TV with MeeVee

Two Arquettes For The Price Of One On "Medium"

The first thing anyone involved with NBC's "Medium" will tell you is that it's a family show. Sure it's about a woman using her psychic powers to hunt down horrible axe-murderers, but the important thing is the tender family drama. On April 7th, the show will become a family show in another way, when star Patricia Arquette's sister Rosanna does a guest turn as a cougary man-eater.  

In a phone conference, the Arquette girls sat down with journalists to talk about the upcoming episode and what it was like to grow up in their unusual, talented family.(Pictured: Patricia, left, and Roseanna.)

• Rosanna found her role as a villain tough work. A scene involving the violent strangulation of a young man was particularly rough, but she said she enjoyed the chance to get into a baddie for the first time. Returning to the rigors of television was challenging all around, especially since writer/creator Glenn Caron rarely has a full script at the start of shooting.
• Patricia had so much fun with her sister guest-starring that sometimes it was hard to bring the tension that the scene required, "I was enjoying her so much that I would find myself smiling." A particularly ridiculous line about a "middle-aged mouseburger" eventually had to be cut from a scene because Patricia couldn't get through it without laughing. Yeah Patricia, we don't blame you.

Back To "The Office": NBC Unveils Post-Strike Plans

NBC has announced the post-writers-strike fate of its shows. One press release unveiled premiere dates for series returning this spring. The other revealed that "Heroes," "Chuck" and "Life" will all return - but not till next fall, when they'll be beneficiaries of "major re-launch campaigns."

Unlike CBS, the network wasn't telling how many post-strike episodes of the spring series will be produced - with "Scrubs," in its final season, the big question mark there. Sez NBC:

"My Name Is Earl" (Thursdays, 8-8:30 p.m. ET), will return with a one-hour episode on Thursday, April 3; the Emmy Award-winning "30 Rock" (Thursdays, 8:30-9 p.m. ET) will begin on Thursday, April 10; likewise, the Emmy-winning "The Office" (Thursdays, 9-9:30 p.m. ET) also resumes with new episodes on Thursday, April 10; and "Scrubs" (Thursdays, 9:30-10 p.m. ET) will come back with original episodes beginning Thursday, April 10.

"ER" (Thursdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) also will come back on Thursday, April 10 with new episodes following the complete run of "Lipstick Jungle," which concludes on March 20.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (Tuesdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) will return with fresh episodes on Tuesday, April 15. "Law & Order" (Wednesdays, 10-11 p.m. ET) resumes with original episodes on Wednesday, April 23. Meanwhile, "Medium" (Mondays, 10-11 p.m. ET) continues in originals.

And a postscript: Specific plans for other NBC scripted series are currently being determined and will be announced later.

"Medium" Stars Talk Turkey

Supernatural thriller/family drama "Medium" returns Monday, January 7th with a breath of fresh episodes while more and more shows lapse into reruns. Kicking off their fourth season with a six-episode arc starring Angelica Huston, the show managed to get in nine episodes before the writer's strike erupted. The fourth season finds the DuBois family in a tough situation, with Allison's powers revealed and both Allison and Joe out of work. Before the season premiere, stars Patricia Arquette and Jake Weber sat down with journalists to discuss the upcoming season, the strengths of the show and what it's like to be an actor in the shadow of the writer's strike.