Stick a fork in it. Looks like Ed's done. (1 Viewer)

[Pamela]

Just caught a promo for Ed. It said, "after all these years, the final three episodes of Ed remain." And, "the last three episodes of Ed."

The writing was on the wall. But still, I really loved that show. :frowning:

 

[Don Black]

Too bad. But not unexpected....

 

[JamieD]

Thank goodness. I've been waiting for that thing to wrap for ages. The first season was good, but it's just been repetition and nervous tics ever since.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Bring on "The Burtons"!

 

[Craig S]

Not surprising at all, given how close the show came to cancellation last year. At least it looks like they're going to be able to wrap things up to a certain extent.
I disagree completely. I think the show reached its peak in the 3rd season. Here's some reasons why season 3 was great:

• The end of Dennis
• Carol's dad (the great Dan Lauria)
• Warren got lucky with Carol's babelicious sister Stella
• A great character upgrade (Eli for the boring Kenny)
• Frankie!! (somebody get Sabrina Lloyd a series)
• Principal Molly
• The emergence of Dr. Mike as the show's most reliable source of laughs
• Captain Lucidity (the single best hour of TV last season - period!)
• The great season finale, capped with the fireworks kiss

Great stuff. Bring on the DVDs!

 

[Brad Porter]

This officially ends the good will that I held all these years for NBC because they kept Homicide: Life on the Street alive even with its low ratings.

I'm not sure why the networks believe that great ratings should come in from anything airing on Friday nights. They should view it as the dedicated night of the week to air critically praised but ratings challenged shows. In the past year NBC has killed off Mister Sterling, Boomtown, Miss Match (Is it cancelled?) and now Ed on Friday nights. Hey NBC, the shows aren't the problem! That's what you get on Fridays.

Considering that NBC probably has the rights to the Celebrity: Who Farted? concept from the SNL skit, I'd expect a two hour block of that show to start airing soon. I'm sure it will be a ratings cash cow.

Brad

 

[Sean Cauley]

I think the first part of Season 3 was not up-to-par, especially the Ed-vs.-Dennis stuff, which required the show's supposed hero to act like a total a-hole to the girl of his dreams and the man she had somehow found reasons to love (even if he was just Principal Jackass). But the excellent episode "Trapped," with Ed and Carol hashing things out in the bowling alley, managed to reset everything and open up a great second half of the season. That episode also gave us some great Josh Randall moments, as Mike tried to entertain Nancy and Molly by acting out both sides of "You must pay the rent"/"I can't pay the rent" and breakdancing to De La Soul's "Jenifa Taught Me."

The fourth season has suffered from a lot of problems, most notably this assumption by the producers and network execs that everyone's favorite thing about Ed is "America's favorite romance," which results in week after week of tedious Ed/Carol treading-water, which we know is only taking up time until the inevitable wedding episode (which will, apparently, be the series finale). With this intense focus on often-subpar Ed/Carol plots, we've been denied a lot of the comic relief of Mike, the StuckeyBowl staff, and the students.

This season's best overall episode (if you ask me) was "Therapy," which had Ed/Carol, Eli/JennyFair, Molly/Phil and the rest of the gang (kids excluded) in intertwining plots. Otherwise, there were some sublime moments, like Phil's memorial sendoff to the dead bowling-alley regular; Ed's proposal to Carol; Mike's being conned by Dr. Jerome and his granddaughter; and pretty much everything Shirley did; but whole episodes weren't as satisfying, for the most part.

I think that if the show goes out now, it can go out pretty proud of its run, without having become a total chore to watch. The prospect of trying to mine the primary Ed/Carol thread for further conflict seems dreadful, so I'm glad they're getting out while they still have some dignity. They did very well for a show their network never had any idea what to do with.

 

[Todd Henry]

Brad,

I believe Miss Match will replace Ed on Friday nights after the next 3 episodes.

Todd

 

[Tom Meyer]

It'll be a pity to see Ed go. Coulda predicted it after the 'ole Friday Night Torpedo move by NBC. Nice work, dickwads.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Uh, Tom, Ed's ratings improved last year when it went to Friday nights, and the producers said that the Friday 9pm timeslot made a lot more sense for the audience they were seeking (young couples) than Wednesday at 8pm.

 

[Brett_H]

Anyone know when NBC makes their official fall line-up announcements? I'm holding out some hope that "final 3 episodes" just refers to this season.

-Brett, ever the optimist.

 

[Craig S]

Those are a long way off - May, I think.

 

[Rey L]

Supposedly, according to "inside sources" on the Stuckeyville forum boards, NBC is saying that the promos are referring to three episodes left in the season. No decision has been made as to the future of "Ed".

 

[Michael Martin]

I'm kind of relieved, if it's true. The first three seasons of Ed were some of the best network-produced television EVER. Sure, there were off episodes, but 99% of the time, a lukewarm Ed episode was still way better than everything else on.

With this season, though....I think the writers just don't know what to do, and seem to be making a lot of choices based on fear of Ed and Carol being "boring" if they were happy. Similar to the demise of Party of Five (which also started as a smartly-written and acted show), angst and drama are being invented and characters are not acting consistently.

So yeah, bring on the DVDs. Like NOW!

And "The Burtons"? Not sure if it would work without the rest of Stuckeyville. I'd hate to see the characters of Mike and Nancy squeezed into 22 minutes of sitcom formula and hot video.

 

[KerryK]

What about "The Burtons & Dr. Jerome"

 

[Patrick Sun]

"Those Bickering M.D.'s"

 

[John Kilduff]

Well, Michael Ian Black always has VH1's "I Love..." programs to fall back on. Who knows, he may even reunite with his colleagues from "The State" and take a role on "Reno 911".

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

I don't know about the rest of them, though. "Hollywood Squares", anyone?