Capital ‘E’, lower case ‘d’

There is something about Ed (2000) that soothes me.

Whenever Foo Fighters’ ‘Next Year’ begins to play, my heart settles, and I am brought to a place where it’s familiar, it’s safe, it’s uncomplicated, and ultimately — a place where I know everything will be all right.

What You Need To Know: Ed is a lawyer at a prestigious law firm in the big city. He was fired after misplacing a single comma in a 500-page contract (and costing his firm millions). He comes home to find his wife in bed with the mailman. Lost and confused, Ed decides to come home to Stuckeyville to find his bearings. He reconnects with old friends (Mike, especially) and to his pleasure, his old high school crush — Carol Vessey. The trip is exactly what he needed. He buys a bowling alley, relocates his life, and makes the most of his second chance at life and happiness.

I can’t claim that Ed is my favorite TV show of all time — I haven’t even seen the whole series. Nevertheless, it holds a special place in my hea — no, that’s not it. Rather, Ed holds a special place for me.

I don’t blame you if you have never heard of Ed. It’s one of those shows seemingly forgotten by time. You can’t find it on Netflix or other streaming services. There’s no official DVD box set, and you can’t even find a good copy on torrent sites. Problematic music rights, corporate ownership bullshit, and simple lack of confidence in the commercial viability of the show made its current owners unwilling to ply Ed’s story in modern channels.

This is the best copy I can find in the whole wide web. Somebody was kind enough to videotape what was aired over the TV, digitize it, and then share it with strangers. It’s faaaaaar from perfect, but it’s the best out there.

Yet, fans of the show continue to look back not just with fondness and affection, but with yearning for the show. Ed’s goofy, unashamed pursuit of Carol moves the plot, but there’s so much more here.

There is goodness in Stuckeyville. It’s an idealized small town, where people know each other and they live as simply, as happy, and as zany as they want to. Ed and Mike’s friendship is something all males should aspire for — and is echoed in later bromances such as Turk and JD (‘Scrubs’) and Ted and Marshall (‘How I Met Your Mother’). Ed is ever earnest and good-natured. Opportunists and schemers don’t triumph in the long run. People help each other. And there are jokes, of course. Lots of them. Most of them feel outdated and too innocent in these meme-centric, social media drag days, but that’s part of the charm.

In the end, Tom Cavanagh’s character said it best: Stuckeyville is where broken hearts go to mend. And at one point or another, we all need that. We need to come home. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But maybe next year.