseason," he said. "We haven't jelled, and we're not doing the show we want to do. But if they kind of like those, they're going to really like the shows we do in the future."