GET UP TO SPEED ON TV FAVORITES VIA RERUNS OF THESE FOUR SHOWS

BYLINE: Gail Pennington; Post-Dispatch Television Critic --

* Feel left out of the loop when talk turns to the tube? Here's the picture, so far, on those much-discussed network shows.

We've all done it -- meant to catch a TV series that everybody's talking about, but for one reason or another never managed to tune in. Before long, we may well decide we're too far behind to figure out what's what and who's who.

Never mind. That's what rerun season is for. Here, to get you started -- just as the summer is starting -- are vital statistics on four series worth watching this summer. All will return in the fall, so now's the time to get on board.

"Once and Again"

The attraction: Beautiful people, realistic situations and a supporting cast that makes their stories as interesting as the love affair on which the romanticcomedy-drama turns.

Fun facts: "Once and Again" was created by Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz of "thirtysomething" and "My So-Called Life" fame. Zwick won an Oscar as a producer of the big-screen best-picture winner "Shakespeare in Love."

Who's who:

* Sela Ward is Lily Brooks Manning, 41, separated (not yet divorced) mother of two daughters. Lily ran a bookstore with her sister, Judy (Marin Hinkle), but now works as the assistant to the young editor of a magazine.

* Julia Whelan is Lily's daughter Grace, 14, a high school sophomore who has a secret crush on Rick's son Eli.

* Meredith Deane is daughter Zoe, 9.

* Jeffrey Nordling is Lily's estranged husband, Jake, who runs a restaurant started by Lily's father, now deceased.

* Billy Campbell is Rick Sammler, 40, an architect. Divorced, he has a son and a daughter. He and Lily met in the car pool lane and fell in love at first sight, but the going has been rough since then.

* Shane West is Rick's son Eli, a high school junior, handsome and popular but struggling with a learning disorder.

* Evan Rachel Wood is daughter Jessie, 12.

* Susanna Thompson is Rick's ex-wife, Karen, a lawyer. Thompson also plays the Borg queen on "Star Trek: Voyager."

Sound bite: "All I ever wanted, I think, was to be safe." - Lily, to the camera, reflecting on the end of her marriage in the series premiere.

Loose ends: Choosing to take their relationship further, Lily and Rick formally introduced their children to one another in the season finale. How that went, we'll find out in the fall.

Recommended Web site: The official ABC site (http://abc.go.com/primetime/once-and-again) is a remarkably good one, with character sketches and an episode guide.

(rest of article "snipped")__St. Louis Post-Dispatch (June 21, 2000)