Bryan Greene

Teresa does not have a down-on-her-luck story.

She comes from means.

Teresa has been afforded the opportunity to turn this parlor trick into a slick, professional operation.

And by her 30s and 40s,

she was a full-time media.

I think part of the reason why Teresa connects so well with the audience is that kind of yackle-doodle, local-yokel, Long Island accent mixed with the loud suburban mom persona.

Unlike Miss Cleo, Teresa Caputo came to television with an established community of people who already believed everything she was saying.

In 2011, TLC launched Long Island Medium.

To say the show was a hit would be an understatement.

Teresa does readings for clients, friends, and strangers she would approach in public places.

Her show's format mixed her big, brash, Long Island personality.

Hair tease to the heavens.

Acrylic nails as long as they can be.

Loud family dynamic.

She mixed all of that with emotional psychic readings.

It drew in millions of viewers.

Teresa wasn't like a mystical crystal ball psychic.

She was just an everyday Long Island mom with giant hair, an obnoxious laugh, and a funny family.

This was part reality, part shenanigans, part sitting down with someone who seemed empathetic to your recent loss and simply telling you that everything was going to be okay.

The episodes always delivered a tearful reunion as she would deliver some message from the other side.