TV: Nowhere Man

I hear AMC is putting out a remake of "The Prisoner" (it's a big-budget affair, and it stars Sir Ian McKellen and Jim Caviezel). For my money, though, I think Lawrence Hertzog's short-lived UPN drama "Nowhere Man" beat them to the punch:



The premise is simple - photographer Tom Veil has a fairly ordinary life, with friends, a wife, and a burgeoning career. Then he takes a picture called "Hidden Agenda," and suddenly runs afoul of a worldwide conspiracy that erases all traces of his existence, including his friends and family (either by death or some mysterious coerced amnesia). Left with no other options, he becomes a fugitive.

It's obviously heavily influenced by "The Prisoner" and to a lesser extent "The X-Files," but the show has a unique identity all its own. Bruce Greenwood, in the lead role, has a likable Everyman quality while still retaining a dogged, animalistic cunning that makes you think he might just stand a chance against the forces aligned against him. Over time, though, he discovers that everything he knows might be a lie...