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Well, Deadline, the subject of last issue’s compelling On TV with Mike Thompson, got axed by NBC. It’s gone. This news coming about a week after Daddio, the show I reviewed two issues ago, was placed on indefinite hiatus (a euphemism for "soon-to-be-cancelled). So you’ll understand if I’m feeling a little bit like the kiss of death when it comes to new fall TV shows (well, technically, Daddio wasn’t new, as it had a brief run last spring, but you catch my drift, people). So this week I’m reviewing Ed, a show that has already been picked up for the rest of the season. And, believe me, this is very good news, for Ed is the best new show since Malcolm in the Middle debuted last January. It is a wonderful little comedy-drama that really warms my heart.

The title character of Ed is Ed Stevens (Tom Cavanagh). Ed was practicing law in New York until he got fired from his job and then returned home to find his wife cheating on him with another man (although, as Ed likes to point out, "she didn’t dump me. Slept with the mailman, yes, but I dumped her"). He decides to pack it in and move back to his boyhood home, the small, sleepy town of Stuckeyville, Ohio.

Once in Stuckeyville, Ed moves in with his best friend, Mike Burton (Josh Randall) and Mike’s wife Nancy (Jana Marie Hupp). He also is reacquainted with former high school classmate Carol Vessey (Julie Bowen), who he had a crush on throughout high school but was afraid to speak to. He befriends Carol, now a high school teacher, who is going through some rocky times with her boyfriend of seven years, Nick Stanton (Gregory Harrison). He decides to pursue Carol, and when she kisses him, Ed figures there might be a future to the two of them. He decides to buy Stuckey Bowl, a local bowling alley to justify staying in Stuckeyville (prompting Molly Hudson, Carol’s best friend, to quip, "You’re lucky you didn’t sleep with him or he would have bought a strip mall). He soon sets up shop inside the bowling alley as a lawyer, even though he has actually never been in a courtroom. Ed then becomes the world’s first Bowling Alley Lawyer.

Ed’s employees at Stuckey Bowl are an oddball bunch. They include Kenny (Mike Starr), a rather dense man whose claim to fame is the fact that he has a whistling lung; Shirley (Rachel Cronin), a shy, strange young woman whose idea to drum up business for Stuckey Bowl is to have Sammy Davis Jr. sing there (prompting Ed to break the bad news to Shirley that Sammy Davis Jr. is dead); and Phil, a wacky man who lives at the bowling alley and insists on calling Ed "Bosko." They’re a strange set of characters, and while the concept of having wacky employees is rather old hat by now, they do provide some laugh-out-loud funny lines. In one episode, for example, Kenny says, with complete seriousness, "If there were two bowling alleys, and one had wall-to-wall whores, I’d patronize the one with the whores."

The best part of Ed, though, is watching Ed try to work his way into Carol’s heart. At first, he decides to take the comic approach to wooing her. As he says to Molly (Lesley Boone), "If you’re not born with the broad shoulders and the sterling jaw line, there’s only one way to get the girl: Make a complete ass out of yourself." However, a few episodes into the series, Carol dumps Nick, and Ed eventually realizes that Carol needs a friend more than anything else right about now. What results is a very real and very engrossing friendship that is a joy to watch develop.

Ed and Carol share some wonderful, heartwarming moments together. The actors infuse the roles with a great deal of warmth and believability. As Ed, Tom Cavanagh displays a great sense of comic timing, and still can move you in the more dramatic scenes. And while not quite as good as Cavanagh, Julie Bowen does a fine job as Carol, displaying the full gamut of emotions and making the audience empathize with her. Of course, actors are only as good as the material they perform, and the writers have done a wonderful job with the scenes between Ed and Carol. In fact, it is strong writing and strong acting across the board that makes Ed so great.

If there is a weak link to Ed, it is that some of the supporting characters and smaller players are a bit too eccentric. Oddball characters in comedy-dramas can be good in small doses, but too much goofiness can result in unbelievable, cartoony situations. Last season, Ally McBeal became so bogged down in the characters’ eccentricities (and the far-fetched situations that ensued) that the show became nearly unwatchable. And although some of the wackier characters can provide some funny lines, as I mentioned before in regards to Ed’s employees, I think the show would be just as effective with some more normal characters. The writers of Ed might want to tone down the goofiness of some of the characters before it gets out of hand.

But these occasionally annoying oddball characters are a small price to pay for the overall greatness of Ed. The show is so finely written and acted. There is hardly a wasted moment in the show. The show can make you laugh out loud one moment, and then engross you with heartfelt drama the next (such as when Ed tells Carol, "Sometimes two can fall so completely in love and are so completely wrong for each other"). The show is easily the best I’ve seen all season.

Which makes it such a shame that Ed’s got such a tough timeslot. Airing Sunday nights at 8, it’s up against CBS’ hit Touched by an Angel and FOX’s smash comedies Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle. And those shows are hitting Ed hard in the ratings. Like I said, NBC has picked up enough episodes of Ed to last the whole season, so I feel it’s fairly safe. Plus, it’s a critical darling, so that’s also in its favor (although, admittedly, it didn’t help much with last year’s Freaks and Geeks). But NBC could move the show to another night, or just let it limp along this season before it cancels the show. Ed deserves to be a hit. It is a great show. So, tape Simpsons and Malcolm and check out Ed. You’ll be very glad that you did. Again, the show airs Sunday nights at 8 on NBC, which is Channel 4 here at Marist.