Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman: Encyclopedia II - Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman - About the Show

Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman - 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.

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. When the time came to renew her contract, Erika Flores was nervous about signing the new contract as it was on a 5 year basis. Flores also wished to attend college and was hoping that the producers would increase her salary. When the show declined to offer her more money, Flores did not renew her contract with the show. Beth Sullivan decided that she wanted the character to continue instead of being killed off or sent away. As a result, Jessica Bowman was cast as the new Colleen in Flores' place. It was very risky to cast another actress in such a major role but it proved to be very successful. Some of Flores fans were vocal in their anger over the change, but Bowman, with the blessing of the show's producers, played a more mature, refined and slightly less flighty version of Colleen, making the character her own. Like Flores, she established a large fan base and is considered by many to be the superior actresses.

The romance between Michaela and Sully was widely popular with audiences and can be attributed to Jane Seymour and Joe Lando's terrific 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.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "About the Show", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki