# Ed **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 11, 2000, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532 "2000-10-11T13:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/1 "2000-10-11T13:33:03Z")
My wife was highly anticipating the premier of the new TV show “Ed” on NBC. We caught the premier. But it seemed like we missed a whole episode. There was about 2-3 minutes of “recap” scenes, where: Ed gets fired, Ed finds his wife with a mailman (not _their_ mailman, though), Ed moves home, Ed bowls, Ed gets kissed, Ed buys bowling alley. Was their a pilot premier, then this regular premier? Was the pilot unseen by the public, and instead of showing it, they pickup up two weeks later? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/2 "2000-10-11T14:14:40Z")
I don’t know, I missed the first 15 mins, so I didn’t know why his wife left him. But what I did see, I thought was incredibly cute. I’m looking forward to seeing it again. ---
**Author:** ![Voorvie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/22d042/32.png) [@Voorvie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voorvie)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/3 "2000-10-11T14:22:12Z")
I think they tried to do something “different”. Instead of going through the boring “let’s show Ed at his lawyer’s job and get him into trouble and then let’s show how he and his wife are not getting along and her meeting the mailman at Starbucks and him going home and running into the girl he had a crush on in high school…” To save time and get right to the point, they just showed clips of what lead Ed to move back home and buy the bowling alley. I thought it was a good idea. But I’m not sure if I’m going to keep watching. Maybe I’ll give it one more week… ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/4 "2000-10-11T14:55:32Z")
I liked it, too, although I fear that the Phil character (the nut at the bowling alley) is going to turn into the next Kramer. Let’s not jump the shark in the second episode, eh? ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/5 "2000-10-11T15:00:47Z")
I agree with Voorvie. I think they’re doing the introduction to how he got to Stukeyville (sp?) at the beginning instead of just doing a whole episode about it. I’m pretty sure I’ll keep watching the show. I fell in love with Tom Cavanaugh he had a recurring role on NBC’s Providence. He played a guy (Doug) who thought he was a dog. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/6 "2000-10-11T15:55:17Z")
What you saw was the pilot, just not the first version of it. Apparently it has been extensively reworked. Here is what John Carmen, TV critic for the San Francisco Chronicle had to [say](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/10/07/DD59712.DTL): … Produced by David Letterman’s company, Worldwide Pants, and overseen by Letterman’s executive producer, Rob Burnett, “Ed” has been through a few alterations since its original pilot. Sadly, not for the better. Much of the setup material has been condensed into an opening montage, including the kiss from Carol that persuades Ed to stay in Stuckeyville. The change might confuse viewers, at first, about the relationship. If it’s any help, the Carol character is dazed herself by Ed’s arrival. Now a teacher at Stuckeyville High, she’s been dating a self-obsessed writer (Gregory Harrison) for seven years. There’s also the loss of Donal Logue as Phil, the screwball manager of the bowling alley. He shot the pilot and then signed up for a future Fox show. His replacement, Michael Ian Black, lacks the manic, disheveled quality Logue contributed to the pilot. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/7 "2000-10-11T16:37:42Z")
Thanks, obfusciatrist. That explains a lot. I can understand trying to do something different, but leaving out the kiss and the reason he bought the bowling alley only leads to confusion. It made it look like the second episode, and we have no clue as to the motivations of Ed and his girlfriend. Not that I care all that much – the show was just a pale version of _Picket Fences_. I know that David Kelley is spread way to thin, but he’s the only one who can do a David Kelley series. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/8 "2000-10-11T16:47:43Z")
“Picket Fences?” Nah. More like “Midwestern Exposure.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/9 "2000-10-11T17:26:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*“Picket Fences?” > > Nah. More like “Midwestern Exposure.” \*\* Yeah! Wasn’t it adorable? And I mean that in the worst way. “Ed,” himself, was apparently designed by a computer to be The Most Adorable Guy On Earth. I almost puked, although the rest of the show… Nah, the rest was designed “scientifically,” too. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ed/36532/10 "2000-10-11T18:30:31Z")
I kept thinking, “Why doesn’t he go out with the pretty, funny, intelligent chubby girl, instead of the haughty blonde bitch?” I doubt I will ever tune in again to see if that unlikely plot point ever develops.