Once and Again is an American television series that aired on ABC from September 21, 1999 to April 15, 2002. It depicts the family of a single mother and her romance with a single father. It was created by Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the same team that created thirtysomething and produced My So-Called Life.

One of the show's unique aspects was the "interview" sequences filmed in black and white and interspersed throughout each episode, where the characters would reveal their innermost thoughts and memories to the camera.

Premise[link]

Lily Manning (Sela Ward) is a suburban soccer mom in her forties, who lives in Deerfield, Illinois. Recently separated from her philandering husband Jake (Jeffrey Nordling), Lily is raising her two daughters, insecure, anxiety-ridden 14-year-old Grace (Julia Whelan), and wide-eyed, innocent 9-year-old Zoe (Meredith Deane). For support, she turns to her more free-spirited younger sister, Judy (Marin Hinkle), with whom she works at their bookstore called My Sister's Bookstore (renamed Booklovers later in the series).

Lily's life changes when, during the pilot episode, she meets Rick Sammler (Billy Campbell) in the principal's office of Grace's school, Upton Sinclair High School.

Rick is a single father and co-head of an architectural firm, Sammler/Cassili Associates, which is located in downtown Chicago. Rick has been divorced from his uptight ex-wife Karen (Susanna Thompson) for three years and has two children, Eli (Shane West), a 16-year-old basketball player at Sinclair High who suffers from a learning disability, and sensitive 12-year-old Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood), who longs for the days before her family's disintegration.

Lily and Rick share an immediate mutual attraction and begin dating. Their budding relationship causes problems in both of their respective families. Grace strongly objects to Lily and Rick's relationship as she still hopes to see her parents get back together. Karen, a public interest attorney at the downtown law firm of Harris, Riegert, and Sammler, is worried about the toll Rick's new relationship would take on their children, particularly Jessie, who is shy and emotionally fragile. She is also working through her own feelings of jealousy that Rick is moving on to a new relationship.

In addition to Lily and Rick's relationship, the show also focused to a lesser degree on their exes, Jake and Karen, and their own struggles to move on in a post-divorce environment.

Plot summary[link]

Season One[link]

Lily is in the process of divorcing her restaurateur husband, Jake. She is reluctant to begin dating again due to the sensitivities of her daughters, who are still emotional about the divorce. She meets and is instantly attracted to divorced architect Rick Sammler. However, their new relationship is complicated by Lily's many remaining emotional and financial issues with Jake. Grace and Eli become close when she becomes his tutor. Judy has a relationship with Rick's partner, Sam Blue (Steven Weber) before discovering Sam is married.

Season Two[link]

Lily and Jake's divorce is finalized, and she hopes to spend more time with Rick. However, Rick becomes sidetracked by difficulties at work and has to begin working with unscrupulous developer Miles Drentell (David Clennon, reprising his role from the series thirtysomething). Things become difficult for Lily when Rick's project runs into legal difficulties and his ex-wife Karen is hired to represent the opposition. Jessie flirts with an eating disorder, and begins to address her problems with the help of a therapist (played by show producer Edward Zwick). Jake's girlfriend Tiffany announces she is pregnant. At the end of season two, Rick has to dissolve his architectural firm, and Lily and Rick get married.

Season Three[link]

Rick resumes his partnership with Sam Blue, now divorced, to design a hotel for a new client. Sam and Judy try to be friends but eventually resume their relationship. Jake and Tiffany have a baby girl and eventually decide to marry. Grace develops a crush on her English teacher, Mr. Dimitri (Eric Stoltz); although their relationship never became sexual, an investigation eventually forces Mr. Dimitri to leave the school. Jessie discovers she is attracted to another girl, Katie (Mischa Barton). Karen deals with her depression; just as she is starting to make progress, she is hit by a car, leading to months of painful rehabilitation where she meets physical therapist Henry Higgins (DB Woodside). Lily faces domestic struggles when her mother begins to show signs of Alzheimer's Disease and her brother Aaron (Patrick Dempsey), who is schizophrenic, wants to move in with his girlfriend. By the end of the season, Rick and Lily face big decisions when he is offered a job in Australia, and she is offered a nationally syndicated radio show. Their decisions are never shown, but in the last moments of the series finale, Lily reveals she is pregnant.

Cast[link]

• Sela Ward (Elizabeth 'Lily' Manning) Grace and Zoe's mother, separated from Jake
• Billy Campbell (Richard 'Rick' Sammler) Eli and Jessie's father, divorced from Karen
• Jeffrey Nordling (Jake Manning) Lily's estranged husband, Grace and Zoe's father
• Susanna Thompson (Karen Sammler) Rick's ex-wife, Eli and Jessie's mother
• Shane West (Eli Sammler) Rick's son
• Julia Whelan (Grace Manning) Lily's elder daughter
• Evan Rachel Wood (Jessie Sammler) Rick's daughter
• Meredith Deane (Zoe Manning) Lily's younger daughter
• Marin Hinkle (Judy Brooks) Lily's younger sister
• Todd Field (David Cassilli) [2nd season 23-35, recurring previously] Rick's business partner and friend
• Ever Carradine (Tiffany Porter) [2nd season 36-44 & 3rd season, recurring previously] Jake's mistress/girlfriend
• Jennifer Crystal Foley (Christie Parker) [2nd season] Lily's boss at PagesAlive.com
• David Clennon (Miles Drentell) [2nd season 23-43] Rick and David's primary client
• Steven Weber (Samuel Blue) [3rd season, recurring in 1st season] Rick's friend and Judy's lover

Recurring characters[link]

• Kimberly McCullough (Jennifer) Eli's girlfriend before Cassidy and before Carla
• Kelly Coffield (Naomi Porter) Lily and Karen's mutual friend
• James Eckhouse (Lloyd Lloyd) Karen's ill-fated date
• Paul Mazursky (Phil Brooks) Lily and Judy's father
• Bonnie Bartlett (Barbara Brooks) Lily and Judy's mother
• Mark Feuerstein (Leo Fisher) Karen's younger boyfriend
• Alexandra Holden (Cassidy) Eli's girlfriend after Jennifer
• Patrick Dempsey (Aaron Brooks) Lily and Judy's schizophrenic brother
• Audrey Marie Anderson (Carla Aldrich) Eli's girlfriend
• Mark Valley (Will Gluck) Handyman and Judy's lover
• D. B. Sweeney (Graham Rympalski) Lily and Christie's co-worker at PagesAlive.com
• Marco Gould (Spencer Lewicki) Grace's boyfriend
• Eric Stoltz (August Dimitri) Grace's English teacher/acting coach/romantic interest
• Paul Dooley (Les Creswell) Lily's boss at WIPX
• Mischa Barton (Katie Singer) Jessie's friend/girlfriend
• Christina Chang (Amanda) One of Rick's employees
• Natasha Gaty (Alexa) class play stage manager who later cracks the Dimitri story

[edit] Episodes^[1]

Season 1: 1999-2000[link]

• 1. Pilot (Boy Meets Girl) - September 21, 1999
• 2. Let's Spend the Night Together - September 28, 1999
• 3. The Scarlet Letter Jacket - October 5, 1999
• 4. Liars and Other Strangers - October 12, 1999
• 5. There Be Dragons - October 19, 1999
• 6. A Dream Deferred - October 26, 1999
• 7. The Ex-Files - November 2, 1999
• 8. The Past Is Prologue -November 9, 1999
• 9. Outside Hearts - November 16, 1999
• 10. Thanksgiving - November 23, 1999
• 11. Where There's Smoke - December 7, 1999
• 12. The Gingerbread House - December 21, 1999
• 13. Mediation - January 24, 2000
• 14. Sneaky Feelings - January 31, 2000
• 15. The Mystery Dance - February 7, 2000
• 16. Daddy's Girl - February 14, 2000
• 17. Unfinished Business - March 6, 2000
• 18. Strangers and Brothers - March 13, 2000
• 19. Cat-in-Hat - April 3, 2000
• 20. My Brilliant Career - April 10, 2000
• 21. Letting Go - April 17, 2000
• 22. A Door, about to Open - April 24, 2000

Season 2: 2000-2001[link]

• 23. Wake Up Little Susie - October 24, 2000
• 24. Booklovers - October 31, 2000
• 25. I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down - November 14, 2000
• 26. Feast or Famine - November 21, 2000
• 27. Ozymandias 2.0 - November 28, 2000
• 28. Food for Thought - December 5, 2000
• 29. Learner's Permit - December 19, 2000
• 30. Life Out of Balance - January 10, 2001
• 31. Scribbling Rivalry - January 17, 2001
• 32. Love's Laborers Lost - January 24, 2001
• 33. Thieves Like Us - January 31, 2001
• 34. Suspicion - February 7, 2001
• 35. Edifice Wrecked - February 14, 2001
• 36. The Other End of the Telescope - March 7, 2001
• 37. Standing Room Only - March 14, 2001
• 38. Aaron's Getting Better - March 21, 2001
• 39. Forgive Us Our Trespasses - March 28, 2001
• 40. Best of Enemies - April 4, 2001
• 41. Armageddon - April 11, 2001
• 42. Won't Someone Please Help George Bailey Tonight - April 18, 2001
• 43. Moving On - April 25, 2001
• 44. The Second Time Around - May 2, 2001

Season 3: 2001-2002[link]

• 45. Busted - September 28, 2001
• 46. The Awful Truth - October 5, 2001
• 47. Kind of Blue - October 12, 2001
• 48. Acting Out - October 19, 2001
• 49. Destiny Turns on the Radio - November 2, 2001
• 50. Jake and the Women - November 9, 2001
• 51. Chaos Theory - November 23, 2001
• 52. The Sex Show - November 30, 2001
• 53. Tough Love - December 7, 2001
• 54. Pictures - December 14, 2001
• 55. Taking Sides - January 4, 2002
• 56. Gardenia - January 11, 2002
• 57. Falling in Place - March 4, 2002
• 58. The Gay-Straight Alliance - March 11, 2002
• 59. One Step (Parent) Backward - March 18, 2002
• 60. Aaron's List of Dreams - March 25, 2002
• 61. Experience Is the Teacher - April 1, 2002
• 62. Losing You - April 8, 2002
• 63. Chance of a Lifetime - April 15, 2002 (Series Finale)

Awards[link]

Broadcasts[link]

It originally aired on ABC from 1999 to 2002. In the U.S it was in syndication on Lifetime Real Women the spinoff channel from Lifetime Television. The channel stopped running O&A in April 2005, and no American outlet presently carries the show. Once and Again was seen on Sky One and the now-defunct ABC1 in the United Kingdom (in both cases only the first season was shown) and the Seven Network in Australia. In Canada, the show was seen on the W Network until late 2007 or early 2008. W Network will be broadcasting the series at 3 am beginning September 2008 (from their network schedule).

Production[link]

The series was filmed at the Century Studio Corporation sound stages in Culver City, California, and also on location in the Los Angeles area.

DVD releases[link]

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (formerly Buena Vista Home Entertainment) released Season 1 on November 5, 2002, mere months after the series finale. It was expected that the remaining two seasons would be released soon afterward. However, it took three more years and numerous petition drives for season two to be released, which occurred on August 23, 2005. A little over a month later, on September 30, 2005, news broke about the release of the third and final season, which was slated to occur on January 10, 2006, but by October 2005 the title was delayed and has been ever since, with no explanation. It was almost two years before another official word was uttered on the subject and in July 2007, it was reported that Buena Vista's license on the program was soon to expire and, as a result, could lead to a new company acquiring the distribution rights to the title and thus a potential third season release.^[2]

Lionsgate announced the re-release of all three seasons of Once and Again on DVD.

Ratings[link]

External links[link]

• Once and Again at the Internet Movie Database
• Once and Again at TV.com

References[link]