Now and Again confounded viewers when it appeared as a one-season-wonder in 1999. A combination supernatural/sci-fi/action/dramedy, the series might well have been a conceptual hit, had it not been 15 years ahead of its time. The show centers on Michael Wiseman (John Goodman, fleetingly), a schlubby insurance salesman whose excised brain continues to live on after his body is destroyed in a subway accident. Dr. Theodore Morris (Dennis Haysbert) muscles Michael's brain into the genetically-engineered body of a supersoldier to do his bidding as a top-secret government agent. The new superman Michael (Eric Close) does as he's told for fear of threats against his family if he refuses to comply. The 22 episodes follow Michael as he tracks down large scale bad guys whose weapons range from chicken eggs to telepathic bugs. But they're just as much about him trying to get back to his beloved wife and daughter (Margaret Colin and Heather Matarazzo). Both jobs are risky business since Dr. Morris is constantly hovering nearby to keep Michael from spilling the beans. Due to all the genre-bending, each episode winds up being full of delightful surprises, many of them comic and/or romantic. All four leads bring equal chops to the clever dialogue and appropriately preposterous mystery/thriller background action. Although drolly dated in both style and setting, Now and Again is also a novel TV find. Extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette, a retrospective documentary, and a roundtable discussion featuring writer Glenn Gordon Caron. Recommended. (T. Fry)
Now and Again: The DVD Edition
Paramount, 5 discs, 970 min., not rated, DVD: $42.99 December 29, 2014
Now and Again: The DVD Edition
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