n the eve of his 30th birthday, Travis Glass regrets one bad week he had in high school, which he blames for his failed life: He still lives with his mother, he sells doors to front the family bookmaking business, the girl of his dreams is married to his brother, and Travis' family is drifting apart. He wishes he could take what he knows now to the past and live his life over. But as his mother advises, if he doesn't start doing things differently, in 10 years he'll look back on today and regret it in the same way he now regrets his high-school days. "That was then," his mother advises. "Let it go."
Lightning strikes his house and travels through the headphones Travis wears as he falls asleep while a cassette tape of The Kinks' "Do It Again" plays. He wakes up in his 16-year-old body, but his 30-year-old mind and memories are intact.
With the aid of his frenetic best friend, Pinkus, Travis focuses on accomplishing two immediate missions: get the girl, and give a speech to the entire high school instead of freezing at the podium. Travis is convinced this is how he can fix everything that's gone wrong in his life.
It's no easy task. Twists and turns force Travis to choose between helping himself and helping other people. Along the way, he ends up learning a dark secret that he'd rather not know. Nothing falls into place in the way Travis hopes or expects, but he gives the speech and gets the girl.
Except there's one little problem.
When someone plays the song "Do It Again," Travis finds himself automatically fast-forwarded back to the day before his 30th birthday. The problem is, the world is now completely different, and it's not the one Travis wants. The only thing he can do is go back to the past and try to make things right.
Regrets, he's had a few, but then again ...
At first glance, That Was Then may not sound like much. Although the premise might sound a bit derivative, this series is something special.
Begin with a touch of Quantum Leap: At the end of each episode, Travis finds himself in a whole new world—in this case, an alternate present day. Add the time-travel angle: Travis has to keep going back to his past in order to change his future. But here's where it gets interesting. Whenever Travis goes back to his past, he picks up where he left off. The past he's already relived is cast in stone—he can't change it. He can only change his past as it moves forward in time. On the other hand, every time he wakes up in the present day, it's the same day that lightning struck his house—the morning before his 30th birthday.
Although billed as a drama, That Was Then packs plenty of laughs, ranging from slapstick to subtle. No matter what Travis does, his best efforts end in disastrous results. This means Travis's actions have repercussions he has to face. Those repercussions are mined for both comedy and drama.
One clever twist is, with the exception of Travis' younger sister, Zooey, every actor plays the same role in the past and the future to great effect. James Bulliard brings poignancy to his role as a man desperately trying to make his world turn out right, only to watch it all go wrong with every step he takes. Bess Armstrong and Jeffrey Tambor shine as Travis' parents, while Tyler Labine, in the role of best friend Pinkus, renders shades of Jack Black.
That Was Then shows heart without devolving into sentimentality or melodrama. Emotions are honest and earned the hard way. It's smart and witty, graced with sly, wry touches throughout.
