Again and again

BYLINE: David Martindale -- All things considered, Susanna Thompson still wishes she could have gone fishing. The actress, who plays Karen Davies Sammler in Once and Again, sacrificed a role in The Perfect Storm to play Billy Campbell's ex on TV. In a perfect world, she could have done both. "But you know what?" Thompson says. 'As much as I wanted to do that movie, as invested as I was in it, having taken sailing lessons and swimming lessons, just a week away from shooting, I completely know I made the right choice. I'm working with very, very caring people in a wonderful show that people really love." Once and Again -- a series with an unusual programming history, having started in reruns mere weeks after premiering on ABC -- examines the romance between divorced single parents (Campbell and Sela Ward) and the repercussions that their has within their families. Reruns are at 10 p.m. Fridays on Lifetime. Thompson also costars in the TBS remake of High Noon, in the role originated by Grace Kelly. Like others in the movie, Thompson questioned the wisdom of remaking a classic -- but was pleased to find qualities in the new version that are actually superior. "I loved how beautiful this version looks, for one thing," she says. "You see the scope of the countryside, because you've got the Canadian Rockies behind you. And down in the foothills, where we were shooting, you can almost see the air. You see our breath. You can almost touch the air and feel the moisture. "They couldn't shoot the scope of the west in the original because they were on the back lots trying to avoid palm trees.__The Houston Chronicle (August 20, 2000)