"Origins"
Air Date: September 24, 1999

Not to be confused with NBC's Billy Campbell/Sela Ward, relationship drama Once And Again (although it will be -- undoubtedly and often), Now And Again (CBS, Fridays at 9pm EST) is a quirky, oddly paced, charmingly off-beat, slightly genre offering from Glenn Gordon Caron (of Moonlighting fame). Phew! Did that make any sense whatsoever?

Anyway... Our story begins with ethical insurance executive (an oxymoron if you've ever heard one, right?) who is passed over for promotion because he told the truth on the witness stand and cost his company millions in payments to the families of accident victims. To add insult to injury the job goes to a young man he trained. In order to cheer him up, the friend who delivered the bad news, Roger Bender (Gerrit Graham), invites him out for a drink. He goes, gets a little tipsy, then is accidentally pushed in front of a passing subway car. That spells the end of one Michael Wiseman (the lovable John Goodman), middle aged, happily married, father of one. Rest in peace.

Or is that rest in pieces? For reasons unknown (probably just because he was in the wrong place at the right time) Wiseman is selected to take part in an experimental government program. Well, at least his brain is. Said gray matter is inserted in the genetically superior body of a handsome, young man (the studly Eric Close) who, in order to continue to live, must break with everyone and everything from his past life. He is warned by the project director, Dr. Theodore Morris (the handsome and hilarious Dennis Haybert), that if he tries to contact them, he and whomever he told, would be put to death in order to keep the project under wraps.

In the meantime, in what amounts to a bout of spite, Michael's company denies his wife's claim on his insurance, citing that he committed suicide and thereby making null and void his accidental death policy. Just when things seem to be at their bleakest for Lisa Wiseman (the always delightful Margaret Colin) and daughter Heather (Heather Matarazzo), like a rather odd knight in shining armor, her attorney appears and rattles the peaches of the squirrel bastard (Chad Lowe?!) who was given Michael's promotion and is now withholding the insurance money.

Interwoven with the Wiseman's plight is a thread detailing an elderly Chinese man's (Kim Chan) travels to Tokyo and Paris where he wrecks terrorist style havoc by leaving eggs (which eventually break, of course) full of poisonous gas. Innocent bystanders die violent, painful, bloody deaths right before our eyes. We aren't told why or how this will affect the new Michael Wiseman, but the visuals are so fascinating that you find yourself hating having to wait for more information and wondering if the next week will have the conclusion.

If this is the alternative to Harsh Realm, I only have four words to say: "Bring it on, baby!"

Now And Again airs Friday nights on CBS at 9pm EST

-- Linda M. Najera