You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone... (Now and Again)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Now and Again
Date:	16/04/01 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, intelligent, good acting, excellent story

Disadvantages: Only 1 series

Ignore the category that this opinion is found in! There's a programme running currently on the Sci-Fi channel (and I believe, ITV too) which is funny, romantic and touching, and very, very entertaining. I feel I had to say that first, because when I give you a brief description of what the show is all about, you'll probably think I'm nuts for suggesting that such a show could not be anything other than a no-brain all action programme.

New York City insurance executive, Michael Wiseman (John Goodman) is killed tragically in a subway accident (he is accidentally pushed onto the tracks and "run over" by a subway train). He is declared dead, but in reality, it is only his body that has died. The U.S. Government, having just completed a scheme to build a super human body, need a brain to control their new genetically engineered weapon, because they were unable to create a brain from scratch. Given the choice of entering the body and doing the government's will or dying, he, of course, accepts the former. The new body (Eric Close) is the result of a $3 billion project and he is required to "wage war and take risks".

Of course there is a catch. Michael Wiseman is married to Lisa (Margaret Colin) and has a daughter, Heather (Heather Matarazzo) whom he still loves very much. The head of the new government project, and the brains behind the Eric Close body (no pun intended) Dr. Theo Morris has told Michael Wiseman that any attempt to contact his wife, or inform her of what has happened will result in the immediate termination of his life.

Coming from the creator of Moonlighting, you might not expect this to be an all out action series, and indeed, it is far from it. The whole overall story is seen from four different perspectives: Michael Wiseman has a new life with no fun whatsoever – no TV, no fancy food, no outside world contact and a rigorous training regime to keep him in top superhuman form. Dr. Morri
s has to take the brain of a forty plus man who has lived a full life, and try to train it to become more methodical, and also to try and forget its' previous life. Lisa has to overcome the loss of her husband, get on with her life, and get a job (previously being a housewife with no real qualifications) in order to keep the remaining Wiseman's in their family home, and finally of Heather Wiseman, having to grow up, cope with the loss of her father at a fairly difficult time of her life (she's in her mid-teens).

Obviously, things go slightly pear shaped, and the new Michael Wiseman (under the name Michael Newman) does meet his family, and his close friend Roger Bender (Gerrit Graham). Eric Close is brilliant as Michael Wiseman – he is basically a kind of "reluctant hero" who has resigned himself to doing some government dirty work to stay alive, but he keeps trying to find ways of contacting his family. The relationship between Michael and Dr. Morris is where most of the shows' humour comes from as Wiseman tries to get Morris to supply him with some luxuries like cable ready TV, some nice food, the odd newspaper etc. while Morris tries to get Wiseman to start acting like the superhuman government operative he has become.

At the same time – watching the Wiseman girls "struggle" to come to terms with life without Michael is endearing and touching as they support each other through the hard times, as well as the inevitable point months later where Lisa starts thinking about dating again.

As I've said above, it's not an all out action series – each episode has bits and pieces of each genre. One week might be an "action" episode, but laced with lots of humour and ending on a touching moment between mother and daughter, for example. The next week might focus more on Lisa and heather with Michael and Dr. Morris taking a minor part, thus affecting what tone that episode would
have.

Unfortunately, only 22 episodes exist as the shows' original broadcasters decided not to continue after the first series. This is puzzling because the American media raved over this show, which is a lot more intelligent than some stuff that has crossed "the pond" in recent years, although a lot of fans are making their voices heard in calling for a new series.

Ultimately, it's all about my opinion, and I love this show. It's on Tuesdays at 9pm on the Sci-Fi channel (I do not know what the ITV schedule is for it) and is one of the funniest, intelligent shows on the TV currently. I can't say anything more, apart from urging you to catch an episode as soon as possible!

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