TV Guide's Top 10

Number 3: Once and Again
With its small scale and almost unbearable intimacy, unlike the artificially heightened reality of so many TV shows set in hospitals or courtrooms, ABC's family drama for grown-ups has expanded its perceptive and empathetic vision way beyond the turbulent love story of divorced parents Lily and Rick (Sela Ward and Billy Campbell). "I'm getting seasick from these ripples," says Lily of the psychological shock waves created by the impact of their relationship on their shattered families: kids, grandparents, ex-spouses and siblings. These fascinating and deeply flawed characters lead complicated lives, plagued by emotional ambivalence, self-doubt and vacillating self-esteem. (Hey, if you looked like these people, you'd be self-absorbed, too.) Whether the issue is love, trust or peer pressure, nothing's easy here. An hour spent in their company can be exhausting, but is it ever rewarding.__TV Guide (December 23 - 29, 2000)