Episode #3: "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" originally aired November 14, 2000
Sneak Peek Eli tires of his continuous struggles with school, and allows his love of music to propel him on a path that alarms his parents on "Once and Again."
Starring: Sela Ward, Billy Campbell, Julia Whelan, Shane West, Meredith Deane, Evan Rachel Wood, Susanna Thompson, Jeffrey Nordling, Todd Field, Marin Hinkle, David Clennon, Jennifer Crystal Foley
Guest Stars: Mark Feuerstein, Kimberly McCullough, Adam Brody, Jerry Fitzgerald, Ben Gould, Audrey Anderson, Christine Larson, Agatha Drake
Written by Daniel and Sue Paige and directed by Peter Horton ("The Geena Davis Show").__zap2it.com (November 4, 2000)WandaWatch:
Will Once and Again's Eli be dating anyone this season? He is not on the show enough, if you ask me!
You're in luck. This ep is all about Eli and his band. Leo (his mom's boyfriend) gets Eli a gig at a coffeehouse, and it causes friction because Rick thinks he should be worrying about SATs and college instead. Also, Jennifer (Kimberly McCullough) is back. She helps Eli with some song lyrics, and they end up doin' the deed. They're not back together, but she's definitely back in the picture.__E!Online (November 6, 2000)
From coffeerooms message board:
Eli feels the pressure of his senior year including the dreaded SATs which his parents want him to take again for the second time. But half way through taking the SAT, he realizes it's not doing too well. As the evening draws near, the scene cuts to Eli in his basement rehearsing with his band. Rick tries to get some info regarding the SAT but Eli is vague with his answers and tells Rick it went fine. But Rick senses that it did not go too well and gets up to leave, but as he sees Eli rehearsing, he realizes how talented his son is. The next day, we see Eli sitting near a tree working on his lyrics and Jennifer stops by and ends up helping Eli with the lyrics. Then moments later Grace and Carla also stop by, and Jennifer notices Eli's interest in Carla which makes her slighly jealous. Leo who has taken an interest in the band announces to the band that he has booked a gig for them at a coffee house, not a paying one, but still a gig. But Rick and Karen are not too thrilled with the idea and tell Eli to focus on college, but Eli refuses and further angers his parents when he doesn't show up to meet with his senior advisor at school. And father and son clash...Roush Review --
FAMILY AFFAIRS
Home Sweet Home? Not On This Show
By Matt Roush
A while ago, ABC's addictively emotional Once and Again ceased being just a love story about Lily and Rick (Sela Ward and Billy Campbell), gorgeous fortysomethings rebounding from failed marriages. Now in its second year (Tuesdays, 10 pm/ET), this introspective drama continues to focus with equal intensity on all members of their extended families: children, siblings, ex-spouses and others in their confused, frustrating orbit. Those who dismiss the show as a touchy-feely whinefest miss the point. You wonder whether those people have ever experienced generational alienation, obsessive parental concern, adolescent turmoil, sibling rivalry --each life crisis heightened and magnified by the devastation of divorce.
"Seeing your child in any kind of pain is just horrible," say Rick and his ex, Karen (Susanna Thompson), in overlapping voice-overs as they contemplate how best to cope with 17-year-old son Eli (Shane West), whose passion for music soars while his SAT scores suffer. Their discipline is colored by guilt, which also affects Rick's relationship with younger daughter Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood), who has just entered high school and is still adjusting to living between two homes -- or three, if you count Lily's. There, the shock waves are still being felt by her daughters, pensive Grace (Julia Whelan) and bubbly Zoe (Meredith Deane). Whoever cast this show is a genius, especially where the mothers and daughters are concerned. Wood and Deane are uncanny miniatures of their TV moms, enhancing the painfully realistic family dynamics.__TVGuide Online (October 30, 2000)
Cast Call: Rick, Karen, Eli, Jessie, Lily, Grace, Zoe
Guest Stars: Mark Feuerstein as Leo , Kimberly McCullough as Jennifer, Adam Brody, Jerry Fitzgerald, Ben Gould, Audrey Anderson as Carla, Christine Larson, Agatha Drake
Writers: Daniel and Sue Paige
Director: Peter Horton
Music: Average Jo (Shane West's band)
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