Mothers

WITH ATTITUDE

APRIL 20, 2001

Must-see TV
Help "Once and Again" come again

by Terri Mauro

For the sixth year in a row, TV Guide has named its "Best Show You're Not Watching," and for the first time, it's a show that I actually am. So this time, it's your fault.

The show is "Once and Again," and I've followed it pretty faithfully since its debut. I can't say the same for previous shows identified by the magazine as neglected gems. Though I was impressed whenever I caught a stray episode of "Party of Five" and "Homicide," I never got in the habit. "The Practice" is a lawyer show, and lawyer shows make me nervous. I wish "7th Heaven" well, but it's just too happy for me. I did make an effort to catch last year's nominee, "Sports Night," as often as I could, and became a devoted fan ... shortly before it got cancelled.

So perhaps "Once and Again"'s problem is that I'm a regular viewer, though it hasn't seemed to hurt "ER." The more common explanation for the show's ratings struggles is its move to Wednesday nights. Last year, when it left its Tuesday time-share with "NYPD Blue" and went to Monday, it did as well as a grown-up drama with no gunplay or nudity can be expected to do. This year, mid-week, against "Law and Order," not so well.

Personally, I would rather seen closely drawn human drama over ripped-from-the-headlines cop-and-courtroom capers any day (those darn lawyers again, you know). But the older I get, the more painfully obvious it becomes that the viewing public at large does not share my taste. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as "Survivor."

Still, it would be sad if "Once and Again" became nevermore, because it's just finally, after two somewhat meandering seasons, maneuvering into place as what it showed promise of being from the start: a dysfunctional Brady Bunch for the new millennium. The show has always been best at showing how very unchirpily blended families blend, and as the two entirely too attractive leads finally get hitched at the end of this season, and bring their broods under one uneasy roof, the opportunities for household friction are falling nicely into place.

Unless, of course, the show falls off the schedule. Not that I'm into public rallying, but if you haven't watched "Once and Again," watch it once. Give it a try. As people concerned about families and all their joys and problems, we should, I think, support a show that attempts to show some of those issues in as realistic a manner as we can expect from an entertainment program. Take a look. And if you like it, catch up on past developments at Mighty Big TV.

Hey, I'm not the only one saying to watch it. TV Guide says so, too.

copyright (c) 2001 by Terri Mauro