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Extreme fearlessness. Sounds like a new sport on ESPN2, but actually it's what victims are exhibiting on tonight's "Now and Again." And this symptom causes Theo (Dennis Haysbert) to suspect that someone might be tampering with certain people's brain chemistry. (Don't you just hate it when that happens?) While Theo and Michael (Eric Close) work to track down the
'creator' of this aberrant behavior, Heather (Heather Matarazzo) convinces Lisa (Margaret Colin) to be 'extremely fearless' and ask Michael on a date.-- 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT)

CBS’s Now and Again gave its creepy Eggman (Kim Chan) only three episodes before cracking the shell of his diabolical plot for mass destruction. The Eggman might not be completely fried just yet, but until he returns, score two for the good guys, zero for the viewers.

CBS picked up the final nine episodes of new Friday night drama Now & Again, but also benched new sitcom Love & Money for two months, sources say. Now & Again, which is produced by CBS Productions and Paramount Television, has averaged a 7.3 rating/l1 share in households and 11.09 million viewers since its September debut. Love & Money, which is also produced by Paramount and CBS, was put on the bench until January. The slow-starting sitcom was averaging a 5.7/10 in households and a 2.4/8 in adults 18- 49. Love & Money will be rediaced bv new eoisodes of Candid Camera.

Keeping a watch on TV
Giving credits where they're due--EW rates the best and worst opening-title sequences

First, the bad news: Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS, Mondays, 9-9:30 p.m.) doesn't have a new opening title sequence. After featuring some of TV's most creative credits over the past three years, the sitcom chose to stick with last season's breathless action-movie spoof. Plenty of other series, both old and new, are making fresh starts this fall, however. Herewith, an opinionated guide:

Now and Again (CBS, Fridays, 9-10 p.m.) Witty riffs on Leonardo da Vinci's sketches of the male form illustrate the premise of a perfect human specimen designed to work as a government agent. Nice touch: A brain hovers over the "Created by Glenn Gordon Caron" credit. If only Narada Michael Walden and Sunny Hilden's lite-soul tune weren't so trite ("We never know how good it is until it goes"). B

* Some of the plot points in last week's entertaining, but mystifying, premiere of Now and Again (CBS, tonight, 9 ET/PT) should become clearer in this second episode. For one thing, we'll find out how the newly rebodied Michael (Eric Close) is going to interact with his wife (Margaret Colin).

"Now and Again" (9 p.m., Channel 5) has perhaps the most riveting first 10 minutes you'll see this fall - then manages to keep your interest the rest of the way. In fact, you may think you're watching HBO instead of safe, old CBS. The series (not to be confused with the "fortysomething" show "Once and Again" on ABC) is a kind of sci-fi drama that manages to fuse "The Six Million Dollar Man" with "The Fugitive" in some weird, riveting hybrid.

John Goodman makes a brief appearance as an insurance agent who gets thumped by a subway car (no surprise there; CBS has been showing it for weeks). His mind and, apparently, his soul are put into a government-created young hardbody (Eric Close). The government agent in charge of this experiment (Dennis Haysbert, in a standout performance) is one of the coolest characters TV has seen in some time. He's ready to get his prodigy going, but there's a snag. The perfect terrorism-fighting creation longs for his wife (Margaret Colin) and teenage daughter (Heather Matarazzo, from "Welcome to the Dollhouse" ), even though they're really not his family.

Where is this going? Only Glenn Gordon Caron, the man who created "Moonlighting," knows for sure. But "Now and Again" is cinematic and oddly compelling, so you'll want to figure out where it will end, a la "The X-Files."

"Now & Again" 9 p.m. Fridays on CBS "Moonlighting" auteur Glenn Gordon Caron applies his distinctive storytelling genius to this classy sci-fi/ relationship hybrid. He wrote and directed the pilot episode, which centers on a tubby, middle-aged insurance exec Michael Wiseman, who gets splattered by a subway train and wakes up in someone else's buff body as part of a secret government experiment. In other hands, this outlandish premise might seem hokey, but Caron underscores it all with a dry wit and some genuinely touching moments. Injecting "X-Files" -like intrigue into the proceedings is a sub-plot revolving around an old Chinese man who goes around placing eggs in public places that cause people's eyes to spurt blood. Eric Close (''Dark Skies'') is Michael Wiseman's body, John Goodman is the brain. Also in the cast: Heather Matarazzo (''Welcome to the Dollhouse,'' ''Roseanne''), whom we hope to see more of as the surly teenage daughter. Gerrit Graham and Dennis Haysbert co-star. Debuts Sept. 24.

CONCEPT: Depressed middle-aged insurance salesman Michael Wiseman (briefly played in the pilot by John Goodman) gets flattened by a subway train, but gets a second life when his brain is put into a laboratory-engineered superhuman (Eric Close) in a strange government experiment. His new mentor, the strict and evasive Dr. Theodore Morris (Dennis Haysbert), tries to help Michael get used to his new life as secret agent, but is distressed to find him trying to contact his widowed wife (Margaret Colin) and daughter (Heather Matarazzo).

CRITIQUE: Glenn Gordon Caron must be a big fan of Glen A. Larson, who gave the world The Six Million Dollar Man and Knight Rider. The veteran producer's long-awaited follow-up to Moonlighting looks far more like Steve Austin and Michael Knight than Dave and Maddy. Still, Caron throws a nice curveball by having his genetically enhanced hero miss his family, which adds some unexpected humor to the familiar secret agent premise. The one drawback, other than the boring title, is that the well-directed pilot episode fails to show the new Michael in action, and that may hinder the show's chances of attracting repeat business. Also, I wonder if Michael's newfound powers will be accompanied by any great bionic sound effects.

PREMIERE DATE: Sep 24, 1999
AIR DATE/TIME: Fridays at 09:00 p.m.
GENRE: Drama
NETWORK: CBS
PRODUCTION STUDIO: Paramount Network Television, CBS Productions Picturemaker Productions

STARS:
Eric Close (Michael Wiseman)
Margaret Colin (Lisa Wiseman)
Dennis Haysbert (Dr. Theodore Morris)

SHOW DESCRIPTION: One man's brain, another man's body. . . Middle-aged insurance exec finds himself, um, dead, and then gets involved in a secret government experiment that requires his brain tissue. An eerie sub-plot features an elderly Chinese man placing eggs in public places that cause people's eyes to spurt blood. The Cast: Eric Close("Dark Skies" ) is Michael Wiseman's body, John Goodman is the brain. Grieving widow Lisa is played by Margaret Colin with Heather Matarazzo ("Welcome to the Dollhouse," "Roseanne" ) as the surly teenage daughter. Gerrit Graham and Dennis Haysbert co-star.

BRIEF HISTORY: "Moonlighting" creator Glenn Gordon Caron is all over this classy sci-fi relationship hybrid. He wrote and directed the pilot episode.

Call it wishful thinking on the part of CBS, whose older-skewing audience doesn't rake in the big advertising bucks. But in this youth-demographic-aimed show, Ben (John Goodman) gets passed over for a promotion by a guy who's a callow 27. Then he gets pushed in front of a train in the kind of lyrical scene where you know he's not gonna die. Instead he wakes up in the hunky, government-engineered body of Eric Close -- thanks to the help of mysterious Dr. Morris (Dennis Haysbert). Trouble is, he wants his old life back. Even with his new six-pack abs, he knows that man cannot live by body alone. Margaret Colin is Lisa, the wife he pines for. And all the while, an older Japanese man leaves rotten eggs in every corner of the world. It will take a few more episodes to connect all those dots, but so far the hook has been baited. Also starring: Heather Matarazzo, Roger Singer.

Created by Glenn Gordon Caron ("Moonlighting"), Now and Again is an action-drama about a schleppy middle-aged insurance salesman who is literally rebuilt into a six-million dollar man for a new age. When a freak accident leaves Ben (Eric Close) Wiseman's body completely obliterated (with the exception of his brain, which remains fully intact), the government covertly makes him an offer he can't refuse -- they'll save his life if he agrees to become a government agent. With his brain transplanted into the scientifically perfected body of a rugged guy 20 years younger, Ben must now carry out missions for his country as dictated by his employer, Theo (Dennis Haysbert). Unfortunately, for security reasons, Ben is also told he must give up his old life, including his wife, Lisa (Margaret Colin), daughter, Heather (Heather Matarazzo), and friend and former co-worker, Roger (Gerrit Graham). Although Ben belongs to the government now, he still retains one major weakness -- he and those around him are realizing that the new Ben can't stay away from his old life.

"When a schleppy fortysomething insurance agent has his body completely obliterated by a subway train, miraculously leaving his brain fully intact, the government asks him (somehow) whether he'd like to be "reborn" in the body of a rugged guy 20 years younger.

Meet Ben Wiseman, who agrees to the lifesaving operation and who must carry out missions for his country, using his new body's superhuman strength, as a way of saying thanks. To the annoyance of his government employer, though, the new young Ben can't stay away from his family, and he moves into the home of his "widow" renting a room as a stranger.

From Glen Gordon Caron, of "Moonlighting" fame, comes NOW & AGAIN, about a multi-million-dollar man for a new age - and quite possibly, a new mate for his old wife. Eric Close and Margaret Colin star. Paramount Network Television, in association with CBS Productions. Executive Producer/Writer: Glenn Gordon Caron.

When mild-mannered insurance man Michael Wiseman (John Goodman in a special pilot-only appearance) is shoved in front of a speeding subway car, all that's left is his brain. That's enough for mysterious government agent Dr. Theodore Morris (Dennis Haysbert), who offers Wiseman what many might consider the deal of the century: Morris wants to transplant Wiseman's brain into the body of a bioengineered superman (Eric Close). The catch? Wiseman yearns for his former wife (Margaret Colin) and daughter (Heather Matarazzo) -- but he can never see them again

Hardboiled sci-fi action is not a great fit with romantic nostalgia. But the pitch for Moonlighting may have looked equally improbable -- and Now & Again executive producer Glenn Gordon Caron made that one work, didn't he?

Comes with a poll: Whose body would you like your brain bionically transplanted into?

Lee Majors
Lindsay Wagner
Pamela Anderson Lee
Inspector Gadget

Now & Again (Friday, 9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), Finally, a Bionic Man for the new millennium. From the creator of Moonlighting, comes an action-drama about a schleppy middle-aged insurance salesman who is rebuilt into a six-million dollar man after a freak accident leaves his body obliterated (with the exception of his brain, which remains fully intact). Presto! The government covertly makes him an offer he can't refuse -- they'll save his life if he agrees to become a government agent in a hot new bod.