Nowhere Man (TV series)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nowhere Man is an American television series that aired from 1995 to 1996 starring Bruce Greenwood. Created by Lawrence Hertzog, the series aired Monday nights on UPN. Despite critical acclaim, including TV Guide's label of "The season's coolest hit,"^[1][2] the show was cancelled after only one season. It is now available on DVD.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Recurring guests 3 Opening sequence 4 Episode Guide 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Overview

Nowhere Man is the tale of a photojournalist named Thomas Veil. After leaving to use the restroom while out to dinner with his wife, Tom returns to find that his life has been "erased." His wife doesn't recognize him and is living with another man. His ATM cards no longer work. His best friend turns up dead. His mother was previously recovering from a stroke, so she is incapable of confirming his existence. In the course of a single evening, every trace of Tom's identity has been erased.

Tom comes to believe his erasure is related to a photograph he took a year earlier called “Hidden Agenda.” The photo depicts four men being hanged in South America by what appear to be US soldiers. The only shreds of evidence Tom has of his past are the negatives to that photograph. A mysterious organization covertly pursues Tom in search of the negatives. Over time, Tom's paranoia builds as he comes to realize that nothing is what it seems to be, no one is safe from this organization, and even he may not be who he thinks he is.

Series creator Larry Hertzog has acknowledged the influence of The Prisoner and The Fugitive in the show's themes. Resemblances can also be seen to The Manchurian Candidate, North by Northwest, Three Days Of The Condor, The X-Files and the 1967 television series Coronet Blue.

[edit] Recurring guests

• Megan Gallagher as Alyson Veil (4 episodes)
• Murray Rubinstein as Larry (3 episodes)
• Ted Roisum as Pilot / Ames (2 episodes)
• Robert Blanche as Chauffeur / Security Guard (2 episodes)
• Michael Taylor Donovan as Business Executive / Security Guard (2 episodes)

[edit] Opening sequence

Each episode started with an introductory sequence featuring still photographs depicting Thomas Veil's plight and the following prologue:

My name is Thomas Veil, or at least it was. I'm a photographer, I had it all: a wife, Alyson, friends, a career. And in one moment, it was all taken away, all because of a single photograph. I have it; they want it; and they will do anything to get the negative. I'm keeping this diary as proof that these events are real. I know they are... They... have to be."

[edit] Episode Guide

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (December 2007)

Title	Original Airdate	Writer	Director	Number
"Absolute Zero"	August 28, 1995	Lawrence Hertzog	Tobe Hooper	101
	Thomas Veil – quite literally – loses his identity one night over dinner and begins to mentally unravel when he discovers his wife is part of whatever is happening. Placed in a sanitarium, he slowly realizes that he is actually the victim of some massive conspiracy connected to a photograph he took entitled "Hidden Agenda".
"Turnabout"	September 4, 1995	Lawrence Hertzog	Tobe Hooper	102
	Veil is picked up by operatives, who think that he is Dr. Bellamy. He is taken to a Midwest sanitarium for the organization and ordered to crack Ellen Combs, a young woman who has just been erased. Thinking that he will be able to secure his own files, Tom plays along, but realizes he must intervene before Ellen divulges any information and endangers other possible victims.
"The Incredible Derek"	September 11, 1995	Joel Surnow	James Darren	103
	Tracing the jeep in the photograph to Tipton, Georgia, Thomas Veil meets a blind 10-year-old prophet who sees into both Tom's past and future. With his help Tom manages to avoid being captured by the army troops that seem to be looking for him, but not before they destroy the army base that has some mysterious connection to the picture in Tom's negative as well as the small town where they have been staying.
"Something About Her"	September 18, 1995	Lawrence Hertzog	James Whitmore Jr.	104
	The conspiracy kidnaps Tom and through drugs and programming convinces him that he is in love with an attractive photographer named Karin – actually an actress hired by the conspirators. As their relationship progresses, flashbacks confuse him and Tom angrily turns on the girl, forcing the doctors to step up their program.
"Paradise on Your Doorstep"	September 25, 1995	Lawrence Hertzog	Thomas J. Wright	105
	While working in a photo shop Tom comes across a picture of his wife Alyson dining with a female customer. When the woman picks up the photographs he follows her, only to be kidnapped and transported to a strangely isolated "village" – a perfect town specially designed for the "disenfranchised" – those persons who had lost their identities because of "them".
"The Spider Webb"	October 9, 1995	Joel Surnow	Thomas J. Wright	106
	Tom is tracing Dave "Eddie" Powers, his friend from the asylum who knew too much and was lobotomized for his efforts to help Tom. He ends up in Eddie's run-down hotel room where the television mysteriously begins broadcasting The Lenny Little Show, a serial that is – amazingly enough – re-enacting scenes from Tom's personal erasure. He traces the program to the Max Webb Studios and confronts the sneering writer. Veil begins to realize that Max Webb not only knows what he has done but foresees what he will do next.
"A Rough Whimper of Insanity"	October 23, 1995	Joel Surnow	Guy Magar	107
	Working as a pizza deliveryman, Tom happens on a computer hacker that has cut himself off from the world and lives in darkness with his machines. Sickly and severely socially handicapped, Scott Hansen begins to warm to Tom's gentleness and becomes deeply intrigued when he realizes the extent of his erasure – so profound that even Scott's skills cannot retrieve Veil's files.
"The Alpha Spike"	October 30, 1995	Erica Byrne	Steven Robman	108
	Tom travels to New England to work in the military school where Dr. Bellamy taught and to investigate Bellamy's methods of subliminal persuasion on teenagers. While there he becomes involved in a murder committed by an evil and manipulative cadet. The famous calling card from this episode is the chilling reiteration of "Unity, Commitment, Strength!"
"You Really Got a Hold on Me"	November 6, 1995	Jake Weinberger Michael Weinberger	Michael Levine	109
	Tom is befriended by a man whose own life was taken away by the organization more than 20 years before. Gus Shepard, played by Dean Stockwell, has come to realize that the conspiracy's focus has shifted from him to Tom and that even his life as a runaway no longer has meaning.
"Father" a.k.a. Validation	November 13, 1995	Art Monterastelli	Guy Magar	110
	Tom returns to the Missouri town where he grew up and meets the father who deserted him and his mother 20 years before. Although he wants to believe the man now calling himself Jonathan Crane is his father, Veil is suspicious of the recent plastic surgery and demands proof, which Jonathan cannot seem to supply.
"An Enemy Within"	November 20, 1995	Peter Dunne	Ian Toynton	111
	Tom finds himself in a rural area of Pennsylvania where he is waiting for a phone call from a detective who thinks he can name the cigar-smoking soldier in Tom's photo. Unwittingly camping out on private land, he’s shot by a guard and left for dead. He is discovered the next day by Emily, a young woman who manages to drag him to her home and nurses him back to health.
"It's Not Such a Wonderful Life" a.k.a. The Christmas Episode	November 27, 1995	Lawrence Hertzog	Tim Hunter	112
	During Christmas, Thomas Veil reads in a newspaper that the federal government is looking for him in connection with the photograph "Hidden Agenda". And then – quite suddenly – he is found! He is told his ordeal is over and that all he has to do is testify, and – to prove his story – hand over the negatives.
"Contact" a.k.a. Deep Throat	January 15, 1996	Lawrence Hertzog	Reza Badiyi	113
	A mysterious voice from within the organization contacts Veil and tells him that he will help him reach the man responsible for his erasure. To earn Tom's trust the voice allows him to watch the video record of his own erasure and to see the man who ordered it: Richard Grace. To ensure Tom's interest the voice also shows Tom proof that his wife Alyson was involved with Grace and sets out an elaborate scheme for Tom to assassinate the man.
"Heart of Darkness"	January 22, 1996	David Ehrman	Stephen Thomas Stafford	114
	Veil uses a Palmtop computer provided by his contact within the organization to track down Commander Quinn, a secretive military man who runs a right-wing uniformed organization that carefully screens all applicants. Usurping an accepted applicant's place, Tom finds himself kidnapped and inducted into a brutally disciplined militia group that kills those who do not conform.
"Forever Jung" a.k.a. Doubles	February 5, 1996	Joel Surnow	Greg Beeman	115
	Following up on information in the Palmtop, Tom journeys to a Minnesota town and finds work at a nursing home that may be performing unauthorized scientific experiments on its residents. The unexpected death of one of the residents prompts Veil to investigate and he uncovers a plot that is directly linked to the organization. This episode has created considerable controversy among fans as to whether Alyson is a real person, or a wholly false identity created only to execute Veil.
"Shine a Light on You"	February 12, 1996	Art Monterastelli	Stephen Thomas Stafford	116
	Tom journeys to a remote Colorado town to look for a physicist named Dr. Merrit, whom he suspects is another victim of the conspiracy. Dr. Merrit's disappearance has been attributed to an alien abduction by the locals, who have become accustomed to seeing strange phenomena and unexplained lights.
"Stay Tuned"	February 19, 1996	Lawrence Hertzog	Mel Damski	117
	The Palmtop leads Veil to Darby, NY – a seemingly perfect American town where everybody is just too good to be true. Suspecting some form of mind control Tom attempts to infiltrate the campaign headquarters of Jim Hubbard, a local politician who is launching a campaign to run for governor – and who might be part of the organization that erased Tom’s identity.
"Hidden Agenda"	February 26, 1996	Lawrence Hertzog	Mel Damski	118
	Alexander Hale, Tom's mysterious contact in the organization, finally reveals his true identity and arranges to meet with Tom to find out the truth about the photograph "Hidden Agenda". Unknown to Tom, Hale has been uncovered by the organization and they intend to use him as bait to bring Veil down once and for all.
"Doppelganger"	March 18, 1996	Schuyler Kent	Ian Toynton	119
	Unsure that he can trust the information from the Palmtop computer, Veil decides to investigate one last name: Claire Hillard, a fellow journalist who was assigned to the same South American arena where the "Hidden Agenda" photograph was supposedly taken. Arriving in the small Ohio town where she lives, he discovers that another Thomas Veil lives there – a photographer with whom Claire occasionally works.
"Through a Lens Darkly" a.k.a. Shutterbug	April 8, 1996	Art Monterastelli	Ian Toynton	120
	Tom is kidnapped and locked inside a remote deserted house. An operative within the organization uses powerful mind control techniques to induce haunting memories from Veil’s past, making him recall his childhood and the violent death of his childhood sweetheart.
"Dark Side of the Moon" a.k.a. The Mugging	April 15, 1996	David Ehrman	James Whitmore Jr.	121
	Tom has a chance to uncover an important list of operatives, but as he phones his contact an operative from the organization attacks him and demands the negatives. Fleeing from one enemy Tom runs into another as an inner city gang confronts Veil and steals a bag containing the negatives of "Hidden Agenda".
"Calaway"	April 29, 1996	Joel Surnow	Reza Badiyi	122
	Thomas Veil is suffering from severe insomnia and a doctor's alarming diagnosis prompts him to go back to the asylum where he was first placed after his erasure. There he encounters one of his fellow inmates, a man who has been re-programmed to think that he is one of the doctors.
"Zero Minus Ten" a.k.a. Coma	May 6, 1996	Jane Espenson	James Whitmore Jr.	123
	Waking up in a hospital with no memory of how he got there, Tom is immediately suspicious when he is told that he has been in a coma for three months following a car accident. A forced reunion with his wife Alyson only reinforces his belief that he is the victim of another ruse by the organization that is trying to get his negatives.
"Marathon"	May 13, 1996	Art Monterastelli	Stephen Thomas Stafford	124
	Uncovering a section of "Hidden Agenda" previously obscured, Tom discovers the numbers for a radio frequency that ultimately leads him to a Washington DC research center called Heritage House. As Tom investigates the center, he narrowly escapes the assassination of the entire staff. With the help of a secretary he rescues, Veil discovers that Heritage House is a front for a clandestine FBI operation that happens to be investigating the organization that erased his identity.
"Gemini"	May 20, 1996	Lawrence Hertzog Art Monterastelli	Stephen Thomas Stafford	125
	Following up on secret information provided by the FBI, Tom finds two valuable clues: the original untouched photo of "Hidden Agenda" and a key to the safe house inhabited by the agent who gathered the data – an operative code named Gemini.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Nowhere Man at the Internet Movie Database
• Nowhere Man at TV.com
• NowhereMan.org