Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was an American multi-Emmy Award winning dramatic television series created by Beth Sullivan, that ran on CBS for six seasons (1993-1998).

Plot

The series begins in the year 1867 and centers on a proper female physician from Boston, Massachusetts, Michaela "Dr. Mike" Quinn (played by British actress Jane Seymour). After the death of her father, Dr. Mike sets out to the small wild west town of Colorado Springs, to set up her own practice. She makes the difficult adjustment to life in Colorado with the aid of rugged outdoorsman and friend to the Cheyenne, Byron Sully (played by American actor Joe Lando) and a midwife named Charlotte Cooper played by Diane Ladd. After Charlotte is bitten by a snake, she asks Michaela on her death bed to look after her three children, Matthew, Colleen and Brian. Dr. Mike settles in Colorado Springs and adapts to her new life with the children while finding love with Sully. Furthermore, she casts herself into a one-woman mission to convince the townspeople that a woman doctor can practice medicine.

About the Show

Dr. Quinn was best known for its large supporting cast and high concept storytelling. The series often used its semi-historical setting as a vehicle to address issues of gender and race within the community. Countless issues were addressed that were relevant to modern times, some of which were quite controversial. One controversial episode even took on homophobia when the famous poet Walt Whitman came to town. Religion played a somewhat minor role in the series but was also used to address certain issues and new ideas.

There were various cast changes of minor characters during the series. However, the most profiled change took place during the show's third season when the character of Colleen Cooper was recast halfway through the year. Unlike the other actors who signed 5 year contracts with the show, Erika Flores was hesitant. She held out for an increase in her salary and refused to sign a contract unless either she were offered a contract shorter than 5 years, or her salary could be increased. Rumors have circulated that Flores' father gave her an ultimatum to end her contract unless they offered her more money or he would cut her off financially. Flores has denied such rumors claiming that she left the series for personal reasons as well as to pursue other opportunities. Whatever the reasons, the actress was abruptly replaced with little warning by CBS after the show declined to meet her requests. Beth Sullivan decided that she wanted the character to continue instead of being killed off or sent away. The decision to replace the actress halfway through a season is perplexing and has never been explained. However, it is speculated that the producers felt the switch should take place as soon as possible. As a result, Jessica Bowman was cast as the new Colleen in Flores' place. Some of Erika Flores' fans were vocal in their anger over the change, but the producers felt Jessica Bowman had the ability to successfully recreat the character on her own. Though the tone of the character was somewhat changed to meet the personality of the actress, Jessica Bowman brought a maturity to the character that Erika's Colleen did not possess. Many regard the dramatic change of actresses to be one of the most successful in television history. She established a large following of loyal fans and became a favorite character. Today, Jessica Bowman's is considered by many to be the superior Colleen, still debates between fans continue.

The romance between Michaela and Sully was widely popular with audiences and can be attributed to Jane Seymour and Joe Lando's chemistry on screen. In season 3, they were married in a special two-hour episode, which gained huge ratings and was highly publicized in magazines and on television. In Season 4, Jane Seymour's pregnancy was written into the show which resulted in another highly-rated episode with the birth of Michaela and Sully's daughter, Katie.

Tensions

The cast was reported to get along well despite some tensions which led to minor recastings and some disagreements between the show's writers and cast. It is known both Jane Seymour and Joe Lando dated one another for a few months ( during the earlier half of the series). Though they had their very minor difficulties during filming (often the results of disagreements on characterization and practical jokes) they have continued to be very close friends .

The most documented tension came at the end of the show's fifth season as Joe Lando was unhappy with both the show's and his character's direction. He seriously considered leaving the show and Beth Sullivan, who felt the show needed to be shook up, openly stated Dr. Quinn could continue just fine with the Sully character killed off after a heated argument. Since it was not known if Joe Lando would return, the fifth season finale showed Sully being thrown over a cliff into a river leaving viewers wondering, along with Dr. Quinn, if he was dead or alive. This way if Joe Lando did not return, Dr. Quinn would find Sully's body and the show would go on with Sully dead, or if Joe Lando returned they would find him alive and well. As winter turned into spring in the early months of 1997, it seemed likely Joe Lando would not return so John Schneider was asked to return to the show playing Sully's best friend Daniel. John Schneider was intended to take Lando's place as the show's leading man and Michaela Quinn's new love interest. But, upon learning this, Dr. Quinn fans created a campaign known as "Save Our Sully." However, by the time they were ready to film the season 6 premiere in the spring of 1997, and only after he was freed up to pursue other projects, Joe Lando agreed to return. He was given part time status on the show and only appeared in several episodes. Although the episodes were spread out throughout the season, they were actually filmed over a period of several weeks and Joe Lando then only returned for the finale. Lando's limited participation in the sixth season as well as Jessica Bowman's absence due to her character being in College added to the decline in viewership.

Demographics Change and Cancellation

The show was a major hit in the United States for CBS and drew large ratings despite the fact it aired on Saturday nights, when networks rarely air new episodes owing to low viewership. Despite the high ratings, CBS claimed that the demographics changed during the show's run. During its final season, the majority of Dr. Quinn's viewers were women 40 years of age and older, and not the male and female 18-to-40 demographic that networks try to reach. In response, CBS ordered the writers to give the show a slightly darker feel than in previous seasons. As a result, Season six was darker than any other season before it, with the death of several characters as well as some highly sensitive subject matter including: the miscarriage of Michaela's second child, as well as an episode entitled "Point Blank" where Michaela was shot by a man and then later developed post-traumatic stress disorder. Many fans did not like the changes while others felt that the tensions and high drama benefited the show after the overall pleasant past seasons. Despite these opposing opinions, the ratings still proved to be strong and consistent.

Nevertheless, the series was suddenly cancelled in 1998 after its 6th season, much to the shock and anger of its fans. Both the show's star and producers had earlier claimed that CBS would produce a 7th season which all had agreed would be show's last. This would allow Sullivan and the writers to wrap up all the character storylines and give the show the send off many felt is deserved. However, with rumors circulating that Dr. Quinn would not be returning the producers wrote and filmed a finale that attempted to tie up most loose ends with the marriage of Colleen and the resolved issues of many characters. To this day, CBS has never given a clear reason as to why Dr. Quinn was cancelled, though it claimed that the demographics had changed so much that they could no longer sell commercial time slots to advertisers. This was not the case, however, as the show was still one of the highest rated shows on Saturday nights. The most common held belief by Dr. Quinn and CBS insiders is that the network wanted to move away from its more family friendly programming and Dr. Quinn was first on the list. It is also known that several of CBS's top executives disliked Dr. Quinn a great deal and used the demographics excuse as reason to cancel it. During the 6th season, many fans complained after the show was put on hiatus several times and there was a sudden lack of promotion of when new episodes would air.

TV Movies

The cancellation of Dr. Quinn caused a massive fan protest that had not been seen since the campaign to save Star Trek in the mid-1960s. CBS decided that instead of doing another season, as the cost involved was deemed too high, it would make a TV movie. In May, 1999, one year after its cancellation, CBS aired Dr. Quinn: Revolutions, a made for television movie which was set in 1877. However, the actual date should have taken place two years after the final episode of Dr. Quinn in the year 1875. In the movie Katie Sully is kidnapped and Dr. Mike and Sully along with help from some members of the town go and search for their missing daughter in Mexico. Fans of the show were delighted that a film was being produced but were not altogether impressed with the concept of the movie. It was very different in tone to the rest of the series, incorporating more guns and violence to try and please the demographic of males in their 20's. Beth Sullivan was so furious with CBS's control over the project she declined to be involved with it. It was critically panned and failed in the ratings, due to a lack of promotion.

It seemed Dr. Quinn would not return again until CBS decided to give it another go.

A second movie entitled Dr Quinn: The Heart Within aired in May, 2001. The movie was set a year after Revolutions making it 9 years since the first episode of Dr. Quinn in the year 1876. This time around, CBS gave Beth Sullivan total creative control; however, there were some strong ground rules. To save money the movie had to be filmed in Canada, and only the principal cast could be involved. Jane Seymour also served as executive producer. In the movie, Michaela and the Sully family return to Boston to attend Colleen's graduation from medical school. Unfortunately, Michaela's mother has fallen ill due to a heart condition and eventually dies. Colleen finds herself in a similar situation as her mother was in Boston nine years earlier in that she is not respected or taken seriously as a woman doctor. The movie acted as an unintended finale to the series, depicting the Cooper children finding their futures in Boston while Michaela returns to Colorado Springs. While the movie was better received by fans, they did complain that more of the townspeople were not involved, due to CBS's demands, as well as the absence of Chad Allen's character Matthew (Allen declined to appear in the movie after he learned none of the show's supporting cast had been asked to star in it). Despite these criticisms, the movie beat out all its competition in the ratings coming in first place and was much more in nature of the actual series.

Continued Popularity

Today, the show remains popular, despite the fact it has been off the air for nearly eight years with the last movie airing nearly 5 years ago. More recently, the show has gained a large internet following, most likely due to Dr. Quinn rerun episodes and the high DVD sales. According to sources at CBS, the network still receives thousands of letters a year requesting more Dr. Quinn.

The show has enjoyed strong ratings in reruns. Until late 2005, the Hallmark Channel aired it daily, but in late 2005 Hallmark removed Dr. Quinn from its lineup citing a drop in viewership. It is also believed that the high cost in Dr. Quinn distribution rights also played a role in its removal. In Canada, Dr. Quinn airs twice daily on the Lonestar Network and is one of their highest rated shows. Dr. Quinn continues to be seen throughout the world and has been translated to several languages.

Future of Dr. Quinn

Since the last movie in 2001, many of the show's cast members have expressed interest in reprising their roles and would like to do another reunion movie, or even a new season. There have been unconfirmed rumours that several cable networks such as Hallmark, Lifetime and Oh! Oxygen have been interested in buying the rights to the show to either produce another TV movie or a new completely new season. However, CBS refuses to sell those rights. It is believed that Dr. Quinn nets a large profit for the network through its DVD sales and syndication, and that is why CBS is not willing to sell.

In 2003, A&E Network managed to buy the distribution rights for Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman from CBS. All six season plus the two made for television movies have been released on DVD, and have enjoyed strong sales. Some fans, however, have expressed disappointment at the lack of many special features and the higher than usual cost of the DVDs.

Jane Seymour, Joe Lando, Chad Allen, and other cast members have stated they would all like to work together again and would reprise their Dr. Quinn roles if the opportunity arises. The show's creator, Beth Sullivan has also stated her interest in writing another Dr. Quinn movie. However, Jane Seymour has gone on record stating that the current executives at CBS seem uninterested in bringing back Dr. Quinn, despite the continued popularity of the show.

Trivia

While much of Dr. Quinn was fictional, some of the events and people were based on historical fact.

Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania actually existed.

The Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 was seen in the pilot episode (though it was historically inaccurate as the pilot took place in 1867).

Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and Chief Black Kettle are true historical figures.

The Battle of Washita River, seen in the third season episode Washita was a true event. In the show the battle took place in 1869, while in fact it took place in fall 1868.

Though set in Colorado, snow is never seen on the ground in the entire run of the series - not even in Christmas episodes.

One of the major historical oversights of the show is that Colorado Springs was not technically founded until 1871 by General William Palmer and was mainly a resort town. There were no saloons as Palmer declared Colorado Springs to be alcohol-free. Colorado Springs stayed "dry" until the end of Prohibition in 1933.

Dr. Quinn was largely filmed at the western set on Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. Fans of the show were able to visit the sets, talk to the actors and watch the filming of the series during its 6 year run. Since Dr Quinn ended the ranch has been used numerous times for other filming projects. Numerous buildings including the Church, Sully Homestead, School and Chateau Springs Hotel were levelled soon after the series was cancelled. However, the entire town still remains. Despite, minor changes over the years it is still recognizable as the Dr Quinn set and is a popular tourist attraction for many fans.

Other areas used throughout the series were the backlot at Universal Studios in California as well as areas in California and Canada.

William Olvis wrote the underscoring music for the entire series except for the Revolutions Television movie. The Dr. Quinn theme has become a well known anthem and is considered to be a notable television theme directly related to the beloved show.

Cast

Jane Seymour .... Dr. Michaela 'Dr. Mike' Quinn
Joe Lando .... Byron Sully
Chad Allen .... Matthew Cooper
Jessica Bowman .... Colleen Cooper
Shawn Toovey .... Brian Cooper

Supporting cast
Erika Flores .... Colleen Cooper (up to mid-Season 3)
James Leland Adams .... Preston A. Lodge III (Seasons 4-6)
Jonelle Allen .... Grace
Barbara Babcock .... Dorothy Jennings (Seasons 2-6)
Orson Bean .... Loren Bray
Frank Collison .... Horace Bing
Brandon Douglas .... Dr. Andrew Cook (Seasons 4-6)
Jim Knobeloch .... Jake Slicker
Geoffrey Lower .... Rev. Timothy Johnson
Henry G. Sanders .... Robert E.
Larry Sellers .... Cloud Dancing
William Shockley .... Hank Lawson
Helene Udy .... Myra Bing (Seasons 1-4)
Jennifer Youngs .... Ingrid (Seasons 1-3)
Haylie Johnson .... Becky Bonner (Seasons 1-6)
John Schneider .... Daniel Simon (Season 6)
Alex Meneses .... Teresa Morales(Season 6)
Michelle Bonilla .... Teresa Morales(Season 5)
Gail Strickland .... Ms. Olive Davis (Season 1)

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