TV Retro Crash Thursday: Ed-the greatest show no one remembers

Way back at the turn of the century came one of the brightest television moments ever to be lost in the annals of time.  I am referring to the television marvel simply called "Ed".  On the surface the show seems pretty basic.  Once upon a time, there was a big city lawyer who got fired from his job for missing a comma in a big old important contract that he was assigned to proofread.  Feeling pretty badly about losing his job, he returns home to find his wife in bed with the mailman.

This man, called Ed, returns home to the small town of Stuckeyville.  In Stuckeyville he attempts to woo his high school crush.  He ends up buying a bowling alley and opening a small town law practice.  This sounds far fetched and contrived.

Ed spends the series hanging with his childhood friends and getting involved in their adult lives.  Ed chases, becomes friends with, makes jealous, this girl from high school.  Ed takes on quirky cases of folks who really need his help while they live in the quirky town of Stuckeyville.  Ed deals with the weirdo staff of the bowling alley he now owns, but mostly, Ed reminds us of the Capraesque Hero.

Ed is the modern day George Bailey.or the naive Mr. Smith who went to Washington.  Ed Stevens, tilts at windmills.  He's the perfect combination of naive and cynical.  Ed is the guy w all want to be/know.  He is here to show us that, even in a ne century, th little guy, the individual still matters.

Here's the usual Wikipedia stuff

Ed (TV series)

Ed is an NBC television program co-produced by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants Incorporated, NBC Productions (now Universal Television) and Viacom Productions (now CBS Television Studios) that aired from 2000 to 2004.

The hour-long comedy-drama starred Tom Cavanagh as Edward Jeremy Stevens, the protagonist, Julie Bowen as his love interest Carol Phyllis Vessey, Josh Randall as his friend Dr. Mike Burton, Jana Marie Hupp as Mike's wife Nancy, Lesley Boone as their friend Molly Hudson, and Justin Longas awkward high-school student Warren Cheswick. Other supporting cast members included Michael Genadry and Ginnifer Goodwin as Warren's friends Mark and Diane, and Michael Ian Black, Mike Starr, Rachel Cronin, and (later) Daryl Mitchell as the employees of Stuckeybowl, Ed's bowling alley. Long term guest stars included John Slatteryas Dennis Martino and Sabrina Lloyd as Frankie Hector. The show was created by executive producers Jon Beckermanand Rob Burnett.^[1] David Letterman is also credited as one of the show's executive producers.^[2]

Ed received casting, writing, and directing Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 2001. Tom Cavanagh received a Golden Globe Award nomination and a TV Guide Award for his work on the program.

In 2004, NBC cut the show from their lineup due to poor ratings. It continues to have a cult like following, with many clamoring to see its release on DVD or a streaming service like Netlix or Hulu Plus.

Sadly Ed heads like myself have no outlet.  Isn't it bad enough that NBC took our show from night to night, confusing us and disrupting our lives, but to not give the fans a chance to own this wonderful television series is criminal.  I don't know if it got caught up in th late night wars.  It could be a bone of contention between NBC and David Letterman over intellectual property.  It could be an issue of music rights.  The theme to the show being provided by the fabulous Foo Figtrers.

I don't particularly care about who is getting petty about what.  The big question everyone involved should ask themselves is " what would Ed Stevens do?"

The Ed theme song

http://youtu.be/j1qQuSuQaHY

Season 1

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxWSrsROLehBUvf0D82ziJiJUPXuUdXxE

Season 2

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLohVvvGzZslGLOx3W0kWJw4XzFZuCZRRe

Season 3

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxWSrsROLehDZu8NwZMvc3x_n8r9pbSjN

Season 4

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLohVvvGzZslGwXDWRH1bNakAWQpBUfccB

Be warned that the theme and certain musical montages have the volume muted just in case of a musical law suit, but other than that, watch with abandon kids.