Early Edition

'Early Edition' is another 'Quantum Leap,' although it's slightly different since it doesn't involve time-traveling. Instead, our hero, Gary Hobson, gets the paper one day in advance. By getting tomorrow's news today, he has no more than 24 hours to prevent the bad news from happening.

The series has a lot of charm. I watched this show sporadically throughout its four-year primetime run, but began watching it more often during its last few months on the air.

The addition of Kristy Swanson (the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer) for the show's third season was a perfect one. Her character Erica, a single mother, was a nice match for Gary. To me, Swanson is an underrated talent, and fit into the show very well. It's just too bad that she was out of the picture for the show's fourth (and final) season. I would have liked to see her remain on the show until it was cancelled.

Of course, EE was cancelled in the summer of 2000, after four years. That is generally a good run for a show like this. While the chances for a fifth season are extremely slim (despite the best efforts of its loyal fans), reruns of the series can now be seen on the Fox Family Channel. But if you don't have cable, all is not completely lost: You have a good chance of finding EE reruns (whether daily or weekly) on one of your local stations.

Why "Early Edition" never got much attention I'll never know, because it was brilliant. I mean that without exaggeration; if ever a show deserved to be called brilliant, this is it. The concept alone was genius, because it was an attention-grabbing idea that didn't need much explanation... a guy gets a peek into the future each day through the local newspaper, and it's up to him to set things right. The writing was amazing, alternating between comedy and suspense. Some episodes were hilarious, and others were downright scary.

The thing I most admired about the show, I think, was the way it never ran out of ideas. A concept as simple as this one could get stale fast, and to tell the truth the show probably would have gone downhill if it had run longer, but during its four years it was always coming up with new twists and variations on the central idea. What if Gary had to save someone he didn't want to save? What if Gary had jury duty and couldn't leave his hotel to save people? What if Gary's paper was accidentally destroyed? What if Gary's not the only one who gets tomorrow's paper? Each episode had a cool new story that always made it fun to watch.

The three cast members were great, too. Kyle Chandler's Gary is probably the nicest character in TV history, and he had perfect chemistry with his friends Chuck and Marissa (how many shows have a blind black woman as a main character)? Even when Chuck left the show and other characters came and went, the two leads held it up all by themselves. I used to watch this every weekend on CBS, and I still miss it. Ah, good times.

(P.S. I can't believe this isn't on DVD yet. CBS, what is wrong with you!?)

What's there to say about Early Edition besides the fact that it's the best series on this side of the world. It has everything, good actors, more then enough directors and the plot. The plot, a guy (Gary Hobson) get's tommorow's Chicago Sun-Times today, he knows what will happen in the future, a thing that one should be very careful with. His personal mission, to save the world, or atleast the ones he can save in his territory, the great city of Chicago. Every day, he goes out to save the world, sometimes with his blind friend, Melissa, sometimes with Chuck (Fisher Adams), a friend that wants to place bets with the aid of the paper. Shortly told, a plot to adore, a plot that has a lot of room for different subjects. On the background Chicago and a man who's saving the lifes of his fellow-Chicago citizens.

It's just a fantastic series, don't miss it.

I was really sad to see that this show had been cancelled. I actually only started seeing this show in re-runs on Fox Family. Here was a smart show, no cliches, no mush, no garbage. Here was a show that you would actually feel comfortable watching with everyone from your thirteen year-old son/daughter to Grandma. Here was a show that caught my family's attention, and, for once, kept it. The acting was great, the storyline was original, and the setting for this show was perfect- Chicago. All you need to know is that it's about a guy (Gary Hobson), down on his luck, who starts getting tomorrow's paper today. Unlike most people, he uses the paper to save lives, not to win the lottery. This becomes his life. The show's got morals. How many shows on television today can you say that about?

So many shows these days are just dumb. I like this show because sometimes, i can't even guess what gonna happen next. I wish that they hadn't gotten rid of it, but i love watching it on PAX. (go PAX!!) The stories are interesting without being gross or sick. It's one for the whole family!