What's On: Medium of the Living Dead

If CBS had not revived Medium after NBC snuffed it out last May, fans would have never seen tonight's special Halloween episode in which Allison (Patricia Arquette) is placed into certain scenes of George Romero's classic horror flick Night of the Living Dead. In the sequences, which come to Allison while she's asleep, Arquette takes over the role of Barbara (originally played by Judith O'Dea). Given how frequently Arquette's character lapses into bizarre nightmares though, it would have seemed just as natural for Allison to pop up in Nell or Soul Plane.

Medium [9 PM, CBS]

Series creator Glenn Gordon Caron explained that the idea for tonight's episode dates back to his previous show Moonlighting, when Caron bought the rights to the film Mothra vs. Godzilla. Producers planned "to matte Bruce (Willis) and Cybill (Shepherd) into it" but "never got around to it." In tonight's episode, Allison (Arquette) wakes up from her Living Dead nightmares with mysterious bruises and bite marks which become clues about the slaying of a funeral director. Aida Turturro guest stars and Elvira appears as herself.

Pit Bulls and Parolees [10 PM, Animal Planet]

The AP premieres a new series tonight that tests the theory of therapy pets. Tia Maria Torres, who runs the largest pit bull rescue center in America, recruits six ex-convicts to rescue and rehabilitate the dogs and eventually place them in loving homes. Something tells me that the dogs won't be the only ones being rehabilitated.

Live at Gotham [11 PM, Comedy Central]

Most people know Judah Friedlander as 30 Rocks novelty hat-wearing writer Frank, or "The World Champion of the World," but Friedlander has been doing stand-up for almost 20 years. Tonight, he emcees Comedy Central's live comedy show that introduces six up-and-coming comics at the famous NYC comedy club.

Madea's Family Reunion [9 PM, TBS]

Tyler Perry's Madea fat suit might have been the only intimate revelation of his recent 60 Minutes profile, but Perry tends to let his work speak for itself. The mixture of intense family drama with broad humor in Madea's Family Reunion and his other "comedies" does not do much for 17 year-old boys, but is like catnip for black women, a buying group rarely addressed at the multiplex. The revelations of horrible secrets usually ruins a comedy, but Perry and the funny characters (Madea, Uncle Joe) are there to add sweet to the sour.