Once and Again - The Complete Second Season

• Golden Globe(R) award-winner Sela Ward and Billy Campbell star in the highly acclaimed second season of ONCE AND AGAIN. Celebrate the loves and experience the triumphs and heartbreak that made ONCE AND AGAIN a favorite among critics and audiences everywhere. It's "a great show," raves Robert Bianco of USA TODAY. Now you can experience all 22 episodes of season two in this spectacular five-disc

This is a story about home . . .

At a time when much of America is yearning to recapture the spirit and feelings of a more innocent era, comes this exceptional new book from one of our most beloved actresses: a story of one woman's journey to reconnect with the landscape of her childhood.

Though best known today as the star of the television series Once & Again and Sisters, Sela Ward considers herself first and foremost a small-town girl. The eldest of four children! , she was raised by a father who helped her believe in herself, and by a mother who taught her a sense of the importance of virtues like self-respect, grace, and sacrifice. In her hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, within a tightly-knit community of neighbors and kin, Sela learned ways that would remain with her throughout life -- humble virtues that were "forged in the hearth of a loving home."

After graduating from the University of Alabama, Sela left the South in search of the excitement of cities like New York and Los Angeles, and the creative rewards of an acting career. But as she started her own family, she found herself pining for the comforts of her small-town childhood -- and searching for a way to balance her children's West Coast upbringing with a taste of a more natural way of life. She and her husband built a second home on a farm there, where she and her family could retreat several times each year, and became involved in several projects designed to r! estore the vitality of the hometown she remembered so fondly. ! Even as Sela was reconnecting with the rhythms of home, though, her world was rocked by a crisis the family had long anticipated but never quite prepared for -- the death of her mother. As her family gathered around her mama's bedside, Sela's simple journey home became something far deeper: a turning point in her own life, as she pondered her mother's complicated legacy, and came to terms with just what it was she herself was searching for.

Filled with warmth, storytelling, and laughter, Homesick is a book to treasure: an exploration of the lessons we carry away with us from childhood, and a celebration of the bittersweet legacy of home.

Starring Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning Sela Ward and Golden Globe nominee Billy Campbell, Once And Again explored brave new territory with the compelling story of two families blending at the seams. The second marriage of Lily Manning (Ward) to Rick Sammler (Campbell) pushes both to the limit as they try for domestic norma! lcy while navigating divorce, parenting, financial hardship and many other life lessons.

From the creators of thirtysomething and My So-Called Life comes the complete first season DVD Collection. Enjoy all the moving moments and memorable performances of a brilliant supporting cast, including Shane West (A Walk To Remember) and Evan Rachel Wood (Practical Magic) once and again.Rick (Billy Campbell) and Lily (Sela Ward) are fortysomething parents with two kids; both are still feeling the repercussions of their failed first marriages; both are haplessly single and consumed by their family identities (plus, let's just face it, both are gorgeous beyond belief). Dropping off their respective kids at school in their respective SUVs, they spy each other across a crowded driveway. Granted, it's not terribly romantic, but sparks fly and tentatively, embarrassingly, like teenagers, they embark on a first date--awkward conversation and fumbling make-out sessions in cars incl! uded. So begins the acclaimed TV series Once and Again ! from pro ducers Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, the guys who brought you über-sensitive dramas thirtysomething and My So-Called Life. And like those award-winning shows, Once and Again mines the mundane and ordinary to find extraordinary drama, tackling both midlife crisis and teen angst, as Rick and Lily's kids (most notably heartthrob Shane West and blooming wallflower Julia Whelan) navigate the perils of high school while their parents traverse the mine field of adult romance, with ex-spouses and disapproving family members lurking in the shadows.

The first season takes Rick and Lily from first date alone to first date en famille, in which their respective broods finally meet and confront the fact that their parents--gasp!--like each other. Along the way, there's amazing writing, pitch-perfect direction that takes scenes from comedy to drama in seamless swoops, and a tight-knit ensemble that hits all the right notes. Ward won an Emmy for this ! first season as the anxiety-ridden Lily, but she's equally matched by the quietly stunning Campbell, and their interaction is touching, funny, sexy, and heartbreaking--everything you could want in a romance, and more. --Mark Englehart"Sela Ward stars as beautiful, vulnerable heiress Sarah Hardy, recently wed and returning to her isolated childhood home, The Pines, to claim her inheritance. But something--or someone--evil waits there for her."

The vibrant and beloved star of Once and Again and Sisters offers a story about her journey home to recapture the magic of youth in the deep South for her children and to make peace with the death of her mother.
 
At a time when much of America is yearning to recapture the spirit and feelings of a more innocent era, comes the paperback edition of this exceptional book, from one of our most beloved actresses: a story of one woman’s journey to reconnect with the landscape of her childhood.

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Though best known today as the star of the television serie! s Once & Again and Sisters, Sela Ward considers herself first and foremost a small-town girl. The eldest of four children, she was raised by a father who helped her believe in herself, and by a mother who taught her a sense of the importance of virtues like self-respect, grace, and sacrifice. In her hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, within a tightly-knit community of neighbors and kin, Sela learned ways that would remain with her throughout lifeâ€"humble virtues that were ‘forged in the hearth of a loving home.’

Long after she had established herself as a successful model and Emmy Award winning actress, Sela started her own family, and found herself pining for the comforts of her small-town childhood. In an effort to balance her children’s West Coast upbringing with a taste of a more natural way of life, she and her husband built a second home on a farm in Meridian, Mississippi so that her family could retreat there several times each year.

Even as Sela was recon! necting with the rhythms of home, though, her world was rocked by a crisis the family had long anticipated but never quite prepared forâ€"the death of her mother. As her family gathered around her mama’s bedside, Sela’s simple journey home became something far deeper: a turning point in her own life, as she pondered her mother’s complicated legacy, and came to terms with just what it was she herself was searching for.

Filled with warmth, storytelling, and laughter, Homesick is a book to treasure: an exploration of the lessons we carry away with us from childhood, and a celebration of the bittersweet legacy of home.  

The vibrant and beloved star of Once and Again and Sisters offers a story about her journey home to recapture the magic of youth in the deep South for her children and to make peace with the death of her mother.
 
At a time when much of America is yearning to recapture the spirit and feelings of a more innocen! t era, comes the paperback edition of this exceptional book, f! rom one of our most beloved actresses: a story of one woman’s journey to reconnect with the landscape of her childhood.

Though best known today as the star of the television series Once & Again and Sisters, Sela Ward considers herself first and foremost a small-town girl. The eldest of four children, she was raised by a father who helped her believe in herself, and by a mother who taught her a sense of the importance of virtues like self-respect, grace, and sacrifice. In her hometown of Meridian, Mississippi, within a tightly-knit community of neighbors and kin, Sela learned ways that would remain with her throughout lifeâ€"humble virtues that were ‘forged in the hearth of a loving home.’

Long after she had established herself as a successful model and Emmy Award winning actress, Sela started her own family, and found herself pining for the comforts of her small-town childhood. In an effort to balance her children’s West Coast upbringing with a taste of a more ! natural way of life, she and her husband built a second home on a farm in Meridian, Mississippi so that her family could retreat there several times each year.

Even as Sela was reconnecting with the rhythms of home, though, her world was rocked by a crisis the family had long anticipated but never quite prepared forâ€"the death of her mother. As her family gathered around her mama’s bedside, Sela’s simple journey home became something far deeper: a turning point in her own life, as she pondered her mother’s complicated legacy, and came to terms with just what it was she herself was searching for.

Filled with warmth, storytelling, and laughter, Homesick is a book to treasure: an exploration of the lessons we carry away with us from childhood, and a celebration of the bittersweet legacy of home.  

Golden Globe(R) award-winner Sela Ward and Billy Campbell star in the highly acclaimed second season of ONCE AND AGAIN. Celebrate the loves and experience the! triumphs and heartbreak that made ONCE AND AGAIN a favorite a! mong cri tics and audiences everywhere. It's "a great show," raves Robert Bianco of USA TODAY. Now you can experience all 22 episodes of season two in this spectacular five-disc set, featuring exclusive bonus features. It's everything you remember and so much more. After the romantic courtship and the awkwardness of first dates, Once and Again in its second season settled into charting the growing relationship between fortysomethings Lily (Sela Ward) and Rick (Billy Campbell), who finally shook off all their angst and family pressures to embark on a long-term relationship. And of course, once finally committed in their love for each other, life rudely interrupts what should have been a comfortable, winding road to happily ever after. Rick's architecture firm is hand-picked for a new high-profile project, but it's dogged by community protests and run by the ever-devious Miles Drentell (David Clennon, reprising his shady character from thirtysomething); what's more, Rick'! s ex-wife, Karen (Susanna Thompson), is the lawyer representing the project's opposition. Lily finds herself as the assistant to a twentysomething entrepreneur at a fledgling dot-com, and the victim of the amorous, non-professional interests of a consultant for the troubled company. She's also faced with the fate of her late father's restaurant, run by her ex-husband, Jake (Jeffrey Nordling), who's charming but not the best of businessmen, and his financial strain soon becomes hers as well. Oh, and then there are the kids: Rick's son Eli (Shane West) would rather start a band than go to college, and daughter Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) may be anorexic; Lily's daughter Grace (Julia Whelan) falls into a friendship with a troubled girl, and only Zoe (Meredith Deane) seems to be the most normal--that is, when she isn't worried about Rick and his kids moving into her house.

The course of true love never did run smooth, and truth be told, there were a bit too many plot twists ! cooked up for this season of the Edward Zwick-Marshall Herskov! itz dram a (including a hostage episode at Jake's restaurant that garnered high ratings), but the creative team behind this show managed a deft balancing act among all the characters and plotlines. Teenage angst co-existed alongside more adult worries, and the specter of professional and money troubles for both Rick and Lily kept the characters grounded in a reality not often seen in television dramas. And in addition to giving all the cast members shining moments, Once and Again developed an extensive number of secondary characters, including Lily's mentally ill brother Aaron (Patrick Dempsey), Jake's flighty girlfriend Tiffany (Ever Carradine), Karen's hunky younger boyfriend (Mark Feuerstein), and an uncredited Edward Zwick as Jessie's therapist. It was the core cast, however, that made Once and Again soar--teen actors West and Whelan broke their characters' stereotypical molds, the young Wood (who would go on to star in thirteen) was outstanding as she naviga! ted blooming adolescence: Nordling and Thompson, as the exes on the periphery, were two of the best supporting actors ever on television. As always, though, Ward and Campbell were the show's heart and soul, always communicating the underlying waves of frustration and anger in their character's facades as well as the love and happiness. Despite low ratings, ABC renewed Once and Again for a third and final season, giving all us fans of great television (and hopeless romantics) one more year with Rick and Lily after this one. --Mark Englehart