Second Chances (American TV series)

Second Chances is an American drama television series created and written by producers Bernard Lechowick and Lynn Marie Latham. The two-hour pilot episode was directed by Sharron Miller. Its cast includes Connie Sellecca, Matt Salinger, Megan Follows, Jennifer Lopez, and Michelle Phillips. The series premiered December 2, 1993, on CBS, and aired its final episode on February 19, 1994. Hotel Malibu, which was touted as a spinoff of this series, debuted in August 1994.
This series marked a reunion between actors Ronny Cox and Frances Lee McCain who had worked together two decades before on another CBS series called Apple's Way.

Cast

Connie Sellecca as Dianne Benedict, attorney and aspiring judge
Matt Salinger as Mike Chulack, Dianne's ex-boyfriend and ex-con
Ronny Cox as George Cook, Kevin's father
Megan Porter Follows as Kate Benedict, Dianne's younger sister
Justin Lazard as Kevin Cook, law student
Jennifer Lopez as Melinda Lopez, college student, engaged to Kevin
Francis Lee McCain as Felicity Cook, Kevin's mother
Michelle Phillips as Joanna Russel, secretary and mistress of Dianne's husband
Pepe Serna as Salvador Lopez, Melinda's father
Ray Wise as Judge Jim Stinson, corrupt judge
Ramy Zada as Detective Jerry Kuntz, investigating the murder of Dianne's husband

Production

On January 17, 1994, the Northridge earthquake damaged the show's sets, and CBS decided to cancel the series instead of investing money to repair them – in addition to the cost of rebuilding, both Connie Sellecca and Megan Follows were pregnant and would have been far along by the time the sets were rebuilt. The series' last episode ran on February 10, 1994, as part of CBS's "Crimetime After Primetime" lineup. Part of the cast and characters were moved to the summertime replacement show Hotel Malibu in August 1994, which was touted as a spinoff of the series.

Reception

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly rated the pilot episode a C− saying that it "relies on too many verbal cliches and pat coincidences to promise much in the way of engrossing escapism". Tony Scott of Variety stated that the series "needs more riveting material" as the pilot episode "suffers from blatant, uninvolving characters, low-caliber plotting and subcommercial appeal".