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Medium (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC
on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS 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 is produced by Picturemaker Productions and Grammnet Productions
in association with CBS Television Studios, originally known as Paramount Television
and CBS Paramount Television
.
The series aired on NBC during its first five seasons before switching to CBS, whose production division produced the show beginning with the sixth season.
On December 21, 2010, CBS announced that the show had been canceled after seven seasons.
(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.
The real 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.
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 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.
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.
s 18.17 million and 6.6 rating. Medium was a consistent performer throughout its first season and landed in the Nielsen Top 20 with an average of 13.9 million viewers. The series remained in its original time slot for the second season when the network announced its Fall 2005 schedule. Throughout the season, the series experienced a decline in viewership, pulling an average of 11 million viewers. Medium was renewed for a third season in April 2006, but was missing from NBC's Fall 2006 schedule. The series was slated to return in early 2007; however, in October it was announced that production would resume immediately for a third season start-up on November 15, 2006, replacing the time slot vacated by Kidnapped
. Its move to the Wednesday time slot opposite CBS' CSI: NY
and ABC's Lost
led to some ratings erosion, in comparison to the ratings success of the first two seasons, with year-end ratings for the third season dipping into single-digit millions of viewers. Despite the ratings decline on Wednesdays, the series was seen by the network as a reliable self-starter, building on its then lead-in Crossing Jordan
. The ratings decline put the series on the bubble for renewal, but the series showed signs of life when NBC requested six additional scripts in April 2007.
Renewal for a fourth season of Medium was announced on May 7, 2007, with an undetermined premiere date and number of episodes. It was the seventh series to be renewed by the network, behind solid performers Heroes
and Law & Order: SVU. One week later, the network announced that Medium would move to the Sunday 9 p.m. time slot upon its return in January 2008. News on the series' return did not come until December 2007 when NBC announced that the fourth season would begin in January in its original Monday 10 p.m. time slot, despite the WGA Strike of 2007, which forced the show to cease production, allowing for only nine segments/episodes to be filmed. Scheduling returning mid-season shows in timeslots where they were previously successful was a pattern for NBC during the strike: Law & Order
returned to Wednesdays at 10 and The Apprentice
was back on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m.
With the ratings improvement Medium demonstrated in its fourth season after returning to Mondays, it was one of the first series to be renewed in an early announcement in April 2008 from NBC regarding its 2008–09 season. Similar to the previous season, Medium was initially scheduled to move to the Sunday night line-up; however, a December 2008 press release revealed that the fifth season would air in the series' original Monday night 10 p.m. time slot.
After some ratings erosion during its fifth season, NBC renewed Medium for an abridged sixth season in early May 2009. However, within a week negotiations stalled over episode count and subsequently NBC decided not to renew the series despite the fact that it outperformed some of the network's renewed shows. Within 24 hours of NBC's cancellation, CBS, whose production arm produces the series, renewed the show for a full, 22-episode, sixth season, placing it in the Friday at 9:00 p.m. slot between fellow CBS in-house productions Ghost Whisperer
and Numb3rs
. CBS first aired this series with a rerun episode on July 21, 2009. The sixth season premiered on Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9pm. Throughout its sixth season, Medium and its lead-in Ghost Whisperer won their respective time slots on most Fridays, and each show took turns being the most-watched show of the night. As the season drew to a close, Ghost Whisperer was considered a definite renewal, whereas Medium was once again on the bubble for renewal. However, in a dramatic move from CBS, the network announced on May 18, 2010, that Medium was renewed for a seventh season, while seven other series, including Ghost Whisperer, were canceled by the network. TVbytheNumbers.com speculated that the decision was made because Medium is fully owned by CBS, while Ghost Whisperer was split between CBS and ABC. Upon its return in September 2010, Medium took over the Friday 8 p.m. slot vacated by Ghost Whisperer.
On October 26, 2010, CBS ordered the seventh season cut from 22 to 13 episodes. On November 15, 2010, Arquette told Entertainment Weekly
that the show "got canceled" and had only two more episodes to shoot. She also said the writers were excited that they would be able to end the show properly. On November 18, series creator Glenn Gordon Caron posted to both the Medium Facebook
page and the CBS forums, stating that the show had been canceled and that the series finale would be broadcast on January 21, 2011. CBS confirmed the cancellation with a press release on December 21, 2010, which also confirmed the series finale date of January 21.
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.
) has released all 7 seasons of Medium on DVD in Regions 1, 2 & 4.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois
Allison DuBois
Allison DuBois is an American author and medium. DuBois has controversially claimed to possess psychic abilities and use them to help U.S. law enforcement officials solve crimes, which formed the basis of the TV series Medium....
(played by Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette
Patricia T. Arquette is an American actress and director. She played the lead character in the supernatural drama series Medium for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series....
), is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
's office. Allison and her husband Joe (Jake Weber
Jake Weber
Jake Weber is an English actor, known in film for his role as Michael in Dawn of the Dead and for his role as Drew in Meet Joe Black...
) 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
Allison DuBois
Allison DuBois is an American author and medium. DuBois has controversially claimed to possess psychic abilities and use them to help U.S. law enforcement officials solve crimes, which formed the basis of the TV series Medium....
, who claims she has worked with law enforcement agencies across the country in criminal investigations.
Medium was created by Glenn Gordon Caron
Glenn Gordon Caron
Glenn Gordon Caron is an American television writer, director and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.-Bio:...
and is produced by Picturemaker Productions and Grammnet Productions
Grammnet Productions
Grammnet Productions is an American television production company owned by Kelsey Grammer and Camille Grammer.-Grammnet Productions productions:* Boss * The Game...
in association with CBS Television Studios, originally known as Paramount Television
Paramount Television
Paramount Television was an American television production/distribution company that was active from January 1, 1968 to August 27, 2006.Its successor is CBS Television Studios, formerly CBS Paramount Television...
and CBS Paramount Television
CBS Paramount Network Television
CBS Paramount Network Television was the main production arm of CBS Paramount Television, a division of CBS Corporation. It was known as Paramount Network Television and CBS Productions until 2006.It is now CBS Television Studios, starting in fall 2009....
.
The series aired on NBC during its first five seasons before switching to CBS, whose production division produced the show beginning with the sixth season.
On December 21, 2010, CBS announced that the show had been canceled after seven seasons.
Plot
Allison DuBoisAllison DuBois
Allison DuBois is an American author and medium. DuBois has controversially claimed to possess psychic abilities and use them to help U.S. law enforcement officials solve crimes, which formed the basis of the TV series Medium....
(Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette
Patricia T. Arquette is an American actress and director. She played the lead character in the supernatural drama series Medium for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series....
), 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
Miguel Sandoval
Miguel Sandoval is an American film and television actor.Sandoval was born in Washington, D.C. He began working as a professional actor in 1975 when he joined a mime school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He later joined the troupe full time and continued his study of mime. He began his film career in...
) 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
Jake Weber
Jake Weber is an English actor, known in film for his role as Michael in Dawn of the Dead and for his role as Drew in Meet Joe Black...
) – that her gift is real.
The real 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.
In police investigations, Allison often accompanies Det. Lee Scanlon (David Cubitt
David Cubitt
David Cubitt is a Canadian television actor.Born in England in 1965 to a Dutch mother and a British father, he moved with his parents to Vancouver, British Columbia when he was six months old. He studied at Studio 58 there. He has starred in the Canadian series Traders and the American series...
), 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
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
(Arliss Howard
Arliss Howard
Arliss Howard is an American actor, writer and film director.-Life and career:Howard was born in Independence, Missouri in 1954, and graduated from Truman High School and Columbia College at Columbia, Missouri. Howard established his career with stand-out roles in Full Metal Jacket and Ruby...
), the first law-enforcement person to whom Allison revealed her gift, and Cynthia Keener (Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...
) 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
Tina DiJoseph
Tina DiJoseph is an actress who appears on the television show Medium. She plays the Mayor's liaison/Deputy Mayor, Lynn DiNovi. Her character is in a relationship with Detective Lee Scanlon ....
), 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
Déjà vu
Déjà vu is the experience of feeling sure that one has already witnessed or experienced a current situation, even though the exact circumstances of the prior encounter are uncertain and were perhaps imagined...
. At the end of the episode, Allison is also slowly recovering her physical abilities.
Since the season six premiere, eldest daughter Ariel (Sofia Vassilieva
Sofia Vassilieva
Sofia Vladimirovna Vassilieva is an American actress. She is best known for playing the children's book heroine Eloise, in two made-for-television movies, Ariel Dubois in the Emmy-winning TV series Medium, and the cancer patient Kate Fitzgerald in the 2009 film adaption of My Sister's Keeper by...
) has taken the role of nurturing her siblings Bridgette (Maria Lark
Maria Lark
Maria Lark is an Russian/American television actress known for her role as Bridgette DuBois in the NBC/CBS television series Medium.-Personal life:...
) 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 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 characters
| Actor/Actress | Character | Role | Notes | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patricia Arquette Patricia Arquette Patricia T. Arquette is an American actress and director. She played the lead character in the supernatural drama series Medium for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.... |
Allison Dubois | The medium | Protagonist | Season 1–7 |
| Jake Weber Jake Weber Jake Weber is an English actor, known in film for his role as Michael in Dawn of the Dead and for his role as Drew in Meet Joe Black... |
Joe Dubois | Allison's husband | Engineer | |
| Miguel Sandoval Miguel Sandoval Miguel Sandoval is an American film and television actor.Sandoval was born in Washington, D.C. He began working as a professional actor in 1975 when he joined a mime school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He later joined the troupe full time and continued his study of mime. He began his film career in... |
Manuel Devalos | Allison's boss | District Attorney of Phoenix | |
| Sofia Vassilieva Sofia Vassilieva Sofia Vladimirovna Vassilieva is an American actress. She is best known for playing the children's book heroine Eloise, in two made-for-television movies, Ariel Dubois in the Emmy-winning TV series Medium, and the cancer patient Kate Fitzgerald in the 2009 film adaption of My Sister's Keeper by... |
Ariel Dubois | Oldest Dubois daughter | Student | |
| Maria Lark Maria Lark Maria Lark is an Russian/American television actress known for her role as Bridgette DuBois in the NBC/CBS television series Medium.-Personal life:... |
Bridgette Dubois | Middle Dubois daughter | Student | |
| David Cubitt David Cubitt David Cubitt is a Canadian television actor.Born in England in 1965 to a Dutch mother and a British father, he moved with his parents to Vancouver, British Columbia when he was six months old. He studied at Studio 58 there. He has starred in the Canadian series Traders and the American series... |
Lee Scanlon | Detective | Allison's co-worker | Season 2–7 Season 1 (recurring) |
| Madison and Miranda Carabello | Marie Dubois | Youngest Dubois daughter | Season 1–7 (recurring) | |
| Tina DiJoseph Tina DiJoseph Tina DiJoseph is an actress who appears on the television show Medium. She plays the Mayor's liaison/Deputy Mayor, Lynn DiNovi. Her character is in a relationship with Detective Lee Scanlon .... |
Lynn DiNovi | Mayor's liaison, later Deputy Mayor | Lee's girlfriend, later wife | Season 1–7 (recurring) |
| Ryan Hurst Ryan Hurst Ryan Douglas Hurst is an American actor who perhaps most notably starred as Gerry Bertier, an All-American linebacker in Disney's Remember the Titans and as Alison's brother, Michael, in the show Medium. He also played the role of football player Lump Hudson in The Ladykillers, appeared in the... / David Arquette David Arquette David Arquette is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, fashion designer, and occasional professional wrestler. A member of the Arquette acting family, he first became known during the mid 1990s after starring in several Hollywood films, such as the Scream series, Wild Bill and... |
Michael "Lucky" Benoit | Allison's half-brother | Hurst in first three seasons, Arquette in seventh | Seasons 1–3 (recurring) Season 7 (recurring) |
| Arliss Howard Arliss Howard Arliss Howard is an American actor, writer and film director.-Life and career:Howard was born in Independence, Missouri in 1954, and graduated from Truman High School and Columbia College at Columbia, Missouri. Howard established his career with stand-out roles in Full Metal Jacket and Ruby... |
Kenneth Push | Captain of the Texas Rangers | Seasons 1–3 (recurring) | |
| Holliston Coleman Holliston Coleman Holliston Taylor Coleman is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for starring in the Paramount feature film, Bless the Child, and her recurring role in the television series Medium.-Life and career:... |
Hannah | Ariel's best friend | Student | Seasons 1–6 (recurring) |
| Bruce Gray Bruce Gray Bruce Gray is a Puerto Rican-born Canadian actor.-Early years:Gray was born Robert Bruce Gray in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Canadian parents... |
Mr. Dubois | Joe's father (deceased) | Ghost | Season 1–7 (recurring) |
| Kathy Baker Kathy Baker Katherine Whitton "Kathy" Baker is an American stage, film and television actress.-Career:Baker began her career at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepard's plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love opposite Ed Harris... |
Mrs. Dubois | Joe's mother (deceased) | Dies from cancer in the season seven episode "Blood on the Tracks" | Seasons 1–7 (recurring) |
| Margo Martindale Margo Martindale Margo Martindale is an American stage, television and film actress. In 2011, Martindale won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance as Mags Bennett on Justified.-Early life:... |
A psychic whom Allison later depends on | A friend/mentor of Allison's | Helped Allison when she was a novice and coming to terms with her special gifts. Started in Episode 1.1 | Seasons 1-4 (recurring) |
| Olivia Sandoval | Manny's daughter | Good ghost who helps her father | Real life daughter of Miguel Sandoval | Seasons 3 and 6 (recurring) |
| Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop and stern parental characters , and for his appearances in the genre of science fiction... |
Edward Cooper | FBI agent (deceased) | Ghost | Seasons 3–5 (recurring) |
| Roxanne Hart Roxanne Hart Roxanne Hart is an American television, film and stage actress. She may be best known for her role as Brenda Wyatt in the 1986 film Highlander. She is also known for the role of Nurse Camille Shutt on the Medical drama Chicago Hope.... |
Lily Devalos | Manuel's wife | Seasons 3–7 (recurring) | |
| Tom Van Dyke | Former District Attorney (deceased) | Manuel's rival | Some see Van Dyke as a smug and ruthless attorney, but he gets cancer and asks for Allison's help, leading to a reconciliation at the end of season 4. | Seasons 3 & 4 (recurring) |
| Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in... |
Cynthia Keener | Former AmeriTips investigator and Allison's former employer | Arrested for the murder of her daughter's killer | Seasons 4 & 5 (recurring) |
| Annamarie Kenoyer Annamarie Kenoyer Annamarie Kenoyer is an American teen actress, who is known for appearing in several television shows and a few films. Her most noted role is as Ashley Whitaker in Medium.-Career:... |
Ashley Whitaker | Ariel's friend | Seasons 5 & 6 (recurring) |
Notable guest stars
Ratings and broadcast
The series premiere received 16.13 million viewers and a 6.3 rating in the 18–49 demo against CSI: MiamiCSI: Miami
CSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
s 18.17 million and 6.6 rating. Medium was a consistent performer throughout its first season and landed in the Nielsen Top 20 with an average of 13.9 million viewers. The series remained in its original time slot for the second season when the network announced its Fall 2005 schedule. Throughout the season, the series experienced a decline in viewership, pulling an average of 11 million viewers. Medium was renewed for a third season in April 2006, but was missing from NBC's Fall 2006 schedule. The series was slated to return in early 2007; however, in October it was announced that production would resume immediately for a third season start-up on November 15, 2006, replacing the time slot vacated by Kidnapped
Kidnapped (TV series)
Kidnapped is an American television drama series from Sony Pictures Television which aired on NBC from September 20, 2006, to August 11, 2007...
. Its move to the Wednesday time slot opposite CBS' CSI: NY
CSI: NY
CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes...
and ABC's Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
led to some ratings erosion, in comparison to the ratings success of the first two seasons, with year-end ratings for the third season dipping into single-digit millions of viewers. Despite the ratings decline on Wednesdays, the series was seen by the network as a reliable self-starter, building on its then lead-in Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...
. The ratings decline put the series on the bubble for renewal, but the series showed signs of life when NBC requested six additional scripts in April 2007.
Renewal for a fourth season of Medium was announced on May 7, 2007, with an undetermined premiere date and number of episodes. It was the seventh series to be renewed by the network, behind solid performers Heroes
Heroes (TV series)
Heroes is an American science fiction television drama series created by Tim Kring that appeared on NBC for four seasons from September 25, 2006 through February 8, 2010. The series tells the stories of ordinary people who discover superhuman abilities, and how these abilities take effect in the...
and Law & Order: SVU. One week later, the network announced that Medium would move to the Sunday 9 p.m. time slot upon its return in January 2008. News on the series' return did not come until December 2007 when NBC announced that the fourth season would begin in January in its original Monday 10 p.m. time slot, despite the WGA Strike of 2007, which forced the show to cease production, allowing for only nine segments/episodes to be filmed. Scheduling returning mid-season shows in timeslots where they were previously successful was a pattern for NBC during the strike: Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
returned to Wednesdays at 10 and The Apprentice
The Apprentice (U.S. TV series)
The Apprentice is an American reality television show hosted by real estate magnate, businessman and television personality Donald Trump, created by Mark Burnett and broadcast on NBC...
was back on Thursdays at 9:00 p.m.
With the ratings improvement Medium demonstrated in its fourth season after returning to Mondays, it was one of the first series to be renewed in an early announcement in April 2008 from NBC regarding its 2008–09 season. Similar to the previous season, Medium was initially scheduled to move to the Sunday night line-up; however, a December 2008 press release revealed that the fifth season would air in the series' original Monday night 10 p.m. time slot.
After some ratings erosion during its fifth season, NBC renewed Medium for an abridged sixth season in early May 2009. However, within a week negotiations stalled over episode count and subsequently NBC decided not to renew the series despite the fact that it outperformed some of the network's renewed shows. Within 24 hours of NBC's cancellation, CBS, whose production arm produces the series, renewed the show for a full, 22-episode, sixth season, placing it in the Friday at 9:00 p.m. slot between fellow CBS in-house productions Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts...
and Numb3rs
NUMB3RS
Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
. CBS first aired this series with a rerun episode on July 21, 2009. The sixth season premiered on Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9pm. Throughout its sixth season, Medium and its lead-in Ghost Whisperer won their respective time slots on most Fridays, and each show took turns being the most-watched show of the night. As the season drew to a close, Ghost Whisperer was considered a definite renewal, whereas Medium was once again on the bubble for renewal. However, in a dramatic move from CBS, the network announced on May 18, 2010, that Medium was renewed for a seventh season, while seven other series, including Ghost Whisperer, were canceled by the network. TVbytheNumbers.com speculated that the decision was made because Medium is fully owned by CBS, while Ghost Whisperer was split between CBS and ABC. Upon its return in September 2010, Medium took over the Friday 8 p.m. slot vacated by Ghost Whisperer.
On October 26, 2010, CBS ordered the seventh season cut from 22 to 13 episodes. On November 15, 2010, Arquette told Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
that the show "got canceled" and had only two more episodes to shoot. She also said the writers were excited that they would be able to end the show properly. On November 18, series creator Glenn Gordon Caron posted to both the Medium Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page and the CBS forums, stating that the show had been canceled and that the series finale would be broadcast on January 21, 2011. CBS confirmed the cancellation with a press release on December 21, 2010, which also confirmed the series finale date of January 21.
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 |
Awards
| Year | Group | Award | Result | Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | BMI Film & TV Awards | BMI TV Music Award | Won | Mychael Danna, Jeff Beal |
| Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
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 Motion Picture Sound Editors Founded in 1953, Motion Picture Sound Editors is an honorary society of motion picture sound editors. The society's goals are to educate others about and increase the recognition of the sound editors, show the artistic merit of the soundtracks, and improve the professional relationship of its... |
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 Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide... |
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 TV Land Awards The TV Land Awards is an American television awards ceremony that generally commemorates shows now off the air, rather than in current production as with awards such as the Emmys. It is presented in a manner that spoofs other entertainment award ceremonies... |
Favorite Character From the Other Side | Nominated | Patricia Arquette | |
| 2010 | Screen Actors Guild Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide... |
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | Patricia Arquette |
DVD releases
CBS DVD (distributed by ParamountParamount Home Entertainment
Paramount Home Entertainment is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video founded in late 1975.-History:...
) 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 | TBA | July 21, 2011 | 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 | TBA | TBA | TBA | The Making of Medium: Season 7, Memories of Medium, Medium: Shadows and Light, Meet Detective Lee Scanlon, Medium Around the World, Bloopers/Gag Reel |