"Ed" (2000)TV series 2000-2004

Creators:

Jon Beckerman
Rob Burnett

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

8 October 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Ed Stevens is a contracts lawyer at a high-profile New York City firm. Around the same time he splits with his wife (she slept with a mailman)...

Plot Keywords:

Bowling Alley | Insecurity | Low Self Esteem | Clients | Weird Lawsuit

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Thomas Cavanagh	...	Ed Stevens (83 episodes, 2000-2004)
Julie Bowen	...	Carol Vessey (83 episodes, 2000-2004)
Jana Marie Hupp	...	Nancy Burton (83 episodes, 2000-2004)
Josh Randall	...	Mike Burton / ... (83 episodes, 2000-2004)
Lesley Boone	...	Molly Hudson (83 episodes, 2000-2004)
Michael Ian Black	...	Phil Stubbs (83 episodes, 2000-2004)
Rachel Cronin	...	Shirley / ... (83 episodes, 2000-2004)
Justin Long	...	Warren P. Cheswick / ... (83 episodes, 2000-2004)
Michael Genadry	...	Mark Vanacore / ... (58 episodes, 2001-2004)
Mike Starr	...	Kenny Sandusky (45 episodes, 2000-2002)
Daryl Mitchell	...	Eli Goggins / ... (39 episodes, 2002-2004)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Closter, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Worldwide Pants

Trivia:

An early episode has Ed defend a client's intellectual property rights. David Letterman, whose company produces the show, was threatened with legal action by NBC over intellectual property rights when he moved his show from NBC to CBS. Both involved what could be called "stupid human tricks."

Quotes:

[Dr. Jerome has hired another young doctor to compete with Mike]
Mike Burton: Dr. Jerome, what's going on?
Dr. Walter Jerome: Many things, Dr. Burton, many things. The universe is expanding, the art of cinema is dying, and my daughter Melissa is marrying a Moroccan. The man wears a fez.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Moment In The Sun

Don't tease me, NBC

I know that you are the network that has hormone-laced garbage like "Friends." You also ripped off "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" with "The Weakest Link," thereby dividing an audience and degrading the ratings of a TV show that actually challenges our intelligence. So why are you presenting a completely original, delightful, witty, and, dare I say it, intelligent show to anchor the best night on TV?

Ed manages to actually surprise me, a veteran of too many years of watching TV. True, as I write this, it seems to have given in to a bit of cliche, that of the beautiful girl falling in love with the man who annoys her the most (Carol Vessey and the new principal), but I'm optimistic that there will be a bizarre turn of events there to look forward to.

Comparisons to Northern Exposure are inevitable, and this show matches or surpasses the Alaskan exercise in quirkiness. Let's hope it doesn't slip into an excess of strangeness, as unfortunately happened to NE. For instance, despite what you Hollywood producers fervently believe, a gay wedding just doesn't play in the heartland.

Perhaps Ed's most biting episode is the one where Neil Patrick Harris played an attorney who came to town and admired Ed so much that he bought his own bowling alley and hired his own eccentrics to run it. If this show's ratings continue to rise, look for CBS to do the exact same thing.

Thanks you, David Letterman, for showing us what that idiot box is capable of doing right.