Medium (TV series)
| Medium | |
|---|---|
| File:Medium intro.jpg Medium intertitle | |
| Created by | Glenn Gordon Caron |
| Starring | see below |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 60 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 45 min. |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | January 3, 2005 – present |
Medium is an American drama television series about a woman (played by Patricia Arquette) who acts as a research medium for the Phoenix, Arizona, district attorney's office. The series is based on the life of Allison DuBois, a much-criticized and controversial figure who claims to use psychic powers to help local law enforcement.
The show was created by Glenn Gordon Caron and produced by Picturemaker Productions and Grammnet Productions in association with CBS Paramount Television.
Plot
Allison DuBois (Patricia Arquette) is a strong-willed mother of three, a devoted wife, and law student who begins to suspect that she can talk to dead people, see the future in her dreams, and read people's thoughts. Fearing for her mental health, she turns for support to her husband Joe (Jake Weber), an aerospace engineer, who slowly comes to believe that what his wife is telling him just might be true, upon discovering that some of her dreams match the details of a murder in Texas.
The real challenge is convincing her boss, D.A. Devalos (Miguel Sandoval) -- and the other doubters in the criminal justice system -- that her psychic abilities can give them the upper hand when it comes to solving violent and horrifying crimes, whose mysteries often reside with those who lie beyond the grave. Information on certain people or crimes come to her in dreams or visions in cryptic forms, and never really mean what they seem to.
All of her daughters appear to have inherited their mother's gift, with Ariel (Sofia Vassilieva) and Bridgette (Maria Lark) also having visions or dreams, which usually occur when their mother is in a bind in searching for answers to her own dreams. In Season 3, Allison's youngest daughter, Marie (Madison and Miranda Carabello), is also shown to be paranormally inclined. Currently, her only ability is to watch a premium TV channel that the family does not subscribe to. Bridgette never appears to be bothered by her abilities, while Ariel usually has a harder time trying to cope with a gift she knows very little about.
Allison's younger half brother, Michael "Lucky", has the family gift too, but doesn't like to acknowledge it much, since it always seems to bring him trouble.
Allison is often accompanied by a local Arizona cop, and friend to Manuel Devalos, Det. Lee Scanlon (David Cubitt), who at first did not believe that she had a "gift". Allison often bends the rules of the law when she is determined to stop a crime she's had a vision of, from happening.
Allison has also helped or been helped by, Captain Kenneth Push of the Texas Rangers (Arliss Howard). He is the first law-enforcement person Allison revealed her gift to.
Cast
| Actor | Role | Notes | From left to right: Lee Scanlon, Allison DuBois, D.A. Devalos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patricia Arquette | Allison DuBois | Protagonist | |
| Jessy Schram | Young Allison Roland (recurring) | ||
| Jake Weber | Joe DuBois | Allison's husband | |
| Miguel Sandoval | District Attorney Manuel Devalos | Allison's boss | |
| Sofia Vassilieva | Ariel DuBois | Allison & Joe's oldest daughter | |
| Maria Lark | Bridgette DuBois | Allison & Joe's middle daughter | |
| David Cubitt | Detective Lee Scanlon (Season 2+, recurring Season 1) | Allison's coworker | |
| Tina DiJoseph | Lynn DiNovi (recurring) | Mayor's Liaison, later Deputy Mayor | |
| Madison Carabello | Marie DuBois (recurring) | Allison & Joe's youngest daughter | |
| Miranda Carabello | L-R: Lee Scanlon, Allison DuBois, D.A. Devalos | ||
| Arliss Howard | Captain Kenneth Push (recurring) | Works for the Texas Rangers |
Awards
In 2005, Patricia Arquette was awarded the Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series.' In addition, she was nominated for the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors' Guild Awards in both 2006 and 2007.
Episodes
The show premiered on January 3 2005, and ran for 16 episodes until May 23 2005. The second season started on September 19 2005, and ran for 22 episodes to May 22 2006.
When NBC revealed the lineup for its Fall 2006 schedule, Medium was missing, despite a strong second-season finish in the ratings, and Arquette's Emmy win. The network announced it would return early in 2007. However, on October 13 2006, it was announced that production would resume immediately for a third season start-up at 9:00 p.m. on November 15 2006, with a two-hour season premiere. Medium replaced the time slot vacated by Kidnapped, which was shifted to Saturday nights. Starting November 22 2006, Medium airs at 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday nights.
Beginning on March 26 2006, repeats of the program have been airing on the cable network Lifetime.
On May 7 2007, NBC announced that it has renewed Medium for a fourth season.[1][2]
The fourth season will not begin until January 2008. New episodes will air on Sunday nights at 9 p.m., after NBC Sunday Night Football finishes.[3][4]
DVD Releases
| Episodes | Originally aired | DVD cover | DVD releases | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 (UK) | Region 2 (GER) | |||
| 16 | 2005 | Season 1 DVD cover | June 13 2006 | August 14 2006 | November 2 2006 |
| 22 | 2005–2006 | Season 1 DVD cover | October 3 2006 | July 9 2007 | N/A |
| 22 | 2006–2007 | DVD not released | |||
U.S. Television Ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Medium on NBC.
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. Times mentioned in this section are in the Eastern & Pacific time zones.
| Season | Timeslot | Season Première | Season Finale | TV Season | Season Rank |
Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monday 10:00 pm | January 3 2005 | May 23 2005 | 2004-2005 | #19Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).
|
13.9Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).
|
| 2 | September 19 2005 | May 22 2006 | 2005-2006 | #35Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).
|
11.2Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).
| |
| 3 | Wednesday 10:00 pm | November 15 2006 | May 16 2007 | 2006-2007 | #61 | 8.5[5] |
| 4 | Sunday 9:00 pm | January 2008 | TBA | 2007-2008 | TBA | TBA |
International broadcasters
References
- ^ "Medium: NBC Renews Patricia Arquette Series". TVSeriesFinale.com. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
- ^ "Prime-time Premonition: NBC Brings Back Medium". TVGuide.com. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
- ^ "NBC DELIVERS THE QUALITY ONCE AGAIN THIS FALL". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
- ^ "NBC rolls out fall lineup". TV.com. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
- ^ "Hollywood Reporter: 2006-07 primetime wrap". May 25 2007.
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