Lawrence Hertzog’s mystery series “Nowhere Man,” starring Bruce Greenwood, launched on the UPN in August of 1995, and was likely presented as an answer to Fox’s hit paranormal series “The X-Files.” It’s like the makers of “Nowhere Man” saw the “arc” episodes of “The X-Files” and elected to create a series that was all arc. It was episodic, but also serialized, which was novel at the time.
“Nowhere Man” also hired “X-Files” composer Mark Snow to write its music, so drawing that parallel is likely expected. “Nowhere Man” was scary and awesome, and it certainly deserved to last longer than one 25-episode season. We at /Film even listed it as one of five forgotten ’90s sci-fi TV shows that still hold up.
The premise of “Nowhere Man” is unsettling. The main character is a photojournalist named Thomas Veil (Greenwood) who, a year before the events of the series, snapped a horrific photograph in South America during a military conflict. He witnessed a man with a cigar and a few other American soldiers hanging four people from a tree. He called the photo “Hidden Agenda.”
A year later, Veil wakes up one morning to find that his identity has been suddenly and inexplicably erased. His bank account no longer seems to exist, his best friend is dead, and his elderly mother doesn’t recognize him. Most confusingly, Veil’s wife Alyson (Megan Gallagher) also doesn’t seem to recognize him. Even the staff at his favorite restaurant don’t know who he is.
Completely off the grid, a nowhere man, Veil has to go on the lam to figure out what happened, who erased his identity, and the meaning of the mysterious photograph that ties it all together.
Nowhere Man was a great post-X-Files, pre-Lost conspiracy mystery show
Naturally, there is some kind of shadowy Organization on Thomas Veil’s tail, seeking the negatives of his photo. The nature of the shadowy organization will eventually be explained, at least in part, but for the bulk of the first season of “Nowhere Man,” they remain secretive and ineffable.
The elevator pitch for “Nowhere Man” might be described as “The Fugitive” meets “The Prisoner.” Indeed, one will likely see parallels between “Nowhere Man” and Patrick McGoohan’s 1967 surrealist mystery series, which is, incidentally, one of the best TV shows of its decade. Both are about characters whose names are being erased or obfuscated, all while they are being pursued by shadowy spy organizations that seemingly have access to limitless resources devoted to repression. In “The Prisoner,” all the evil conspirators want to find out why the main character abruptly quit his job as a government spy. In “Nowhere Man,” everyone is looking for the negatives.
If the parallels weren’t clear enough, there is an episode of “Nowhere Man” wherein Thomas moves into a placid, suburban spy enclave and takes on the codename of Number Six. Number Six was the codename of McGoohan’s character on “The Prisoner.”
The series takes place all over the United States as Thomas investigates his predicament. His experiences become increasingly surreal as the show progresses. In one episode, he finds a TV series that seems to be re-enacting his old “erased” life. In another, Veil goes undercover at an elite boarding school where the students are being subjected to subliminal mind control. In yet another, Veil finds a nursing home where the denizens are being age-reversed, but also being trained to become assassins (!).
Nowhere man was surreal and high-quality
Many exciting, notable stars turned up on “Nowhere Man.” In an early episode, a pre-“Matrix” Carrie-Anne Moss plays a photographer that Thomas falls in love with after he is given mind-warping drugs and hypnosis. Dean Jones plays a man who claims to be Veil’s father, and, given that he looks like Bruce Greenwood, that’s some excellent casting. Bryan Cranston plays a sheriff who questions Veil about a murder in one episode. Maria Bello plays a woman who nurses Veil back to health after he is injured. Dean Stockwell, Roy Brocksmith, Dwight Schultz, and many other recognizable character actors pass through the series periodically.
The tone of “Nowhere Man” was oblique and scary. It wasn’t a horror program, per se, but it was often frightening.
“Nowhere Man” got some pretty good reviews when it first aired. John P. McCarthy, writing for Variety, had mostly complimentary things to say about the show’s pilot episode, feeling that Greenwood was an appealingly “fit” leading man, and that the episode’s director — the late, great Tobe Hooper (“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” “Poltergeist”) — paced the story perfectly. Viewers, he said, would definitely want to come back to explore more. Personally, I also like Mark Snow’s opening theme.
Viewers didn’t come back in droves, however. At the very least, the show wasn’t popular enough to last more than the one season. More’s the pity. “Nowhere Man” isn’t on streaming, but episodes can be found lurking in the darker corners of the internet. There is also a DVD box set you might be able to find on the second-hand market. The fact that it’s hard to track down will only make the show that much more alluring once you get to see it.
