“Medium” is returning for its third season on Wednesday, Nov. 15th, and it’s doing so in a big way; not only will it be a two-hour premiere – beginning at 9 PM, whereas its normal timeslot in future weeks will be at 10 PM – but it will co-star Patricia Arquette’s real-life husband, Thomas Jane (“The Punisher”). NBC provided us with a teleconference opportunity with Arquette as well as “Medium” creator Glenn Gordon Caron, and we were able to get in questions about the upcoming season, the weirdness of Arquette working with her TV husband and her real-life husband in the same scene, and whether or not one of Caron’s long-lost series will ever see the light of day…

Bullz-Eye: Hi, Patricia and Glenn.

Glenn Gordon Caron: Hi.

Patricia Arquette: Hello.

BE: I just finished watching the set for Season 2…and thanks for the 3D glasses, by the way.

GGC: (Laughs)

BE: In the featurette about the season, there were several comments made about how there had been more episodes focusing on events taking place strictly in Allison’s head, like the mental institution or the season finale. Are you anticipating following a similar for Season 3, or do you feel like you’ve done too much of that and you need to branch out?

GGC: I think Season 3 is going to be…probably a happy mixture of things. One of the things I freely admit to is that we plan very little in a sort of season-like way. I don’t sit down and construct an arc for the season or anything like that, because I find that I can always see through that. I see the arc, and I feel the writers and the actors and everybody sort of contorting to fit into it. So what I prefer is that we move through the season in kind of three or four or five episode chunks, and we react to what we see. That allows Patricia and the other actors to react to the material, we react to the performance, the characters grow that way…it becomes very organic. But I think that, presumably, yes, there will be some episodes that revolve around things that happen uniquely in Allison’s head. There will also be, obviously, a group of episodes that revolve around external things that are going on to which she’s privy by way of the gift that she has.

BE: Patricia, how bizarre was it to have to work with your TV husband and your real-life husband in the same scenes?

PA: You know, it was fun. It was really interesting. I mean, I know my husband’s foxy, but I was, like, “Oooooo, he’s really foxy!” It was funny to see them together and to play that dynamic, because, you know, clearly, I feel a certain way about my husband, and I do love Jake a lot, we’re really good friends, but to make your choices that are clear for your character…it was funny, because they’re so different from who I am, in a weird way.

GGC: I hope I’m not violating a confidence, but I will confess that we were halfway through shooting the episode, and Jake came to me and confessed that he was very uncomfortable with the idea that Patricia’s real husband was on set and vying for her affection within the context of the story…that it made him really, peculiarly uncomfortable.

PA: I’m sure he was joking. (Laughs)

GGC: I think the word he used was jealous. Really, really jealous.

BE: I know Arliss Howard (who plays Texas Ranger Captain Kenneth Push) directed an episode last season; is there any talk of him returning this year in a similar capacity?

GGC: He just left!

PA: He directs our next episode, yeah! And he’s gonna be in another episode!

GGC: Right.

PA: We can’t get rid of Arliss Howard…! Not that we want to. I’m a big fan of his.

BE: Are there any other semi-recurring guest stars coming back this year, like Ryan Hurst…?

GGC: We’re talking about having Ryan back. We’re having…who else is coming back? Let’s see…oh, yes, Doctor…Mark Sheppard plays Doctor…the doctor from the 1800s who invades…

BE: Right, Dr. Walker.

GGC: Yeah, he’s coming back. Catherine (Margo Martindale), who’s the psychic that Allison encountered in the pilot, who sort of gave her a sense of perspective on what she was going through, has come back. We have some interesting directors coming. I’m trying very hard to convince David Arquette to come and direct an episode here. Miguel Sandoval (D.A. Manuel Devalos), I think, is going to step behind the camera; I’d love to get Kelsey Grammer to step behind the camera, as well as step in front of the camera again. And you may have heard me say this earlier, but we’re contemplating doing another 3D episode. So we’ve got a bunch of tricks up our sleeve.

BE: And just in closing, have you ever thought about pitching “Fling” to BrilliantButCancelled.com? (“Fling” was a series that Caron created in 2001, with a cast that included Amy Sedaris, Brooke Langton, and Josh Hopkins; six episodes were filmed, but the series never actually made on the air.)

GGC: (Laughs) You’re very sweet.

BE: (Laughs)

GGC: I don’t have control over those things. There was talk that it was going to show up on…Innertube, I think it’s called? But, y’know, we’ll see. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. But you’re very sweet to mention it, thank you.

BE: No problem. Thank you.