Second Chances is an American television series created and written by producers Bernard Lechowick

Bernard Lechowick

Bernard Lechowick is an American television writer and producer. He grew up in Mentor, Ohio and is a father of two sons, Richard Latham Lechowick and Vincent Latham Lechowick. Lechowick graduated from the University of Notre Dame...

 and Lynn Marie Latham

Lynn Marie Latham

Lynn Marie Latham is an Emmy Award-winning television writer and producer. Her initial foray into writing for television was as a story editor for the short-lived series Berrenger's in 1985...

. The series premiered December 2, 1993, on CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

. Its cast includes Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...

, Connie Sellecca

Connie Sellecca

Connie Sellecca is an American actress and former model, primarily known for her roles on television.- Early life :She was born Concetta Sellecchia in The Bronx, New York, New York to Italian parents. At age twelve, she moved to Pomona, New York and attended Pomona Junior High School...

, Megan Follows

Megan Follows

Megan Elizabeth Laura Diana Follows is a Canadian/American actress. She is most known to international audiences for her role as Anne Shirley in the acclaimed 1985 Canadian television miniseries Anne of Green Gables and its two sequels.-Biography:Follows was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as the...

, Michelle Phillips

Michelle Phillips

Michelle Phillips is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She gained fame as a member of the 1960s group The Mamas & the Papas, and is the last surviving original member of the group.-Early life:...

, and Matt Salinger

Matt Salinger

Matthew Salinger is an American actor. He is the son of author J. D. Salinger and psychologist Claire Douglas.-Career:...

. The two hour pilot episode was directed by Sharron Miller

Sharron Miller

Sharron Miller is an American television and film director, producer, and screenwriter. She has also worked as a sound editor and film editor. Miller was the first woman ever to win the coveted Directors Guild of America Award for directing drama....

.

The series last episode ran on February 10, 1994 as part of CBS's Crimetime After Primetime

Crimetime After Primetime

Crimetime After Primetime is the umbrella title for a group of late-night crime-investigation shows that debuted at various times on CBS during 1991 and 1992, running through late summer of 1993. The series was dropped when CBS began broadcasting Late Show with David Letterman...

.

This show marked a reunion, however short-lived, between actors Ronny Cox

Ronny Cox

Daniel Ronald "Ronny" Cox is an American character actor, singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Personal life:Cox, the third of five children, was born in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, the son of Lounette and Bob P. Cox, a carpenter who also worked at a dairy. He grew up in Portales, New Mexico...

 and Frances Lee McCain

Frances Lee McCain

Frances Lee McCain , also known as Lee McCain, is an American actress.-Early life and education:McCain was born in York, Pennsylvania and grew up in New York, Illinois, Colorado and California. She graduated from Ripon College with a BA in Philosophy and then studied acting for 3 years at the...

, who last worked together on the series Apple's Way

Apple's Way

Apple's Way is a television dramedy which aired on CBS from 1974-1975. It was created by Earl Hamner, Jr..-Premise:The Apples, a family from Los Angeles, seek refuge from the hectic pace of city living and relocate to the father's hometown of Appleton, Iowa, which was founded by the father's...

 in the mid-1970s.

Reception

Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

rated the pilot episode a C- say that it "relies on too many verbal cliches and pat coincidences to promise much in the way of engrossing escapism". Tony Scott of Variety

Variety (magazine)

Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...

stated that the series "needs more riveting material" as the pilot episode "suffers from blatant, uninvolving characters, low-caliber plotting and subcommercial appeal".