Television series

Medium

Name: Medium
Genre: Drama, Crime, Supernatural
Released: 2005
Cast: Patricia Arquette, Jake Weber, Maria Lark, Miguel Sandoval, Sofia Vassilieva

Medium follows Allison DuBois, a wife and mother in Phoenix whose dreams of murder victims and missing persons make her an uneasy, indispensable asset to the DA's office. It's procedural comfort food at its core — one case, mostly resolved by the credits — but grounded by a marriage and household that feel genuinely lived-in. Patricia Arquette plays exhaustion and conviction in equal measure.

TVMaze rating

7.3

If you liked this

Ghost Whisperer2005

Jennifer Love Hewitt talks to the dead instead of dreaming about them, but the formula's the same: a gentle supernatural procedural anchored by a stable marriage and a woman doing an exhausting job nobody else can do.

But Softer edges and sappier resolutions than Medium; the tone leans sentimental rather than eerie.

The Dead Zone2002no page yet

Anthony Michael Hall gets psychic flashes after a coma and uses them to prevent crimes and catastrophes, week after week, with the same ordinary-guy dread that made Medium work.

But More conspiracy and politics, less domestic texture; family life takes a back seat to plot.

Rizzoli & Isles2010

Swap the visions for banter between a detective and a medical examiner, but keep the case-of-the-week structure and a lead carrying both job and home life with wit.

But No supernatural element at all — pure buddy-cop procedural, so the eerie atmosphere Medium built is gone.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Undone2019

Medium treats Allison's visions as simply true; Undone asks the question Medium never does — what if the gift is grief, trauma, or illness wearing a supernatural costume?

Alma starts seeing her dead father after an accident and has to work out whether she's psychic, unstuck in time, or losing her mind — told through gorgeous rotoscope animation that makes the uncertainty feel physical.

But Ambiguous and slippery by design; if you want the psychic premise confirmed and comfortable, this will frustrate you.

Saving Grace2007no page yet

Holly Hunter's hard-living detective gets visited by an angel while chasing killers in Oklahoma — the same collision of the numinous with a messy ordinary life, played dead serious.

But Grace is far rougher and more self-destructive than Allison; the show trades cosiness for grit.

Profiler1996no page yet

An earlier stab at the same idea — a woman with uncanny insight into killers' minds, chasing a serial arc across seasons while raising a family largely alone.

But Dated even by 90s standards, with a campier, more melodramatic style than Medium ever attempted.

Unforgettable2011no page yet

No ghosts here, just a detective whose perfect memory works like a superpower, giving the same gifted-outsider-aids-skeptical-cops dynamic Medium ran on for years.

But Straightforwardly procedural and fairly formulaic; it lacks any of the supernatural unease.

The Mentalist2008

Patrick Jane fakes psychic ability to read people instead of dreaming about them, but the show plays the same game: consultant embarrasses skeptical cops, solves crime by episode's end.

But Jane's smugness and showmanship are a different flavour entirely from Allison's weary sincerity.

Cold Case2003no page yet

Another Philadelphia-set procedural that closes decades-old murders through empathy as much as evidence, with the same appetite for the emotional weight behind a crime.

But No supernatural device — solutions come from old-fashioned detective work and flashback, not visions.

Criminal Minds2005

Swaps visions for profiling but keeps the case-of-week structure, a tight found-family ensemble, and a fascination with what makes killers tick.

But Much darker and more violent in its details than Medium ever got; a bleaker, gorier watch overall.

Don't Look Now1973

Same DNA — visions of the dead intruding on an ordinary marriage — but stripped of procedural comfort and played entirely for grief and dread.

A grieving couple in Venice, a small red-coated figure glimpsed again and again, and a psychic warning nobody heeds — one of the most devastating uses of premonition ever put on screen.

But Arthouse pacing, no case to solve, and an ending built to wound rather than satisfy.