Cast and Crew / Premise:

Now and Again is created by Glenn Gordon Caron, who is also responsible for creating Moonlighting with Bruce Willis and Sybil Sheppard. After that he went on to doing movies but then Les Moonves, who back in the day was the chairman and CEO of CBS, asked him to return to TV. He basically gave Glenn Gordon Caron cart blanche, he could do anything he wanted to, he didn’t need to go through the pilot process and such. Apparently the show was not something he (Moonves) really understood, he probably expected something more in line with Moonlighting. Now and Again is a different kind of show, a romantic spy show and definitely some SCI-FI elements in it. Back in the day CBS already was moving more to procedurals, less serialized, so, Now And Again was a bit of an odd duck. It got a Friday night 9PM slot and no significant lead in show in the hour before that. Still, the rating numbers weren’t bad, but more “on the bubble”, which it the term for not good and not bad.

René Echevarria, who most of you know from Star Trek: The Next Generation (3 seasons) and  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (5 seasons), was the Supervising Producer. He had also written 4 episodes of Now And Again. Michael Angeli was a journalist before he came working for Now And Again. Caron was familiar with his work and asked him to join the show, become a writer for Television.

Eric Close, who I knew at that time from the SCI-FI TV show Dark Skies, NBC’s answer to The X-Files. It only gotten a single season, which was a shame, it definitely deserved more. Eric Close is Michael Newman, although he himself feels he still is Michael Wiseman. He, Michael Wiseman, was an insurance sales man, when he died. The government had a special project, a Dr. Theodore Morris (Dennis Haysbert), a science doctor, used his brain to create an artificially man, Michael Newman, with the brain of Michael Wiseman, who has special powers like super hearing, increased strength, being able to survive bullets, running real fast and more. The new and improved Michael Wiseman is forbidden, under a penalty of death, to tell anyone from his past about what he has become, that includes his wife Lisa Wiseman (Margaret Colin), his daughter Heather (Heather Matarazzo) and Michael’s best friend Roger Bender (Gerrit Graham). He is the first “super human”, but he still has all his memories from his life before and he cannot let go of these memories and his love for his wife and daughter. A superb cast, only five characters, but they make the show work, it is such a shame (again) it only got one season.

My thoughts about Now And Again:

Yes, I mainly started to watch Now And Again because of the show’s SCI-FI elements, but in truth, it is so much more than that, it has drama, it is also a bit of a comedy but I think most of all it is a romantic story. The new and improved Michael Wiseman only wishing one thing, to go back to his wife, his daughter, because he still loves them so much. Dr. Morris made it clear to him that if his wife and daughter should learn the truth about him, Dr. Morris is forced to eliminate them. So, Michael Wiseman realizes he can only love them from a distance.

In two-thirds of the season his life and that of his wife and daughter cross paths, which are also the best episodes because as a viewer, you want them to get back together. Lisa is attracted to him from the first time she meets him, she feels a connection, he is in her thoughts. Halfway through the season there definitely is a change in the episode format if you will. Not sure that is the correct word for it but the creators / writers purposely created storylines where the Wiseman family and Michael Wiseman have no interaction. Although I still liked the episodes, I was pleased when after four episodes or so, their paths crossed again.

Dr. Morris has strict control over him, he is constantly guarded by special agents, he is not allowed to read, to watch TV, so he is totally focused on what his purpose is, to go on missions like stopping the Eggman or the Bugmeister. Only later on Michael Wiseman is allowed to read, after a very vivid dream Dr. Morris had about when a strange microorganism is released, partly due to Dr. Morris's involvement, that causes all printed words in books and documents to vanish globally. Dr. Morris is very strict and from his view you can understand it. Still, at one moment he shows he cares more for Michael Wiseman than he probably would like to admit. Episode 15, “Deep in My Heart Is a Song”, which is also a flashback episode where John Goodman is Michael Wisemen, we see Dr. Morris actually cares for Michael, he cannot bring himself to end Michael Wiseman, when the 'New & Improved' version of Michael Wiseman inexplicably goes into a catatonic state.

On the other hand, in episode 7, “A Girl’s Life”, I was ready to punch Dr. Morris in the face when he sets Michael and his daughter up so that she is laughed at even more and he makes a liar out of Micheal towards his daughter, so that his (Dr. Morris) secret project is secure. Both episodes moved me quite a bit though. The season finale, what of course became the series finale, is one of the best or perhaps even the best episode of the series where everything comes together. Lisa Wiseman is told that her husband wasn’t dead on impact with the subway train. When she realizes Dr. Morris has something to do with it, she intends to ask him. Michael prevents her from doing that and tells her that if she does talk to him, Dr. Morris will have her killed. Dr. Morris has seen them talking and kissing, he acts like he believes Michael’s cover story but Michael does not want to take the risk and escapes to help save his wife and daughter. Meanwhile, the Eggman escapes, his goal, to kill the man with the superhuman strength.

Now And Again, the DVD Edition:

Briefly spoken about the DVD, it took them more than a decade to release the DVD set after the show was cancelled. But they did it with style, not just slam 22 episodes on a few discs, nothing more, nothing else, but CBS created a 4-part documentary named “Gimme A Sign” and each part had a sub name (Genesis; New Life; Remembrance; Timelessness)  where all the cast and crew were highlighted. And If that wasn’t enough, also a “Writing Now and Again” round table. Five parts, in total 2.5 hours of extra’s. When I check Amazon, I do not see it being out of print, but the price for one DVD set currently is just too much: $69.99. The good news is that the extra’s are also accessible on the You Tube page I mentioned earlier in this blog post.

Final Word:

I feel I can keep writing about this show, but it is getting too long already. Now And Again is a wonderful TV show, which unfortunately didn’t really get a chance to become a hit, on a 9PM slot on Friday night without a good lead-in. It ends on a cliff-hanger, in the special features there are some thoughts about the cliff-hanger, what would have happened next, but no thoughts about how it would have ended. Lastly, haven’t talked about it yet, I personally loved the intro song, which is also being discussed in the special features, specifically written for this TV show. Check it out if you can, as I said, it is free available on You Tube, not sure for how long, but it is already there for 2 years or so. I highly recommend it.

Screencaps taken from YouTube