Does television really need another show about angels?
Well, that's sort of like asking if it needs another show about cops. Or lawyers. Or young people hanging out together in New York City.There aren't a whole lot of of completely new ideas in TV. It's mostly a reworking of old themes. So what makes a show worth watching has more to do with execution than with originality.
And, judged on those criteria, television certainly can use another show about angels. Because PAX TV's new "Twice in Lifetime" is a nicely done, uplifting series from the executive producer of "Christy," "Cagney & Lacey" and "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill."
The premise is simple. Each week a different character is visited by an angel, Mr. Jones (Gordie Brown), at a time of crisis. Mr. Jones offers the person a chance to go back and change any one moment in their life -- to correct any mistake, to turn left instead of right at a fork in their road.
"I thought it was a very smart idea," said Barney Rosenzweig, who was lured out of retirement to run this new show. "It's something I've always wanted to do in a television series. . . . It tapped into a universal fantasy. What would you do if you had a million dollars? What would you do if you had a year to live? What would you do if you were falsely accused of a crime and couldn't prove your innocence? So you're talking about 'The Millionaire' and 'Run for Your Life' and 'The Fugitive.'
"And this is another one -- what would you do if you could go back and change one thing? I just thought it had a commercial smell to it that was irresistible."
And, from early indications. "Twice in a Lifetime" is more than just commercial. It's a good, wholesome -- but not overly sappy -- anthology that taps into the same vein as "Touched by an Angel." And, arguably, Wednesday's pilot episode (7 p.m., Ch. 30) actually does it better than your average episode of "Touched."
In the opener, a middle-aged woman (Gwyneth Walsh) has pretty much made a mess of her life. Oh, she's a successful real-estate agent, but she's neglecting both her husband and 16-year-old son, and she's obsessed with the out-of-wedlock boy she gave birth to -- and gave up for adoption -- 30 years earlier. So obsessed that she finds no joy in life at all.
Mr. Jones gives her a chance to go back and meet the teenage version of herself and try to convince her to keep the baby.
Much to its credit, however, "Twice in a Lifetime" doesn't quite follow a linear storytelling path. In this episode -- as well as future episodes, Rosenzweig promises -- things don't turn out quite as the second-timers think they will.
"We have several episodes in which the saying, 'Be careful what you ask for, lest you get it,' comes to pass and the person realizes that they've made a mistake," Rosenzweig said. "That's part of the process of making the shows interesting and unpredictable."
And, unlike far too many episodes of "Touched by an Angel," the character here has to do some learning and growing on her own. It's not just a matter of angels pointing her in the right direction.
Like "Touched," the religion in "Twice in a Lifetime" is very non-denominational. Heaven is depicted as a cloud-filled place, and the jury is still out on how well the only other regular character in the series -- an Old Testament judge played by Al Waxman (who was the lieutenant in "Cagney & Lacey") is going to work.
But newcomer Gordie Brown is very appealing as Mr. Jones. And, if the writing can maintain the kind of quality it shows in the pilot, "Twice in a Lifetime" could become PAX TV's first hit. (Albeit a limited one, given the seventh network's limited reach.)
This is good family entertainment. And you can never have too many shows like that.