Now & Again held a unique place in the
superhero market: while the individual episodes of the show crossed
The Six-Million Dollar Man with
Knight Rider, the overall story arc focused on the hero's desire to gain some independance from this government keepers and contact his family.
The first three episodes tell the story of how Michael Wiseman, a middle-aged insurance salesman (played by John Goodman) falls to his death in front of a New York City subway train. The government harvests his brain and implants it in the perfectly engineered body. The idea is to create a superhero who owes his allegiance to the government.
Although Michael Wiseman reluctantly agrees to this deal, deep down he really desires nothing more than to contact his beloved wife and daughter who believe that he died in the accident. Kept under constant supervision and on a strict regimen of diet and exercise, there is little opportunity for Michael exert any personal freedoms. Still, he manages to find plenty of opportunities cause trouble for his government captors and keep tabs of his family.
More than once the new Michael Newman encounters his wife, who finds herself drawn to this strange, young man who seems determined to romance her despite her reluctance and suspicions. Michael tries to build a relationship with his daughter and his former best friend causing them a great deal of emotional upheaval and confusion. He even manages to find a way to establish a relationship of mutual respect with his government keeper, the mysterious Dr. Morris.
This series is not an action/adventure series and I think that is why many TV viewers were disappointed. It turned out to be a quirky, romantic drama with just enough action to keep some viewers, but not all, interested. It's sad that it ended on a cliffhanger and that we will never be able to find out what happened to Michael and his family.
Cast:
Eric Close - Michael Wiseman
Dennis Haysbert- Dr. Theodore Morris
Margaret Colin - Lisa Wiseman
Heather Matarazzo - Heather Wiseman
Gerrit Graham - Roger Bender