Armand a really good series. realistic, provocative, new form of confession and analysis of relationship, remarkable characters and large range of issues. a film who has not solutions. only questions about basic dilemmas of each family. a kind of mirror because it has not ambition to pimp the events or inspire ways for similar cases. so, in its case, the great virtue is the deep honesty to present in white/black manner the hopes, insecurity, joy, fear, needs and ghosts of characters in a way who reflect the realities of viewer. it is not a lesson and not a show. only an ordinary story about families, about broken relations and the dawn of new beginning. result - a bitter mixture, source of nice memories.

michellemurmurs6244 The best TV had to offer would never be quite the same when instead of interesting, imaginative, well-written character dramas like Once And Again we get "reality TV". The plot of the series involves two 40 somethings Rick and Lily who find themselves falling in love after ending their respective marriages. We see the effect their relationship has on the people in their lives. Their children, their exes, their siblings and business partner. In a clever plot device, characters will give a monologue to the camera occasionally in order to reveal the feelings they are going through. In addition to Rick and Lily's love story we see their kids coping with their lives and how their exes move on with theirs. There's not a family member on either side that you don't find yourself caring about. Nobody is perfect. All have faults, hurt others sometimes but ultimately learn their lesson and redeem themselves. The entire cast is perfect. It's a shame this only lasted for three seasons.

Afilmman As sad as I am that Once and Again didn't last, I am so thankful that once and again did survive three incredibly imaginative and deeply moving three seasons that will forever keep it as one of the most if not the most telling and honest family drama. It is not a franchise nor is it formulaic and that's why even the Emmys couldn't reward it they way it should have. This show had so much talent in it that if we didn't live in such cynical times when only edgy shows (i.e.: Six feet under, sopranos and CSI) that examine life from a half-empty prospective are appreciated, OAA could have very easily swept the Emmys and even dominated all the supporting and guest actor categories (Just imagine, Susanna Thompson, Marin Hinkle, Evan Rachel Wood and Julia Whelan all getting nominated in the same category in the same year. And they all deserved it for each and every season.) I am not against edgy shows and the ones I mentioned are good at they do. But Once and Again was a show so far a head of it's time because it was a show that valued the traditions of family, love and being a good human being without rounding off the edges of their characters. Everyone had flaws and some of them were very intense but the characters redeem themselves by being so human and unbelievably real that when they do things that can be looked at as wrong, we see their humanity and therefore love them more for it. Karen, Lilly, Jake and Grace especially have those qualities. Grace lies and sabotages Jessie but we see her journey and we don't forgive her necessarily, we fall in love with her commitment (And that's to Julia's credit) To her humanity. Lilly becomes self-involved more often than not but she doesn't need anyone to remind her of it she admits it and apologizes for it without promising that she has undergone some miraculous change but rather just tries to work on it. Karen is stern and by the book but her undeniable devotion to her children and the incredible sensitivity that Susanna brings to the role makes her so lovable and even sexy. And Jake who screws up and yells and gets bankrupt but never fails to have a vulnerability that even the toughest most judgmental critic can't help admitting an affinity toward him. Those qualities are a credit to the writers as well as the amazing actors a better ensemble than which has never existed in a television show; Not on that scale anyway. Children and teens are notorious for being bad bad news for any good show but those 4 (Including an eerily talented and too precise an actress for her young age Meredith Deane) make me reinvest in the belief that young actors are not just there as space fillers.I can talk endlessly dissecting everything about this show but that could take a book. Once and again is so brilliant, it's network didn't know how to market it. These characters are real people and their problems are not exotic in that TV way, They are purely and simply real. It is hopeful and sweet without being resolved to wearing some ridiculous rose-colored glasses. But it is also real without showing a bleak reality where it's all darkness and despair. The brilliance of this show was in its ability to balance the good with the bad and the dark with the light. It was a very liberal and beautifully open minded show that still valued traditions of love and family. Which is also another aspect that made it art. In true art, not one person is good or bad. Every situation in which there is a villain, the villain has a good guy in them that contrasts with the little villain that lives inside that "Good guy." Every character in this show was like that. They were all lovable at times but not so lovable at others. There are no mythical heroes on OAA, the heroism of those characters comes in the form of their flawed nobility as humans. I think that's why the show was not an instant success but the sort of thing that will be talked about for years and years to come; It never picked sides but shows to show both sides of an issue. No one was 100% right all the time and no one was 100% wrong. Ask anyone and they will tell you that that very idea is the very definition of good literary art. And that once and again is Once and Again.

kd-3 But first please let's give our due to Julia Whelan, whose poignant performances from season 1 -- and especially in 3 -- were, more than anyone else's, worth the price of admission.Some especially brilliant ones where the viewers' expectations are up-ended: 1. The purloined lip gloss! What better metonymy, I ask? 2. Best of all: the several episodes in which Lily thinks Grace might be a lesbian because of her interest in the gay/lesbian student support group, though she goes because of her huge crush on her way-too-old (male) writing instructor, the faculty mentor of the group. All the while her step daughter Jessie is in the throws of a crush on a beloved (female) friend, without anyone's notice.