Post by Forever Xena on Jun 13, 2006 12:37:27 GMT -6
www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/movies/video_dvd/14777983.htm
Medium' above other crime series with star Arquette
R.D. Heldenfels
Beacon Journal
TV shows coming to DVD
DVD pick of the week: Medium: The Complete First Season (Paramount, 16 episodes, five discs, $54.99) is a smart and thoroughly entertaining series about a woman who is contacted by the dead -- and uses that skill to help the police.
Patricia Arquette stars as Allison DuBois, a married mother who, as the series begins, is thinking about law school. But she keeps having dreams about death and murder, and her husband, Joe (Jake Weber), keeps wondering if the dreams aren't just a result of disturbed sleep.
Soon enough, Allison is solving crimes -- and, based on this synopsis, you're thinking that this sounds pretty predictable.
Only in the hands of writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron (Moonlighting), Medium is more than just a spooky thriller. It works very hard to show its characters as ordinary people who see Allison's gift as just one more thing to adjust to. It is also funny, and Arquette brings a grounded, solid quality to her character that other actors might have missed.
Yes, I like the show. So do enough viewers that NBC has renewed it for a third season in 2006-07 (although the network has moved the show from the fall lineup to midseason). And the DVD, in stores Tuesday, goes beyond the series episodes to include an extended version of the pilot (which still works very well), deleted scenes, commentaries on four episodes, a making-of segment and a look at the real-life Allison DuBois.
R.D. Heldenfels
Beacon Journal
TV shows coming to DVD
DVD pick of the week: Medium: The Complete First Season (Paramount, 16 episodes, five discs, $54.99) is a smart and thoroughly entertaining series about a woman who is contacted by the dead -- and uses that skill to help the police.
Patricia Arquette stars as Allison DuBois, a married mother who, as the series begins, is thinking about law school. But she keeps having dreams about death and murder, and her husband, Joe (Jake Weber), keeps wondering if the dreams aren't just a result of disturbed sleep.
Soon enough, Allison is solving crimes -- and, based on this synopsis, you're thinking that this sounds pretty predictable.
Only in the hands of writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron (Moonlighting), Medium is more than just a spooky thriller. It works very hard to show its characters as ordinary people who see Allison's gift as just one more thing to adjust to. It is also funny, and Arquette brings a grounded, solid quality to her character that other actors might have missed.
Yes, I like the show. So do enough viewers that NBC has renewed it for a third season in 2006-07 (although the network has moved the show from the fall lineup to midseason). And the DVD, in stores Tuesday, goes beyond the series episodes to include an extended version of the pilot (which still works very well), deleted scenes, commentaries on four episodes, a making-of segment and a look at the real-life Allison DuBois.