Main

• Jane Seymour as Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn
• Joe Lando as Byron Sully
• Chad Allen as Matthew Cooper
• Erika Flores (seasons 1–3) and Jessica Bowman (seasons 3–6) as Colleen Cooper (later: Colleen Cooper Cook)
• Shawn Toovey as Brian Cooper

Supporting

Guest stars

Production notes

The pilot episode was shot in early 1992 and aired in a two-hour television special on New Year's Day 1993. CBS aired a second, hour-long episode the next night in order to attract and maintain the audience's attention. The pilot served more as a made-for-television movie – or mini-series suggestion – which could either be developed later into a full series or remain as a stand-alone two-hour movie. CBS ordered the show picked up immediately for the full season. However, the show made some imperative casting changes. Several pilot leads and a few of the supporting cast were replaced. Henry Sanders was recast as Robert E. in place of Ivory Ocean as a less folksy hard-nosed working man; Orson Bean replaced Guy Boyd as a more fatherly, cynically-comical Loren Bray; and Colm Meaney was replaced by Jim Knobeloch, a much younger, attractive, and contemptuously stoic Jake Slicker. Likewise, Larry Sellers's character, a Cheyenne brave called Black Hawk (listed under the closing credits as such) who played an auxiliary role as one of Chief Black Kettle's aides and spoke only their language, was quietly retooled into Cloud Dancing, Sully's blood brother and a major recurring character, who, in addition to aiding Black Kettle, plays a large role in quelling the tribulations of the Cheyenne and other neighboring tribes. He also acquired the ability to speak English, allowing him to act as a liaison alongside Sully. His character's name was never spoken on-screen during his first appearance, which can cause viewers to inadvertently re-interpret this look-alike as Cloud Dancing's first appearance before his formal debut.

Filming

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 episodes being shot during its six-year run. Since Dr. Quinn ended, the ranch has been used numerous times for other filming projects. Numerous buildings, including the church, Sully's homestead, the school house, and the Spring Chateau Resort, were leveled soon after the series was canceled. However, the entire town still remained.^[4] Despite minor changes over the years, it was still recognizable as the Dr. Quinn set, and was a popular tourist attraction for many fans until the entire set was destroyed in the Woolsey Fire in late 2018.^[5]

Other areas used throughout the series were the back lot at Universal Studios in Hollywood, including the New England street as the location of the Quinn family home; and the New York streets, doubling as the streets of Boston and Washington. The setting of Boston in the final movie was filmed in Canada, using various locations in Old Montreal.

Music

William Olvis wrote the underscoring music for the series, except for a few episodes in season one (where he either alternated with Star Trek spin-off series composer David Bell, or co-scored with Bell) and the Revolutions movie.

In the episode "For Better or Worse: Part 1", the folk song "I've Been Working on the Railroad" was played by the brass band; the song was not written until 1892.

Casting

Veteran actress Jane Seymour, labeled a mini-series "queen", was a last-minute casting choice for Michaela Quinn, having read the script only a day before production was set to begin on the pilot. She was instructed beforehand to review the script and make a decision of whether or not she felt the role was right for her, and, if so, that she truly wanted to commit to the strict contract Sullivan had demanded for the title character. The next day she began the wardrobe fittings for the series.

In a 2015 feature on National Public Radio, Seymour said that she signed her contract for the show (including both the TV-movie/pilot and a five-year series commitment) because she had just discovered that her then husband/business manager had lost all her money and gotten her $9 million in debt. She had told her agent that to avoid losing her house and to protect her two young children, she would do any TV project available, no matter what it was, and Dr. Quinn was the first one offered to her.

Themes

Dr. Quinn was arguably best known for its large supporting cast and its high-concept storytelling. The series often used its semi-historical setting as a vehicle to address issues of gender and race within the community. For example, one episode took on homophobia when poet Walt Whitman came to town.^[6] Religion played a somewhat minor role in the series, but was also used to address certain issues and new ideas.

In the season-three finale, "For Better or Worse", Michaela and Sully were married during a special two-hour episode. During season four, Seymour's real-life pregnancy was written into the show. The following season saw the birth of Michaela and Sully's daughter, Katie.

Syndication

The show has enjoyed strong ratings in reruns. Dr. Quinn was one of the rare instances of a show entering rerun syndication in the middle of a TV season. It debuted reruns in most American markets on Monday, December 30, 1996, just two days shy of the show's 4th anniversary. With 4 seasons being the minimum requirement for syndication pickup, Dr. Quinn reruns could have started at the more traditional launch date of September 1996, but the show's distributor, like many, had an additional minimum episode limit in order for the show to be eligible for syndication. This episode count was not reached until several episodes into Dr. Quinn's fifth season (1996–1997), and since stations had already purchased the show at the beginning of that season, the distributor decided not to hold off until the next fall and let the stations start airing reruns right away.

When PAX TV launched in August 1998, it acquired reruns of current family-friendly series from CBS, including Dr. Quinn. Because dedicated Dr. Quinn fans were angered by the show's cancellation by CBS that year, these national reruns via PAX helped relieve the blow, especially in markets where local stations were not airing reruns in syndication.

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 played a role in its removal. Dr. Quinn continues to be seen throughout the world and has been translated to several languages.

Starting in June 2009, the Gospel Music Channel began airing Dr. Quinn weekdays at 5:00 and 6:00. More recently Vision TV Canada began airing Dr Quinn week nights at 6PM AT. It also airs on CHNU10 in the Lower Mainland of BC, Canada, at 3 PM PST Weekdays. It has also been shown continuously in Denmark since 2001, with plans on to keep it at its daily broadcast time of 1:00, Monday to Friday, on Danish TV station, tv2.

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. 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.

In 2003, A&E Network managed to buy the distribution rights for Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman from CBS. All six seasons plus the two made-for-TV movies have been released on DVD. The series appears on the GMC Network. GMC aired all the series episodes, including the season-six episodes not shown in a decade, during the summer of 2010. Joe Lando did several teasers and promotions for the weekend marathons, and says he finds GMC's ad campaign "funny", saying: "Truthfully, I haven't had that many opportunities to make fun of Sully. No one's really found me that funny. But it's fun to do it now. GMC came up with a great ad campaign. My kids were entertained by it and my wife got a kick out of it."^[7]

Start TV currently airs reruns of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman every Monday through Saturday at 5 & 6 A.M. as well as Sundays at 7 A.M.^[8]

Home media

A&E Home Video has released all six seasons of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman on DVD in Region 1. It has released also the two television movies that were made after the series ended.

In Region 2, Revelation Films has released all six seasons on DVD in the UK. The two TV-movies were released separately, the first was entitled Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman – The Movie and the second was entitled Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman – The Heart Within.

In Australia (Region 4), Via Vision Entertainment release the individual seasons from September 2008 through until February 2012. The TV movies Collection was released in September 2016. The individual seasons were then re-released with new artwork. Via Vision have released six complete series box sets, the first being "The Keepsake Collection" with 39 discs on April 17, 2013. The second version was "The Hat Box Collection" with 39 discs on November 26, 2014. The third released was a repackaged version of "The Hat Box Collection" on November 4, 2015. The fourth release "The Complete Collection - The Complete Seasons One-Six" with 40 discs was released on October 5, 2016. The fifth version under the same title as the fourth release and with 43 discs was released on May 10, 2018 and the sixth release also under the same title as the fourth and fifth editions with 40 discs was released on November 18, 2020.

Awards and nominations

Seymour and Barbara Babcock were the only regular cast members to receive Emmy nominations for their work on the series. Seymour was nominated in 1994 and 1998 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, while Babcock received a single nomination in 1995 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the episode entitled "Ladies' Night", as her character, Dorothy Jennings, underwent a mastectomy. Diane Ladd received a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 1993.

Seymour also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Drama in 1996 for her portrayal of Michaela Quinn, and was also nominated for the same award in 1994, 1995, and 1997. She was also nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series twice, in 1994 and 1996.

The show did win many technical awards, as well as hair and make-up honors.

Ratings

Demographics change and cancellation

The show was a major hit in the United States for CBS and drew large ratings even though it aired on Saturday nights. 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-49 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 previous season, with the death of several characters as well as some highly sensitive subject matter: the painful 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 steady and consistent (finishing at #51 for the year). The series was suddenly canceled in 1998 after its sixth season.^[9] Despite this, the series concluded on a bookend by seeing Colleen marry Andrew and prepare to embark as a doctor in her own right, following her adoptive mother's footsteps.

There is still an active fan club for William Shockley, who played Hank Lawson on the show, known as "Hank's Hussies". In January 2014, they attended a red carpet movie premiere together in Nashville for his new movie.

Movies

Reboot

On October 7, 2019, Jane Seymour announced in a television interview her efforts toward a possible reboot of the series.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Novels

There were several books based on the series written by as follows. Some of them were also released abroad, including in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Poland.

The books by Dorothy Laudan were originally released in Germany and have never appeared in an English version. However, it was these books that were most commonly translated into other languages. The series of nine covers most of the series, although the episodes on which they are based were shortened and some scenes were left out or were mentioned only briefly.

Spin-off

In 1997, there were plans of making a spin-off series centered around the Hank Lawson character. Some of the other regular Dr. Quinn characters, including the ones of Jane Seymour, Joe Lando, Jim Knobeloch, Frank Collison and Orson Bean, were in as well.

It was directed by Jerry London, with Robert Brooks Mendel as the first assistant director, Timothy O. Johnson as the executive producer, and Beth Sullivan as the producer. The rest of the cast members were Laura Harring (Christina Guevara), Edward Albert (Ted McKay), James Brolin (Sheriff), Eddie Albert (Ben McKay), Carlos Gómez (Father Thomas Guevara) and John Saxon (Rafael Guevara).^[21]

The show was titled California and only the pilot episode was filmed. It remains unclear whether it has ever aired on television. It was available on YouTube for a time, but has since disappeared, except for a couple of clips.