Medium Takes on an Extra Dimension
When you put on 3-D glasses to watch portions of Monday's episode of Medium, you can thank Pee Wee Herman for the experience. Yes, Pee Wee Herman.
Here, let Medium creator Glenn Gordon Caron explain:
"I was sort of reminded of my enthusiasm for 3-D at a party [series star Patricia Arquette] had. I ran into Paul Reubens who's a collector of TV memorabilia," Caron says. "He confessed to me that one of the things he owned was a test I did years ago with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd for Moonlighting in anticipation of a 3-D episode."
Moonlighting in 3-D never came to be, but talking with Reubens "got my wheels spinning" about doing a three-dimensional Medium, Caron says. "And here we are."
In Monday's (Nov. 21) episode, Allison DuBois (Arquette) discovers that she sees art differently than most people. The works of one artist stand out, as she sees disturbing 3-D images leap from his canvasses, leading her to suspect the artist has a dark secret.
Caron says that the real Allison DuBois, who serves as the inspiration for Medium and is a consultant to the show, hasn't told him she experiences visions in that way. "But she has talked about the degree of vividness with which she experiences things," he says.
"I really thought, What a wonderful, and wonderfully different, way to depict her visions, A. And B, what an interesting, provocative way to induce people who haven't sampled the show to sample it. And C, what a fun toy to play with."
NBC is distributing millions of pairs of 3-D glasses in copies of this week's TV Guide and through "street teams" in a number of cities (details on where to get them are at NBC.com). Caron adds, however, that those who watch the episode without the glasses will still be able to enjoy it as they would any other show.
Additionally, Caron has enlisted the beyond-the-grave help of Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling for help introducing the episode and explaining when viewers should don their 3-D glasses. The show has taken an introduction to a Twilight Zone episode and digitally altered it to fit Medium the help of voice actor Mark Silverman and the blessing of Serling's estate.
"Frankly, we're very flattered to be allowed to do this," Caron says, "to use his image and take advantage of the extraordinary legacy he has."
TV shows have tried 3-D episodes a few times in the past, with varying degrees of success (NBC's own 3rd Rock from the Sun attempted one in 1997 that didn't go so well). Caron is confident the 3-D effects in Medium will add to the episode, and he wouldn't even mind doing another one.
"I've seen [the episode] in enough of a stage of completion for it to fall into my sort of usual pattern with this stuff, which is always to think of 800 things I should have done," he says. "Hopefully if people like it, maybe we'll get to do another one."
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