The
Premise
Michael Wiseman is an ordinary insurance salesman happily going about his
business, when one person shoving at a train station causes a domino effect
that drops him in front of the oncoming express. Michael awakes to discover he
has been reduced to a brain in a jar, but has a choice to say farewell to life
or be reborn in a genetically engineered younger body - as long as he agrees to
sever ties to his former life and work for the government.
Unfortunately, Michael is still very much in love with his wife and
daughter, and chance encounters could result in the scientist in charge of the
project terminating all three of them...
Background
After many years away from series television, Glenn Gordon Caron, creator of
Moonlighting, returned to the airwaves with this show, which was
determined to take the characters first and push the Sci-Fi angle of the
`bionic' lead into the background. A huge critical success, that didn't stop
the series being terminated by CBS after one season.
First Run
The series began on 24th September 1999.
Number of Episodes
Twenty-two 45-minute instalments.
The Good Guys
Michael Wiseman (Eric Close), a loving yet fallible family man in a superhuman
body; Lisa Wiseman (Margaret Colin), doting mother trying to raise her child
without a father and move on with her life; Heather Wiseman (Heather
Matarazzo), teenage and troublesome daughter of Michael and Lisa; Roger Bender
(Gerrit Graham), work colleague of Michael's and friend of the family who tries
to help Lisa where he can.
The Bad Guys
Dr Theodore Morris (Dennis Haysbert), the scientist who gives Michael a new
lease of life. However charming and friendly he may seem, there is always his
threat to kill Lisa and Heather if they find out who Michael `Newman' really
is. Plus The Eggman, a Chinaman with a neat line in eggs filled with toxic gas
and The Bugmeister, a man with an affinity for insects who can make them kill.
And Isn't That…
John Goodman plays Michael before his accident, in the early part of the
opening episode and later in flashback in Deep in My
Heart is a Song.
Overdone Clichés
Michael and Lisa are forced together in some of the most unlikely ways. Michael
nearly reveals who he is. Morris thretens to kill Lisa and Heather.
Fashion Statements
Nice vests or leather jackets for Michael, otherwise it's everyday work
clothes, suits and ties all round.
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