CHICAGO (thefutoncritic.com) -- After being absent from NBC's schedule for nearly 10 months, "Crossing Jordan" will finally kick off its third season on Sunday, March 7 at 10:00/9:00c. The belated start was due to star Jill Hennessy's pregnancy, which delayed production until midseason.

The news was announced via press release this afternoon:

NBC'S 'CROSSING JORDAN' PREMIERES NEW SEASON ON SUNDAY, MARCH 7TH WITH ALL NEW EPISODES

New Sunday Night Timeslot at 10:00 p.m. ET Welcomes Third Year Drama

"Crossing Jordan" will return to NBC's primetime schedule for its third season on Sunday, March 7 (10-11 p.m. ET) in its new timeslot.

"Crossing Jordan" debuted as the #1 new drama among adults 18-49 during the 2001-02 season and followed that with solid averages of a 4.0 rating, 9 share in 18-49 and 10.6 million viewers overall during the 2002-03 season.

This season, the series takes a turn toward the procedural aspects of the world of coroners and cops, with Jill Hennessy (NBC's "Law & Order") starring as Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, a sexy, smart and fearless Boston medical examiner with a checkered professional past and a penchant for investigating unsolved crimes. Jordan's greatest ally is Dr. Garret Macy (Miguel Ferrer, "Traffic"), who does his best to offer guidance and support to his most defiant employee. Also carrying out forensic investigations is Dr. Peter Winslow (Ivan Sergei, "The Opposite of Sex"), whose past lapses in work ethic make this job his last chance in his chosen profession.

Adding a fresh dimension to the coroner's office is pathology resident Dr. Devan Maguire (two time daytime Emmy-winner Jennifer Finnigan), whose eagerness to learn the ropes pushes her colleagues to their limits.

Jerry O'Connell ("Kangaroo Jack") reprises his prominent recurring role of Detective Woody Hoyt, who works hand-in-hand with the coroners to bring closure to the families of murder victims and to bring the guilty to justice.

Additional support for the cop and coroner team is provided by grief counselor Lily Lebowski (Kathryn Hahn, "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!"), forensic entomologist "Bug" (Ravi Kapoor, "Gideon's Crossing") and criminalist Nigel (Steve Valentine, "The Muse").

In the premiere episode, entitled "Devil May Care," a man is found dead in what appears to be a ritualistic, satanic murder. As Macy (Miguel Ferrer) learns that a high school student (guest star Brian Kimmet) has the forensic knowledge to plan such a clever murder, he begins to suspect the young man of having a fiendish motive for the crime. Meanwhile, though Jordan (Jill Hennessy) is assigned to desk duty, she still finds herself drawn into a crime investigation when she overhears a murder through the ventilation system in the office and must struggle to convince the police that a homicide was committed under her roof.

Tim Kring (NBC's "Providence") is the executive producer and creator of this production from Tailwind Productions in association with NBC Studios.