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Medium
Medium Intertitle
Title card for Medium
Also known as A Paranormal(Brazil)
Ghost and Crime(South Korea)
Genre Supernatural
Thriller
Procedural Crime
Created by Glenn Gordon Caron
Written by Glenn Gordon Caron (head writer)
René Echevarria
Moira Kirland
Melinda Hsu
Robert Doherty
Diane Ademu-John
Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Craig Sweeny
Directed by Various
Starring Patricia Arquette
Jake Weber
Sofia Vassilieva
Maria Lark
Miguel Sandoval
David Cubitt
See More Below
Narrated by Patricia Arquette
Opening theme Mychael Danna
Ending theme Sean Callery
Composer(s) Sean Callery
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons Seven
No. of episodes 130
Production
Executive
producer(s)
Glenn Gordon Caron
Kelsey Grammer
Ronald L. Schwary
René Echevarria
Steve Stark
Running time Approx. 45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel NBC (2005-2009)
Lifetime (2006-???)
Sci-Fi (UK)
CBS (2009-2011)
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Original run January 5, 2005 – January 21, 2011
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, ending its run on that network on June 1, 2009. The series then moved to CBS on September 25, 2009, airing its final episode overall on January 21, 2011.

Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois (played by Patricia Arquette), is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office. Allison and her husband Joe (Jake Weber) are the parents of three daughters, all of whom inherited Allison's gift. The show was initially based on the experiences of medium Allison DuBois, who claims she has worked with law enforcement agencies across the country in criminal investigations.

Medium was created by Glenn Gordon Caron and was produced by his company Picturemaker Productions and Kelsey Grammer's Grammnet Productions in association with Paramount Television from 2005–06, CBS Paramount Television from 2006–09 (after the split of Viacom and CBS Corporation), and finally CBS Television Studios from 2009 until the series ended.

The series aired on NBC during its first five seasons before switching to CBS for the sixth and seventh seasons. The production division of CBS had assumed production of Medium in 2006 after absorbing the television arm of the Paramount Pictures film studio.[1] Paramount's home entertainment arm still held DVD distribution rights in conjunction with CBS DVD.[2]

On December 21, 2010, CBS announced that the show had been canceled after seven seasons.[3] The series finale aired exactly a month later.

Summary

Allison DuBois (Patricia Arquette), a mother of three, has the gift of being able to talk to dead people, as well as foresee events and witness past events in her dreams. When she begins working for Phoenix District Attorney Manuel Devalos (Miguel Sandoval) as an intern, she has a dream related to a murder in Texas, the successful solving of which convinces Devalos and others working in the D.A.'s office – as well as herself and her husband Joe (Jake Weber) – that her gift is real.

One challenge is convincing Devalos — and other doubters in the criminal justice system — that her psychic abilities can give them the upper hand when it comes to solving crimes. Information comes to her in dreams or in cryptic visions that sometimes do not mean what they initially suggest. The other is convincing Joe that her nightmares are visions based in reality and that she's not simply neurotic.

In police investigations, Allison often accompanies Det. Lee Scanlon (David Cubitt), who initially did not believe in her gift. Allison sometimes bends the rules when she is determined to stop a crime about which she has had a vision. Additionally, Allison has helped and been helped by Captain Kenneth Push of the Texas Rangers (Arliss Howard), the first law-enforcement person to whom Allison revealed her gift, and Cynthia Keener (Anjelica Huston) of AmeriTips, a nationwide private detective agency. In season four, it was revealed that Cynthia had a missing daughter. Allison's dreams showed that Cynthia's daughter was dead. Cynthia made a choice to kill the murderer of her daughter and go to prison. Cynthia later appeared in season five to help Allison on a case. Also during this season, it was revealed that Lynn DiNovi (Tina DiJoseph), Lee's live-in lover and an assistant to the Mayor of Phoenix, had become pregnant with Lee's child. In the season five finale, Allison discovers that she has a tumor on her brainstem. To prevent the brutal murders of her family in the future, Allison risked her life as she postponed the critical surgery fearing it would prevent her from solving the case. During her operation the tumor was successfully removed, except for a small piece deeply embedded in her brainstem, Joe is told that Allison is in a coma and may not survive.

In the sixth season premiere episode, Allison awoke from the coma and was suffering the consequences of postponing the surgery. Allison's psychic abilities slowly begin to resurface as a form of déjà vu. At the end of the episode, Allison is also slowly recovering her physical abilities.

Since the season six premiere, eldest daughter Ariel (Sofia Vassilieva) has taken the role of nurturing her siblings Bridgette (Maria Lark) and Marie (Carabello twins). Ariel also falls victim to a body possession, from which she recovers with Allison's help. After her surgery, Allison gets back to her normal routine working alongside Devalos and Lee, with possible side effects of her surgery affecting her dreams. Also, Lee proposes to Lynn. As the season progresses, Ariel's transformation from a young girl into a mature woman was shown in the episode "Time Keeps on Slippin'", where she solves a crime in the future. In the season finale, Allison receives a letter from her neurologist that she needs to be seen about her brain tumor. Meanwhile, Ariel also receives an acceptance letter from a university away from home. The episode begins when Joe awakens to Allison dead in their bed, having died from her tumor during the night. As the family mourns her death, Allison contacts Ariel from the other side, asking her to do one last thing for her before she passes on. However, Ariel decides to follow her own path. She turns to alcohol and leaves Phoenix without telling anyone. Suddenly, Allison awakens in her bed alive, the same morning Joe found her dead. At the end of the episode, Allison, Joe, Ariel, Devalos and his wife Lily, are seen celebrating Lynn and Lee's wedding, all toasting to their bright futures.

In the seventh and final season, a division is created between Allison and Joe because of their desired career paths. At work, Manuel wants to run for Mayor but fears the publicity of his daughter's suicide will be used against his family; however, Lily agrees to help him campaign. Allison wishes to go back to law school because she may lose her job if Manuel is elected. Meanwhile, Joe wants to obtain an MBA, but they cannot afford for both of them to attend school. Despite Allison's wishes, Joe enrolls in school, not knowing that Allison has done the same. In the episode, "Native Tongue" Allison cannot understand any word said to her, testing Joe's patience. At the end of the episode, the two reconcile, but Joe's unhappiness is still evident. Ariel leaves for college. Scanlon's brother's ghost comes to entice him into doing wrong.

Scanlon's actions nearly end his relationship with Allison. In the episode "Blood on the Tracks", Joe's mother Marjorie has been diagnosed with brain cancer. When Joe sees his mother in the hospital, she tells him she's been reassured by Allison, who had lied to her in season four's "Burn Baby Burn" about her chances of survival. That same night, Marjorie dies and Allison and the kids join Joe in Michigan, who is staying at Marjorie's home. In the middle of the night, Allison is visited by Marjorie's ghost who warns her of upcoming "darkness" in her life, but before she can elaborate, Joe enters the room and Marjorie disappears, leaving Allison in fear of the darkness to come.

In the series finale, Allison receives a phone call from Joe in the midst of a plane crash that leaves no survivors. The episode cuts to seven years later, at which time Allison is an attorney building a case against a Mexican drug dealer. Allison and Marie, now a teenager, live alone. Marie cannot forgive her father for never visiting them as a ghost, something that has plagued Allison all these years. Through her dreams, Allison sees that Joe never died, but washed up on the coast of Mexico with amnesia. A crooked cop had concealed Joe's past and was using him as an unsuspecting drug mule to transport narcotics. Against Devalos' orders, Allison strikes a deal with the drug dealer to learn Joe's location. The two are reunited, but at this point Allison wakes up in the present to see Joe's ghost. He informs her that his plane's engine failed after it departed Hawaii and that no one survived the crash. Joe sent Allison a dream of her life seven years in the future to show her that she could live an enriching, independent life. However, Allison's love for Joe overpowered the original vision and crafted an alternate reality in which she found Joe alive. Joe's ghost leaves as Allison cries, unable to accept her husband's death. The episode cuts to 41 years later, showcasing photos of the life that Allison has had. As Allison listens to a voice mail from her great-granddaughter, she slumps in her chair. In death, she is reunited with Joe, who has waited for her, and they kiss.

Family

All of Allison's daughters appear to have inherited her gift. Ariel and Bridgette have visions or dreams, which usually occur when their mother is searching for answers to her own dreams. In the third season, Marie also begins to exhibit paranormal abilities. She has been shown viewing a premium TV channel that the family does not subscribe to, reading the mind of her optometrist to pass her eye exam, and unknowingly using paper dolls to predict the future of her father's company. In the fifth season, Marie has her first psychic dream, where she sees herself on stage with stage fright during a school play. In earlier seasons, Bridgette appears not to be bothered by her abilities, but during the fourth season she has moments of frustration when trying to understand her visions or communicate them to her parents. Ariel has a harder time coping with her developing gifts.

The second season episode, "Sweet Child O'Mine", reveals that Allison and Joe lost their first child, a boy they planned to name Bryan. Around the anniversary of his loss each year, Allison has dreams of a life where Bryan had grown up as a part of the family, though often in these dreams he dies in front of her.

Allison's younger half-brother, Michael (nicknamed "Lucky"), has the family gift, too, but does not like to acknowledge it. Initially, Allison believed the gift had skipped a generation and her mother had had no psychic abilities. However, she later discovers that her mother had always possessed the gift but had repressed it.

In the season six finale, Ariel expresses the same feelings that Allison and Allison's mother once did and tries to deny her psychic abilities with alcohol.

Cast and Crew

Cast

Actor/Actress Character Role Notes Duration
Patricia Arquette Allison DuBois The Medium Protagonist Season 1 - present
Jake Weber Joe DuBois Allison's husband Engineer
Miguel Sandoval Manuel Devalos Allison's boss District Attorney of Phoenix
Sofia Vassilieva Ariel DuBois Oldest DuBois daughter
Maria Lark Bridgette DuBois Middle DuBois daughter
Madison and Miranda Carabello Marie DuBois Youngest DuBois daughter Season 1 - present (recurring)
David Cubitt Lee Scanlon Detective Allison's coworker Season 1 (recurring),
Season 2 - present
Tina DiJoseph Lynn DiNovi Mayor's Liaison, later Deputy Mayor Lee's girlfriend Season 1 - present (recurring)
Ryan Hurst Michael "Lucky" Benoit Allison's half-brother Season 1 - 3 (recurring)
Arliss Howard Kenneth Push Captain of the Texas Rangers Season 1 - 3 (recurring)
Holliston Coleman Hannah Ariel's best friend Season 1 - (recurring)
Bruce Gray Mr. Dubois Joe's father Ghost Season 1 - (recurring)
Kathy Baker Marjorie DuBois Joe's mother Season 1 - (recurring)
Kurtwood Smith Edward Cooper FBI Agent (deceased) Ghost Season 3 - (recurring)
John Prosky Tom Van Dyke Former District Attorney (deceased) Manuel's Rival Season 3 & 4 (recurring)
Anjelica Huston Cynthia Keener Allison's employer AmeriTips investigator Season 4 & 5 (recurring)
Annamarie Kenoyer Ashley Whitaker Ariel's Friend Season 5 - ??? (recurring)

Crew

Executive Producers:
Principal Writers:
  • Glenn Gordon Caron (head writer)
  • René Echevarria
  • Moira Kirland
  • Melinda Hsu
  • Robert Doherty
  • Diane Ademu-John
  • Javier Grillo-Marxuach
  • Craig Sweeny
Principal Directors:
  • Glenn Gordon Caron
  • Vincent Misiano
  • Aaron Lipstadt
  • Duane Clark
  • Arliss Howard
  • Peter Werner
  • Ronald L. Schwary
  • Arlene Sanford

Notable guest stars

  • David Arquette
  • Richmond Arquette
  • Rosanna Arquette
  • Allyce Beasley
  • Morena Baccarin
  • Neve Campbell
  • David Carradine
  • Steven Culp
  • Blythe Danner
  • Gretchen Egolf
  • Oded Fehr
  • Miguel Ferrer
  • Noel Fisher
  • Willie Garson
  • Rebecca Gayheart
  • Balthazar Getty
  • Peri Gilpin
  • Adam Goldberg
  • Kelsey Grammer
  • Michael Gross
  • Gregory Itzin
  • Thomas Jane
  • Wallace Langham
  • Chad Lowe
  • David Morse
  • Marianne Muellerleile
  • Conor O'Farrell
  • Cassandra Peterson
  • James Van Der Beek
  • Tracy Pollan
  • Kelly Preston
  • Jason Priestley
  • Molly Ringwald
  • Jessy Schram
  • Mark Sheppard
  • Eric Stoltz
  • Jeffrey Tambor
  • Nancy Travis
  • Rumer Willis
  • Kay Panabaker
  • Johnny Pacar
  • Kyle Gallner
  • Natalie Zea
  • Derek Magyar

Seasonal ratings/broadcast history

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Medium.

Note: Each U.S. network television season generally starts in late September and ends in late May (except for the fifth season), which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. Times mentioned in this section are in Eastern Time.
Season Network Time slot Season premiere Season finale Episode
count
TV season Season
rank
Viewers
(in millions)
1 NBC Monday 10:00 pm January 3, 2005 May 23, 2005 16 2004–2005 #19 13.9
2 September 19, 2005 May 22, 2006 22 2005–2006 #31 11.2
3 Wednesday 10:00 pm November 15, 2006 May 16, 2007 22 2006–2007 #51 8.3
4 Monday 10:00 pm January 7, 2008 May 12, 2008 16 2007–2008 #41 10.47
5 February 2, 2009 June 1, 2009 19 2008–2009 #61 8.45
6 CBS Friday 9:00 pm September 25, 2009 May 21, 2010 22 2009–2010 #53 7.79
7 Friday 8:00 pm September 24, 2010 January 21, 2011 13 2010–2011 #57 7.8[4]

Awards

Year Group Award Result Recipient(s)
2005 BMI Film & TV Awards BMI TV Music Award Won Mychael Danna, Jeff Beal
Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Won Patricia Arquette
Imagen Foundation Awards Best Actor – Television Nominated Miguel Sandoval
Satellite Award Outstanding Actress in a Series, Drama Nominated Patricia Arquette
Outstanding Actor in a Series, Drama Nominated Jake Weber
2006 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards ASCAP Award – Top TV Series Won Sean Callery
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award – Best Actress in a Television Program Nominated Patricia Arquette
Golden Globes Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama Nominated Patricia Arquette
Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award – Best Sound Editing in Television Short Form – Music Won Robert Cotnoir (music editor) For "The Song Remains the Same"
Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Nominated Patricia Arquette
Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a TV Series (Drama) – Supporting Young Actress Won Sofia Vassilieva
Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Young Actress Age Ten or Younger Nominated Maria Lark
2007 ALMA Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor – Television Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie Nominated Miguel Sandoval
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award – Best Actress in a Television Program Nominated Patricia Arquette
Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Nominated Patricia Arquette
Golden Globes Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama Nominated Patricia Arquette
Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Nominated Patricia Arquette
Young Artist Awards Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) – Young Actress Age Ten or Younger Won Maria Lark
2008 BMI Film & TV Awards BMI TV Music Award Won Mychael Danna
Golden Globes Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama Nominated Patricia Arquette
Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Nominated Anjelica Huston
TV Land Awards Favorite Character From the Other Side Nominated Patricia Arquette
2010 Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Nominated Patricia Arquette

DVD releases

CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released the first 4 seasons of Medium on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4. Season 5 was released in Region 1 on October 6, 2009. CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released all 7 seasons of Medium on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4.

Season Ep # Discs Release dates Bonus material (Region 1)
Region 1 Region 2 (UK) Region 2 (GER) Region 4
1 16 5 June 13, 2006 August 14, 2006 November 2, 2006 September 7, 2006 Extended version of the "Pilot", cast and crew commentaries on select episodes, deleted scenes on select episodes, The Making of Medium, The Story of Medium, Interpreting Allison DeBois, gag reel, TV spots.
2 22 6 October 3, 2006 July 9, 2007 September 6, 2007 June 6, 2007 Deleted scenes, cast and crew commentaries on select episodes, The Story of Medium Season 2, Medium in Another Dimension, A Day in the Life of the Dubois Daughters, The Museum of Television & Radio Q&A with Cast and Creative Team, gag reel.
3 22 6 October 16, 2007 July 7, 2008 November 6, 2008 July 9, 2008 Cast and crew commentaries on select episodes, Drawing on Dreams, Directing with David Arquette, Acting Is My "Racquet", The Story of Medium Season 3, gag reel, The Making of Medium Season 3.
4 16 4 September 9, 2008 June 15, 2009 September 3, 2009 June 3, 2009 Deleted scenes with commentary by Glenn Gordon Caron and Larry Teng, "Joe's Crayon Dream", "Introducing Cynthia Keener", "The Making of Medium Season 4", Gag reel
5 19 5 October 6, 2009 August 30, 2010 July 30, 2010 July 1, 2010 Script to Screen "Apocalypse...Now?", Curious Maria, The Making of Medium Season 5, Jake & Patricia Q & A
6 22 6 October 5, 2010 July 25, 2011[5] July 7, 2011[6] July 21, 2011[7] The Mind Behind Medium, The 100th Episode of Medium: A Celebration, Zombies on the Loose: The Making of 'Bite Me', The Music of Medium, Non-Fat Double Medium
7 13 4 June 21, 2011 July 16, 2012[8] July 5, 2012 July 18, 2012 The Making of Medium: Season 7, Memories of Medium, Medium: Shadows and Light, Meet Detective Lee Scanlon, Medium Around the World, Bloopers/Gag reel[9]

Trivia

  • The series began a syndication run on the cable network Lifetime on March 26, 2006.

External links

References

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