Entertainment Weekly's Fall Revelations
The suffering of those who stayed loyal to Rick Sammler and Lily Manning -- two dizzy divorcés attempting to merge their complicated lives with all the grace of a train wreck -- continued off screen, as viewers saw their beloved series overshadowed on a weekly basis by its time slot competitor, CBS' freshman success ''Judging Amy.'' ''Once and Again'' may have led the fight for viewers ages 18 to 49, but by season's end, ''Amy'' appeared to be winning the war, attracting 14 million fans.

''I'm not happy with the situation,'' says Marshall Herskovitz, who exec produces ''Once'' with partner and fellow ''thirtysomething'' cocreator Edward Zwick. ''I didn't like the fact that there were two shows at 10 appealing to the same audience. It doesn't serve anybody.'' His problem is not about to go away. This year, ABC will follow the same odd strategy it did last season: running ''Once and Again'' at 10 p.m. Tuesdays until January before replacing it midseason with ''NYPD Blue'' (''Once'' then moves to 10 p.m. Mondays).

''We were able to come up with a schedule where 'Once and Again' and 'NYPD Blue' were in originals virtually every week they were on,'' says Jeff Bader, ABC's head of scheduling, defending the musical time slots plan. ''It worked well last year.'' Herskovitz, meanwhile, is channeling any lingering scheduling angst into ''Once'''s original mission. ''I set out to humanize all sides of a dilemma that's very familiar to the American public: divorce,'' he says. ''That has been particularly challenging.''

''Once'''s first four episodes will be lighter on Lily stories, however, as the overworked Ward needed a bit more time for her off-camera family. ''Last season, Lily was put through all stations of the cross, and I was working a considerable amount of hours,'' says the recent Emmy winner. ''I was begging to have a little break to see my two very young children [Austin, 6, and Anabella, 2]. My son last season said he wanted to scribble all over [my contract]. Needless to say, that put a knife through my heart.''

Helping to pick up the screen time slack will be ''Once'''s teen brigade, as they endure more annoying rites of adolescent passage. Herskovitz feels especially blessed by the amazing ''depth of talent'' among his young actors, particularly Shane West, 22, as handsome screwup Eli and the surprisingly mature Julia Whelan as hypersensitive Grace. Try to imagine one of those Noxzema smeared babes at The WB saying this: ''I don't believe I have Grace nailed,'' says Whelan, 16. ''The luxury of TV is that a character keeps going. You never have it nailed. It's like a person. It just evolves with the changes.''

Campbell is looking forward to some character evolution of his own this season, specifically exposing some jagged edges underneath Rick's oh-so-sensitive Mr. Nice Guy persona. ''It was almost as if [Rick] didn't have too many problems of his own,'' says Campbell of his first year plotlines. ''He had a bit of an issue of not quite knowing how to parent his kids -- he wanted to be their best friend -- but that was it.'' This time around Rick will leave his wimp cap at the door, including when he goes toe to toe with manipulative Miles Drentell -- the transplanted ''thirtysomething'' client from hell.

Okay, but here's what fans really want to know: Will we be hearing wedding bells for Rick and Lily come May sweeps? Herskovitz won't spill the rice, but he does offer one tantalizing hint: ''I would say the idea of living together has come up.'' That must mean we can expect some more of those sultry -- and slightly awkward -- sex scenes, à la Rick and Lily's flesh filled episode 2 encounter. Will Ward give her Sprint ad fans a wake up call by following Campbell's bare bottom lead? ''You've just lucked out with Billy,'' she says with a laugh. ''I've had two kids. I don't think so!''__Entertainment Weekly (September 22, 2000)