Watching last night’s particularly riveting episode of Medium, in which Patricia Arquette’s Allison Dubois gets Gloria Gaynor’s ”I Will Survive” stuck in her head, one scene in particular got lodged in my noggin — and it made me realize there’s no show on network TV that better depicts the details of modern family life.
As Allison’s family heads out of the house for a weekend trip to Salt Lake City, her husband Joe (Jake Weber) frantically rushes through their cluttered house to close the shades and check the windows. On its own, not a particularly Big Moment, but to me, a perfect example of the way NBC’s supernatural procedural acknowledges the inherent drama in watching working parents grapple with three kids, hectic careers, and their own romantic relationship.
That theme is carried into the series’ wardrobe and sets, too. Allison is one of the few middle-class characters on network TV who takes a bottled water with her in the car, and doesn’t sport sexy, designer pantsuits; in fact, she and Jake sleep in — gasp! — dumpy T-shirts. And I especially love the way Allison and Jake are constantly squeezing in their conversations as they make breakfast for the kids or brush their teeth before bed.
Are there any other shows on TV that reflect what you see happening in your own homes — even if they sometimes feature conversations with the dead? Shout back, PopWatch style!
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This show became one of my addictions last year. Patricia Arquette has an earthy quality that’s very appropriate for the role. Jake Weber as her husband is also good. This show has spawned lots of clones this season, but they miss the point by focusing on the supernatural nature of the show. It’s the realness and familiarity of the show and its characters that accounts for its greatest appeal. Congrats to Arquette!
I agree. I love Allison and Joe’s relationship being the core of the show. I think they are one of the few realistic couples on television. Forget the melodramatic plots lines between Marissa and Ryan on The OC, I think it’s great that Allison and Joe just sit an talk to each other before bed, or in the morning before the kids get up, and Patricia and Jake bring a realness to the characters that make it that much better.
I’m so glad that other people picked up on this as being one of the main components that makes this show so easy to relate to. I was blown away that a network television show was allowing writers to bring the realities of everyday life into a hit prime time show. It’s always been about wardrobe, makeup, hair, and set design. The actual interaction of the characters on a more “real life” plane of existance is almost taboo.
“Television is fantasy” has gotten old, and it’s good to see some characters that have real life issues and interactions. It’s done well without being melodramatic or campy. Because of that the audience can find themselves drawn into the story lines even more because of the connections established with the characters.
Really well done.
I’ve been addicted to Medium since it debuted last January. I never miss an episode, and I’m so glad millions of other people have become addicted as well. I agree that the realness of the show is a big contributer to its success. I also love the new twist on the traditional crime solving genre. This show is great all-around, and congratulations to Patricia Arquette on her Emmy for Best Actress in a Drama. It is totally deserved!
Medium is definitely great, for all the reasons listed. Another show that reflects what goes on in real-life households would be Family Guy. I kid, I kid!
Here’s what kills me. Patricia Arquette is the only actress on TV right now who looks like us, and she rightfully won the Emmy, and since then she’s been nothing but hammered in the press for how she looked at the awards ceremony (including by you, snotty EW Nicholas Fonseca). Leave her alone. She’s talented, she’s gorgeous and she’s normal.
Medium has become the only must-see tv for me on mondays. When Patricia Arquette’s name was called out at the Emmys, I spit out wine all over the screen in complete surprise. I was thrilled for her. For being clairvoyant (something of which I can’t say I have any familiarity with), she conveys such a sense of urgency to the part. As more episodes aired, you really start feeling how fleshed out Allison and Jake are. To have people reaching out for your help in a manner that is never straightforward and wanting to offer that help, but not always knowing how to go about doing so…well, that has made Medium, for me, quite a powerful hour of tv. Kudos to all involved for making this show as real as it is. And congrats to Patricia Arquette for making Allison Dubois a compelling antiheroine. Oh, and please, she was rockin’ at the Emmys.
I am going to throw it back to the first few seasons of Roseanne.
I also adore the quirkiness of middle child Bridget. In particular, the episode where she would insist on wearing a bike helmet to school–that’s a kind of creativity and individualism that I wish I’d had the courage or ignorance to display when I was her age. Or heck, even now…
I haven’t missed a show since the premiere. I love how Allison and Joe interact with each other and with their kids. I think the writers of the show are great. I watch just to see what Joe will say next.
This show is the new direction of crime shows, strictly procedural shows are so 2002.
And I love the actor that plays Joe, he injects alot of humour, logic and he should have definately been nominated for his supporting role!
This show is the new direction of crime shows, strictly procedural shows are so 2002.
And I love the actor that plays Joe, he injects alot of humour, logic and he should have definately been nominated for his supporting role!
When I first watched this show, I fell in love with the real family. The baby cries, kids don’t operate on convienent schedules, and Mom and Dad get frustrated with the normal things. (their house is normal size too!)
The normal family vs the rare talant she has…perfect blend. I’m so glad Patricia Arquette won the Emmy!
As long as we’re talking about Bridget, whom I also love, can I just say I detest the oldest girl? I think it’s part actress, part character, but what a little snot! Still, I guess it’s keepin’ it real.
tHANKS FOR ACKNOWLEDGING mEDIUM! iT’S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE DID!
While I don’t agree that Arquette deserved the Emmy, she does excellent work on “Medium” and her chemistry and comfort with Jake Weber make them the most compelling and real couple on TV. And thank you to EB for pointing out one of my favorite things about this show: Arquette is not some skinny Mischa Barton clone, but a real woman with curves who seems to display no discomfort with her body and knows she’s sexy and alluring to her husband. That’s awfully refreshing, and shame on media outlets for whining about Hollywood’s obsession with weight and then feeding into it by lambasting Arquette for her very real and relatable figure (although I agree, the Emmy hair was unfortunate!).
P.S. I have to grit my teeth at the way Alison and Joe interact with the oldest daughter (Ariel?) She is an obnoxious brat who should have been straightened out a long time ago, and although the portrayal of her as a typical girl in early adolescence may be reasonably accurate,it’s also terribly annoying.
i still cant believe this ugly woman got the emmy…every other woman in that cat. deserved it more then her. this is just a half-assed show.
This drama demonstrates why characters should come first in scripts. Most of these comments have discussed how much they like the reality of the family – GET IT NETWORK TV!! When we care about the characters and the setting, good plots are icing on the cake. A great plot with no character who intrigues you or that you care about is just another story.
I love Joe and Allison’s relationship as well. They argue, they love each other, they try to juggle three kids, careers, household responsibilities, oh and, freaky dreams and ghosts too. I have to say I adore the little girl who plays Bridget–she is just too funny and real.
Patricia Arquette is gawd awful. All she does is walk around with a ugly look on her face. Her character always finds a reason to yell at her co-workers, her husband, any man really. She does not deserve an Emmy IMHO.
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I’m a huge fan of Medium – mainly because I have been a fan of Ms. Arquette’s since I first noticed her in Sean Penn’s film, “The Indian Runner” back in 1991. She’s a bit quirky, cute, intelligent, and interesting. She doesn’t look like a skinny little doll that came out of a mold, or straight out of the plastic surgeon’s office. I love the fact that she refused to lose weight when the producer of Medium suggested it. She’s a real person – not a Hollywood clone. That is why she is as good as she is.
In reading a couple of the negative comments about her being “ugly” right here on this page, I’m guessing these guys like the size 0 waif with fake boobs look. It is very sad that men in our society define the word beautiful to mean something it isn’t. Beauty starts on the inside and comes in all shapes and sizes. It isn’t made out of silicone, saline, collagen injections, or botox.
Go Patricia!!!
I love, too, the real family feel of Medium. I am addicted to the show!