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.
One 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.
Additionally, Allison has helped and been helped by crochety, phlegmatic Captain Kenneth Push of the Texas Rangers (Arliss Howard), the first law-enforcement person to whom Allison revealed her gift, and, later, Cynthia Keener (Anjelica Huston) of AmeriTips, a nationwide private detective agency.
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.
Since the season six premiere, eldest daughter Ariel (Sofia Vassilieva) has taken the role of nurturing her siblings, Bridgette and Marie, and is feeling overwhelmed.
Ariel falls victim to a body possession by a vengeance-seeking spirit but is rescued, with her mother's help.
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.
At the end of the episode, Allison, Joe, Ariel, and Devalos and his wife Lily, are seen celebrating Lynn and Lee's wedding, toasting the engaged couples' bright futures.
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.
In the early morning hours, Allison is visited by Marjorie's spirit, which warns her of upcoming "darkness" in her life.
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.
A crooked cop had concealed Joe's past and was using him as an unsuspecting drug mule to transport narcotics.
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.
[3] Medium was a consistent performer throughout its first season and landed in the Nielsen Top 20 with an average of 13.9 million viewers.
[4] The series remained in its original time slot for the second season when the network announced its Fall 2005 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.
[8][9] 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.
[9] Renewal for a fourth season of Medium was announced on May 7, 2007, with an undetermined premiere date and number of episodes.
[11] It was the seventh series to be renewed by the network, behind solid performers Heroes and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
[10] One week later, the network announced that Medium would move to the Sunday 9 p.m. time slot upon its return in January 2008.
[12] 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,[13] despite the WGA Strike of 2007, which forced the show to cease production, allowing for only nine segments/episodes to be filmed.
[20] Within 24 hours of NBC's cancellation, CBS, whose production arm produces the series, renewed the show for a full, 22-episode, sixth season,[21] placing it in the Friday at 9:00 p.m. slot between fellow CBS in-house productions Ghost Whisperer (which had a similar theme to Medium) and Numb3rs.
[28] On November 15, 2010, Patricia Arquette told Entertainment Weekly that the show "got canceled" and had only two more episodes to shoot.