NBC's The Cape = CBS's Now and Again?

Fair enough. The cheese is laid on pretty thick, and one wonders if NBC will actually spend the money to actually pay for big-budget super-heroics promised in later episodes. And the show seems to quickly settle into a Mantis pattern, with Summer Glau filling in for Roger Rees as the faithful sidekick sitting at a computer screen. But if Keith David sticks around longer than the pilot, I might casually check it out on that basis alone. I first started watching Chuck because I spotted Tony Todd in the commercials and hoped he would have a decent supporting part. Still, I wish the writing were sharper and the melodrama less mawkish. Besides, if the trailer above looks a little familiar, that's because you were among the few to remember the unfortunately short-lived classic, Now and Again.

Running only a single season on CBS in 1999/2000, this wonderfully-written adventure story was about... well... same thing really. Just trade David Lyons for Eric Close and swap out Keith David for a creepy/funny Dennis Haysbert (two years prior to 24). Alas, despite decent ratings for a Friday night at 9pm show, CBS pulled the plug after a single season. It was so unexpected that the would-be season finale ended on a major cliffhanger, one that has yet to be resolved ten years later (almost to the day... the finale aired May 5th, 2000). Tragic as it may be (it was a rare showcase for Heather Matarazzo), you can't really fault the thinking at CBS, since the show that replaced it next season was some fictionalized Forensic Files knock-off called CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I wish I could tell you to buy the DVD set, or let you know when the show is currently airing in syndication. But there is no DVD set and the show ran only briefly on the Sci-Fi Channel several years ago. Oh well...

Scott Mendelson