Now and Again

Recap
An overweight insurance salesman gets a new lease on life when his brain is transplanted into a fabricated human body and becomes a super government agent.
Spoiler Level: Mild
Review
Michael Wiseman (John Goodman) is an insurance salesman who lives with his family in a suburb of New York City. After losing a promotion to a much younger guy (Chad Lowe), Michael is in an accident where he is hit by a subway train. He “awakes” in the hospital with Dr. Theodore Morrise (Dennis Haysbert) informs him that he no longer has a body, and he is part of a very secret medical experiment, the culmination of decades of work. Michael’s brain was put into a fabricated body. Still flesh and blood but made by science. They only thing they couldn’t figure out how to make is a brain. So, after Michael’s accident, they harvest his brain and transplant it into that of a young virile man played by Eric Close, with enhanced agility and strength. The only catch is, he cannot contact anyone he knew in his previous life. Michael runs into issues of loneliness and wants his old life back, he wants his family, he even attempts to escape to see them, which could put their lives in jeopardy. At the same time, the “Egg Man”, a seemingly non-threatening man leaves virus filled eggs in crowded areas killing everyone in proximity once one of the eggs breaks. The first location was Tokyo and the second Paris, New York is his newest target. Each week, Michael tries to come to terms with his situation and figure out a way to be with his family.
Now and Again was an American science fiction comedy action drama series on CBS that aired from September, 24, 1999 to May 5, 2000. It was created by Glenn Gordon Caron who was also responsible for the series Moonlighting and Medium. The show aired on Friday nights and was often preempted, making it hard for it to garner a fan base and to get the ratings it needed to continue. CBS cancelled the show citing “unjustifiable” expense with each episode costing around $2.4 million.
I watched this show when it originally aired and what really caught my attention was the quirkiness of it. Dennis Haysbert in particular steals this show, and this is when I really became a fan of his. He sings at times, delivers comic lines with precision timing and yet still delivers a dramatic and poignant performance. There is both overt and subtle nuances to his performance that only a very talented actor could combine into an interesting and believable character. The character is both stern and whimsical and his comments when Michael is first discovering his body and “checks the package” is hilarious and when Michael asks “can I fly” the response is a long speech ending with, “and I’m embarrassed to admit it, that in the midst of all those surgeries, all those implant procedures, all the beta trials, tests, failures and successes… it just never occurred to any of us to shove a rocket up your ass.” The story format was interesting and the intermixing of Michael’s old live crossing over to his new added depth to the plot and the characters. The other thing I really liked was the villain of the first episode who appears throughout the season. The unassuming little man, we never really get his story, but this character was unique and so unlike most villains it added a level of interest and complexity to the story. I feel that the studio did not treat this series well and had it been given a better, more stable time slot, it may have gathered a fan base and continued.
Final Thoughts
I really liked this serious and was sorry when it got cancelled.
Forgotten Television: Now and Again
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 10/1010/10
- Acting - 10/1010/10
- Music - 9/109/10
- Production - 10/1010/10