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You catch every motion picture the movie star ever filmed. And whenever the object of your delight has a flick rerunning, you forfeit a good night’s rest to catch every minute of action sandwiched between every two minutes of commercials.

Then, one day, while channel surfing, you spot the star being interviewed on a TV talk show and notice that the skin is deeply furrowed, the jowls drooping, the waist covered by yards of billowing cloth to hide the fact that the star stopped counting calories years ago.

To say the least, you are disillusioned. Age, along with gravity, has caught up to one who you remembered in better times.

Such is the case with the Mazda Miata.

To say Miata caught the market by storm would be an understatement.

In the 1990 model year, Mazda unveiled a little two-seat open-topper that looked much like the British roadsters of old with one vital difference: Miata was built in Japan and, therefore, acted Japanese–not British–which meant it ran. Maybe it didn’t run very fast, but it ran a whole lot more often than the British cars it resembled.

The motoring public welcomed Miata with open arms and pocketbooks. Motorists flipped for the cute-as-a-bug $13,500 machine.

In that first model year Miata posted sales of 36,000 units. More would have been sold if more could have been built. Miata captured the imagination just like the Dodge Viper and Plymouth Prowler would in years to come.

It was the most fashionable vehicle to have in the driveway. Even fellow members of the automotive media, nice folks who buy new cars about as often as Chicago celebrates the Cubs winning the World Series, got on waiting lists to purchase–at full pop, no less–one of the roadsters.

People began calling it a collectible that someday might enter the hallowed ranks of those cars carrying the ultimate distinction–the honor of being called a classic.

Fact is, after the initial wave of hysteria, reality set in. The car wasn’t very big and driving one from Detroit to Chicago left the imprint of an arm handle in the love handle of this scribe’s body, though it takes longer to find than six years ago.

The 1.6-liter, 4-cylinder engine cranked out horsepower reluctantly. The available transmission was only a 5-speed manual, and air bags and anti-lock brakes weren’t even mentioned in conversation because those items weren’t on the minds of the sports-car public at the time–and probably wouldn’t have fit in the tiny car, anyway.

We revisited the Miata stable by test-driving a 1996 M edition, the top-of-the-line, loaded-to-the-gills version of the roadster, which comes with dual air bags, ABS (optional at $900 in the regular model) and a more powerful 1.8-liter, 133-h.p. 4-cylinder that replaced the 1.6-liter, 116-h.p. 4 in the 1994 model year.

Standard equipment includes 15-inch performance radial tires , air conditioning, leather interior, premium sound system, keyless entry, power windows/mirrors/antenna/steering/brakes and cruise control.

Still a fun car with cute styling and a retractable top for open-air motoring, but while we’ve grown over the years, Miata hasn’t. The armrest now strikes a rib, and the trip between Detroit and Chicago is best taken by United.

In 1990 you tolerated a rough-and-tumble ride for the thrill of driving one of only a handful of these machines. “No pain, no gain” now makes no sense.

Perhaps our feelings about Miata are tempered by the fact we’ve driven the BMW Z3 roadster and found it not only roomier, but also much more pleasant in ride, handling and overall performance.

Sure the Z3 starts at $4,000 more than the Miata M and probably will cost you $8,000 more to drive out of the showroom.

But at $24,760 those contemplating a Miata have to stop and ask, “How much more is $8,000 over 36 months?” and ” on’t $24,760 get me a pretty well-equipped and now very fashionable sport-ute instead?”

The criticism of Miata, other than price, is roominess, not just in the cabin, but in terms of a trunk that will carry such travel valuables as a change of underwear and a toothbrush–at the same time.

Miata hasn’t undergone a major styling change since it arrived on the scene. Mazda is toying with adding a hardtop coupe version with a trunk able to hold necessities along with a cabin that will hold two occupants less snugly.

The earliest the coupe could arrive is the 1998 model year, just about the time Miata is due for a styling overhaul.

In addition to trunk and cabin room, the coupe holds forth promise for some storage space behind the seats as well as another boost in engine performance from the 133-h.p. delivered by the 1.8-liter 4.

Best yet, some say, is that the coupe will be priced considerably less than the drop-top, so more folks will give Miata a look in the new-car showroom rather than on the used-car lot.

Miata sales have taken a tumble since the 1990 glory year.

Through June, sales were at 11,600 units, down from 14,000 a year earlier.

Pricing hasn’t helped. Size hasn’t helped. And that Mazda doesn’t spend even toll money advertising the fact that the Miata still exists hasn’t helped.

And the lure of sport-utility vehicles by those who switch allegiance to vehicles based on what’s in vogue hasn’t helped, especially now that mini-sport-utes such as the Toyota RAV4 are on the scene.

It also hasn’t helped that for several months, it has been common knowledge that Mazda has been losing money faster than yen can be printed back home.

The fact Ford stepped in and named one of its executives to run the show at Mazda, in which it owns a 34 percent equity interest, hasn’t provided confidence in anything carrying the Mazda label.

Basically Mazda is a company with one distinct vehicle– Miata–at a time when sport-utes are the rage.

And Mazda has no such model to call its own. Officials confided to us at this year’s Chicago Auto Show that a Mazda ute is in the works. Too bad one couldn’t arrive last year.

Mazda can silence its critics with a larger, more powerful, more stylish, less costly Miata in 1998 along with a sport-ute that would give customers a second reason for traveling to its showrooms.

Or it can let gravity set in.

>> 1996 Mazda Miata M Wheelbase: 89.2 inches Length: 155.4 inches Engine:1.8-liter, 133-h.p., 16-valve, 4-cylinder Transmission: 5-speed manual EPA mileage: 23 m.p.g. city/29 m.p.g. highway Base price: $24,760 Price as tested: $24,760. Add $450 for freight because the M comes fully loaded, except for automatic transmission at $800 and slip-on hardtop a t $1,500. Pluses: Cute. Top-down motoring. Very good mileage. Minuses: Cute doesn’t mean comfortable. And $24,760 is a lot for a tiny roadster when that amount of money will put you in a fairly well-equipped and more fashionable sport-ute. >>