TV Review

Once and Again
ABC (Wednesdays, 10 p.m. ET)
Rick (Billy Campbell) and Lily (Sela Ward) enjoy each other -- when family responsibilities allow. As it did last January, Once and Again has yielded ABC's Tuesday-at-10 spot to NYPD Blue. But this time the sophomore series switches to Wednesdays at 10, in a "counter-programming" move against NBC's Law & Order. The theory: Men dig badges and gavels; women are into feelings and relationships. Call me a demographic misfit, but I like both shows.

Once and Again can be self-conscious in its sensitivity, especially when characters confide their innermost thoughts to the audience. In one of November's confessional moments, we got a closeup of Billy Campbell 's hands as he was wringing them. But I'm still impressed by the drama's respect for the complexity of life. The relationship of divorced Rick (Campbell) and soon-to-be-divorced Lily (Sela Ward) -- each the parent of two -- can be lusty, frustrating and disappointing in the same hour. The kids are confused by the blended-families situation -- as if they didn't have enough trouble with teen social pressures, SAT-phobia and the rest. Mindful of their own mistakes, Rick and Lily and their exes (Susanna Thompson and Jeffrey Nordling) find their parental authority diminished. Every order or instruction has an undertone of apology.

"Sometimes people just aren't who you need them to be at, like, a certain moment," said Lily's daughter Grace (Julia Whelan) in the Jan. 10 episode. This show asks: Can you love them anyway?

Bottom Line: Play it again

By TERRY KELLEHER__People.com (January 12, 2001)