What are your thoughts on the show "Medium?"

[Behind the Aegis]

I like the show because it is something of interest to me. However, I feel it is kind of "right-leaning." Any one else feel this way? Personally, I hate the husband and make bets how long he will go before attacking his wife for her "gift." What do you think about it overall?

[NJCher]

1. hackneyed plot

I once read a book about writing mysteries and the author pointed out that the protagonist should be someone the reader would want to be or at least identify with. Not that the protagonist can't have flaws, but that they shouldn't have some prominent weakness.

That's what troubles me about this show--the poor relationship. Who wants to see a couple constantly snipping at each other's heels? Certainly not me.

Last night I watched the real deal instead--Psychic Detectives on CourtTV.


Cher

[Nancy Waterman]

2. I love the show!!

The husband was very supportive at first but kind of a jerk last night. On the whole, though, I don't think his lack of support is such a big issue in the show. It was exaggerated last night for the sake of the specific plot. What I like about the show is that each week the story is very different. It is not formulaic at all..

I think it is right-leaning only in that it indirectly supports capital punishment.

I also think it is true that many people generally discredit any information gotten by psychics. And many psychics have husbands who are less than fully part of the fan club. So bringing up those issues was interesting to me, and I loved the way she handled it. She really zapped the defense attorney who was trying to discredit her with the hidden truth about himself. That was a great catharsis for me!

As Allison said at the end of the show, we will see more about her psychic powers becoming revealed in the community.

[hippiegranny]

3. I like it

I have only seen one episode so far, (the one on 1/31) but for the most part, I found it interesting. The acting seemed a bit forced at times, and the husband cheating angle was a little lame, but the main part of the story, the trial stuff was cool and what kept me interested.

[Auntie Bush]

4. What night is it on and what channel?

[Nancy Waterman]

6. It is on at 10 PM on NBC

I highly recommend it. It certainly doesn't give the "whole truth" but it does paint a picture of a world where the "dead" live along side us and can communicate with those who can see and hear them.

And there have been several more spiritual moments woven into the fabic of the show. Like when Allison guided the little boy who was unable to leave the playgound (having died there in an accident 6 years earlier) and showed him how to release into the Light. I also found it interesting that Allison didn't want to lie on the witness stand under oath because she felt it would betray whatever higher forces gave her her psychic gift if she lied about them. And the conflict with those who don't believe in these things and the need to hide it from the "straight" world is very real, in my experience. But for the most part, she is portrayed as very down to earth and not spooky or weird. That is what makes the show so appealing.

I saw in the WPost that is is on the top 10 of shows now and NBC has already signed it up for another season.

I would love one day to see a show on reicarnation done intelligently. It might be quite difficult to put together but I would love to see something along those lines.

[loudsue]

8. Is it on just on Sunday night?

I haven't seen the show! But, then again, I haven't even been on DU much lately, and tv is usually down at the bottom of my list of priorities! But this show sounds good!

:kick::kick::kick:

[Nancy Waterman]

9. IT IS ON TONIGHT - MONDAY - AT 10!!!

Try to catch it!!

[KittyWampus]

5. More Unproductive Emphasis On Psychic Rather Than Spiritual

[Desertrose]

7. yeah ....but I also agree with Nancy....

they gotta start somewhere and I really did like the episode about the youngest daughters make believe friend who was the little boy that died....

I have to remind myself on a (very) frequent basis that a lot of these spiritual ways of thinking and being are completely new & foreign to many people ...and that often people get into spirituality through that "psychic" door and grow & learn "spiritually" from there... :)

Its a starting point...maybe not the one I would choose but better than much of the crap they put on the telly these days :)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

11. It is an excellent start to opening people up. Arquette is strong

and credible in the role, which helps too.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. OK...I am seeing a "right" slant here!

Is anybody else "seeing" (heehee..pun) this? I stated this in my original post, but it seems to me that this was a "rethug" feel to it!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

12. Yes. The episode where she helps select a jury for a death

penalty case was very disturbing to me.

[Nancy Waterman]

13. There is a repeat on tonight at 8 ET

of the Little Red Riding Hood episode, in case anyone missed it.

Regarding the capitol punishment issue, remember, there really is an Allison and some of these stories are taken from what she did/does working for the DA's office. I would imagine jury selection is a possiblity.

I also don't think it has so much of a right wing slant as an attempt to have a different theme each week so it doesn't get formulaic. Next week it will be about her brother who is a soldier and a dead comrade. I think it will focus more on the personal than the political issues.

[Behind the Aegis]

16. Time will tell.

The crack about the husband car-pooling "What are you a democrat?" was something that struck me as odd. There have been other statements that have raised my neck hairs a few times. I know I can read into things, but I also know that there is a real threat out there. An interesting side note is that here in Okla-HELL-ma, the local news does a "psychic" thing in their "Segment Two" report every Monday night. The last one was on dreams. It was interesting.

[TNOE]

14. I really have been liking the show too

and I'm not much into drama shows at all, but I find this one intersting. BUT IT IS KILLING ME - who is the guy that plays her husband??? I can't for the life of me figure out what he's been on before - but I totally recognize him. I guess maybe I could look it up - but no time at the moment. I thought maybe one of you would know offhand and save me the trouble?

[Behind the Aegis]

15. A quick search revealed....

The two things I think I would have recognized him from was The Cell and Dawn of the Dead (2004). Check out the link, you may recognize him from something else! I got this from Jake Weber on IMDB. His role in the show really pisses me off. I don't think his character is very well-written, but that is just my opinion!

[TNOE]

17. Wow

thanks alot for this - it was DREW from Meet Joe Black!!! Damn that was really botherng me. I like him in this role as a good father and husband - and supportive - because sometimes I think the character Allison can be a real bitch. The show I believe almost always starts with her having a dream - which is cool if they stick with this - but she falls out of bed and wants her husband to help her back up? He's asleep. I thought oh for God's sake on that. Get your own ass up.

The more recent shows have him playing a more significant role - especially last week's so maybe the writers can do something more with him.

[Nancy Waterman]

18. Just about everyone I know

who is psychic or into astrology, etc., and has a husband, has to deal with a spouse who is not very into the supernatural aspects of these endeavors. This can range from out and out disbelief to tepid support. But rarely have I seen the hubby be fully into and accepting of the psychic world. So the struggle between these two on this issue seems very real to me. Except for a few outbursts, Allsion's husband seems quite supportive, though he has a scientific background (usually the kiss of death to this kind of belief system). Bit by bit, he may be coming around, given that his friend and coworker just died unexpectedly, just as Allison had predicted. I think the whole psychic thing really unnerves him, which is pretty normal in this circumstance.

[Behind the Aegis]

19. Then I must be very spoiled!

I really thought last week, when he got a taste of what his wife goes through, I thought he might be more empathetic...I guess we shall see how it plays out.

Since I don't really know others like me, I have gone on personal experience. I have a partner (3 years next Tuesday) and he is VERY supportive! He will buy me things he thinks will help me, watches programs about this type of phenomena (he likes "Medium" too), and will read up on my "weirdness." My partner works on computers and has a scientific mind, I guess his love for me overrides everything else. :) I so lucky!!! I guess I am just going by what I know.

[Nancy Waterman]

20. You are very lucky!!

My husband works for NIH - totally scientifially minded. We used to battle over the concept of double blind studies versus anecdotal evidence. Homeopathy doesn't lend itself well to double blind studies because the same illness may call for different remedies in different people depending on the symptoms. And the idea of taking "poisons" where there are no molecules left of the origicnal substance was beyond him. (Healing the body's life force versus intervening in its chemical makeup.) He doesn't want to hear much, if anything, about astrology or psychic matters, but we don't battle over it anymore. Probably because I no longer need to convince him and he no longer needs to convince me. And that is where the growth really came - knowing you can be together and be different and not agree on a lot of things and it is OK. (but thank goodness he is a Democrat!!)

Anyway, this conflict is very common, and the resulting growth in living peacefully with differences is important.

[NJCher]

21. synastry class

When I took a synastry class with Ken and Joan Negus in Princeton, two types of charts stood out: the kind where the partners are in a sort of "opposites attract" relationship and one in which the partners are very much alike. This is not to say there aren't a variety of other types of relationships but these were the two that stood out most to me, probably because of the duality thing we have going in this culture.

Anyway, my spouse is an artiste type and is incredibly psychic himself (he is a wizard at physics, though--go figure). He's not so aware of it, however, as I am. His talents are extremely refined, however, but he often does not know how to interpret them.

An example is when he received a message on his voicemail that the husband (Les) of a couple friend he knows in California died. He received the message from the wife, Dana. I'm not sure why he didn't call Dana back. Maybe one reason is that he's somewhat shy of emotional displays.

So late in the day, he came downstairs from his home office and thrust a raggedy little piece of paper into my hands and said, "This piece of paper is following me everywhere!" I asked for an explanation and he said the paper had first emerged in his car. Next he found it on his desk and later on the floor in the LR. He thought maybe it had stuck to his coat and fallen off. He picked it up again but the next time it emerged was on the landing of the staircase.

It was a phone number and I asked whose it was. He said it was Dana's new cellphone number. I knew immediately that it was Les, trying to tell him to call Dana to comfort her.


Cher

[Cookie wookie]

22. I like the show and actually remember to watch it these days

which is a phenomena in itself since I can't stand most tv programming. Tonight was another good one, with the brother trying to drink himself into oblivion to avoid seeing and knowing what he does. I like the jokes about psychic phenomena as well as the near misses and mistakes. Whoever is writing for this has a clue about what it's like to have these experiences. Tonight when she walked through the hospital with headphones on to avoid all the recently departed just said it all. She knows what she must do to take care of herself, isn't a victim of her gifts. It's hard to separate from the feelings and impressions, so seeing a character who knows how is instructive, even if it is just a tv show.

As far as the couple goes, their relationship is depicted in a way that seems honest and real and he is supportive. Look at how he takes care of the kids!

Have a right wing radar, don't see this show as having any sneaky rw propaganda.

[2Design]

23. ok because of this thread - tonight I thought about watching this

It has a certain scaryness to me
seeing dead people
or wounded people
or desparate dead people
just creeps me out

so I watched anyway - having the brother safe because he has the same gift is good - but his denial - well - the psychatrists and voices - they have a dsm code for that and would have had him totally drugged

dead or dying people scare me
many people died before I was 6 - I think it left me creeped
I am very sensitive - so the unspoken - I probably felt what was not being said -

after my mom died - I said - I don't want to see ghosts - it just would make me jumpy -

I can't really explain it - but I enjoyed the show tonight - I just would rather someone else sees the dead people - I don't like funerals

the fact that - poof - people are gone and their body is cold - just is magical - and scary

well this might be a little too much information

[mandyky]

24. All GOOD!! Our local NBC affiliate ran interviews with local

psychics and mediums. (And we're inthe Bible belt).
I think the husband tries to be supportive, but he can't help what he THINKS, and she seems to read his mind and then pick fights.
I don't think it leans right.

I have been DVRing episodes and rewatching, so I am a BIG BIG FAN.
The first episode hooked me. That TX Ranger dude cracked me up! I read he will be in subsequent episodes, and at least now he appreciates her "gift".

[Behind the Aegis]

25. Same thing here!

also in the Bible Belt and they ran a piece about a local (Tulsa) psychic. How very interesting.

[Helga Scow Stern]

26. I liked last night's episode a lot.

I found the show through Alison Dubois's (sp?) chart. I was teaching an astrology class and someone was very interested in psychics, so when I came across her chart and story, I decided to watch the show. I was disappointed the first time, but watched again last night. I liked it--shows that it's not easy having information others don't want to know about.

Her horoscope is very interesting....can't post it now, but it has a very close t-square of Uranus, Mercury, and Mars on the first 3 angles. In the class we talked about how it would normally be associated with someone who experienced a great deal of violence...and she does, but in an unexpected way.

She also has a very close conjunction of the Moon with Saturn at 29 Taurus in the 8th house. We figured that was her tangible experience of her grandfather and the dead.