The Real Brains Behind the ‘Now and Again’ Web Site

With its sci-fi premise, CBS’ new Friday night series “Now and Again” may be this season’s first TV offering to garner a cult following on the Internet.

The show is about a man (played by Eric Close) who, after an accidental death, is given a second life when the United States government deposits his brain in a genetically engineered body, creating a superman terrorist fighter in service to the Secret Service. This action-comedy-drama hybrid has attracted a devoted following on the Net; it may be the first new program to achieve its very own Web ring (https://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring

nowandagain;list for a list of the ring’s sites).

Some of these sites, like Zen’s “Now and Again” fan site (https://zenerd.freeservers.com/index.html), are teeming with content, including a plethora of articles, pictures, sounds, transcripts and more. In comparison, CBS’ official site seems a trifle lame.

Or does it? When you visit the network’s site (https://entertainment.cbs.com/net

work/tvshows/primetime/shows/nowandagain/), a curious little window pops up with a menacing symbol (not unlike “Blair Witch’s”) and the cautioning words, “Warning--Do Not Click Here.” And when you do click there, the message explains that CBS.com has been “inundated” with calls about an “unusual, underground” Web site, https://www.brainharvest.com (if you must know), that “claims to have uncovered a government conspiracy in which human brains are ‘harvested’ and transplanted into artificially manufactured bodies.”

You see, fans have noticed the similarity between the claim and the CBS series but, as the message goes on to say, “We can assure you, though, that this new series is purely fictional and intended for entertainment only. While it is possible that in the future doctors may one day turn this concept into a reality, for now it’s just a good idea for a television series.” Here, here.

Of course, now you just have to go to brainharvest.com, and once there, you’ll see some creepy black and white photos of . . . A skull scar! A scientist! A blurry guy! A forehead (oddly similar to “Blair Witch”)!

The text explains that the site’s creator is a college student who has accidentally stumbled onto top secret information that “the government has harvested a human brain from the body of a dead man.” He writes, “What I’ve found will seem ridiculous, maybe even impossible. I want you to believe me, but if you don’t, I understand. . . .” He provides a file of an internal memo from Protean Phoresis Laboratory, in which one can detect the words “brain harvest,” “Mr. Weisman” (the TV character’s name) and “subway car” (how the character died) amid the blotted-out memo.

The site has updates that include a photo of a man climbing a building (superhumanly, no?). On Oct. 14, our college student writes, fretfully, “the Feds may be closing me down.” While the site might get shut down for a time, he promises to continue investigating the matter.

CBS.com producer Noah Arceneaux admitted no connection between CBS and this site. OK, maybe he had heard of it, but he didn’t do it. OK, maybe someone at CBS had something to do with it.

In fact, the site was created by Jack Parmeter, vice president of on-air promotion at CBS, who was looking for a way to appeal to the younger crowds.

After all, “Blair Witch” (https://www.blairwitch.com/) proved that counterfeit “reality”-based Web sites can do much to promote a drama. And that you can take to the bank.

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Erika Milvy writes about entertainment from her home in San Francisco. She can be reached aterika@well.com.