NBC's Medium, Family Television with a Supernatural Twist

Dealing with a daughter's teenage angst, money problems, fears of spousal infidelity, picking up takeout on the way home from work, solving murders with the help of blood soaked dreams, "Medium" covers the mundane, and the not so mundane aspects of a suburban mother's life in Phoenix, Arizona.

The show tells the story of Allison DuBois, (Patricia Arquette), her seemingly eternally patient husband Joe (Jack Weber), and their three golden haired daughters, Ariel (Sofia Vassilieva), Bridgette (Maria Lark), and Marie (Madison and Miranda Carabello). Strongly domestic in focus, many scenes are set in the family home, and the majority of Allison's psychic visions happen at night while she sleeps next to her husband. Storylines often intertwine with the DuBois' family life, and story arcs of pure family driven drama meander through the DuBois past, present, and future.

Realism in the DuBois marriage and family life serves as a foil to the otherworldly nature of Allison's visions and job. We are shown the minutiae of their lives and marriage. Allison can be self-centered. Joe can be impatient and irritable. On the other hand their marriage is truly a close partnership, and at its best, "Medium" showcases the tenderness and love the couple share.

During the day, Allison works for the District Attorney's office as a "consultant". Until recent episodes, the nature of her job was a secret to the public, and she was free to help D.A. Manuel Devalos (Miguel Sandoval) and Detective Lee Scanlon (David Cubitt) solve cases and work on courtroom tactics. During the episodes leading up to the 2005-2006 season finale, a reporter outs Allison and those close to her pay a heavy toll.

The appeal of "Medium" may be rooted in our collective desire to find something extraordinary in many of our ordinary, consumer driven, suburban lives. That beyond the struggle to get ahead in careers, the endless scheduling of appointments and childcare, and the subdued satisfaction of providing what is expected of us, there is something special about and heroic about us.