- Release Date: July 28th, 2009
- Publisher: Paramount
- Price: $34.99 on Amazon (Buy It
)
- Run Time: 1002 Minutes
- Special Features: Episodic Promos
- Starring: Kyle Chandler, Fisher Stevens, Shanesia Davis
- Genre: Drama
Before he was coaching the Dillon Panthers on Friday Night Lights, Kyle Chandler had another starring role on a little show called Early Edition. The show ended up only lasting four seasons (1996-2000) so quite a few people have probably never heard of the show before. I was in that same boat when the first season was released on dvd a while ago. After watching the first and second season I have to say that while Early Edition might not be the most recognizable show, it is worth giving a look at the dvd.
What would you do if you knew what was going to happen tomorrow? Would you profit off the knowledge to make a better life for yourself or would you use the knowledge to help save people from catastrophe? This is the premise behind Early Edition. Thanks to a mysterious cat, Gary (Kyle Chandler) receives the morning newspaper a day early. With the newspaper and his friend’s help, Gary tries to prevent as many disasters as possible before they do indeed become the next day’s headlines.
For those of you who have never seen Early Edition before I would probably most likely relate it to a procedural. Gary usually doesn’t track down criminals but the process in the show is pretty similar. He knows what is going to happen within the next day but he needs to bring all the pieces together in order to save the day. If I had to make a comparison I would say it is a lot like Journeyman. If you are not familiar with Journeyman either I would say that Early Edition is similar to most of your time traveling crime dramas.
There are a couple of reasons why I like Early Edition. First of all I like Kyle Chandler since I think he is a great actor. That is no different in Early Edition. Second I like the “time traveling” aspect of the show. There is no actual time traveling in the show but it still has aspects from those type of shows. Finally I like shows that deal with making the world a better place. Instead of trying to catch a killer, I would rather see the killing never happen in the first place.
That is not to say that Early Edition is a perfect show. It just isn’t. Except for the fact that he uses the daily newspaper to see the future, the show isn’t highly original. It borrows a lot from other series including crime dramas and other time traveling shows. This doesn’t ruin the show but it does keep the show from being one of the best television series.
One other thing that disappoints me about the dvd set is the lack of special features. The dvd set does include episodic promos but who really cares about episodic promos. I don’t think I really need a preview of the next episode when I can just watch it right away. Huge fans of the series might enjoy watching them but they obviously don’t last long or bring a whole lot to the table.
Early Edition might not be the most recognizable show but that doesn’t mean the show doesn’t deserve a chance. Unless you hate procedural or time traveling shows, I think you should enjoy Early Edition. I would at least recommend you pick up the first season to give the show a chance. If you have already seen the first season and enjoyed it, pick up the second season since I can’t imagine you not liking the second season. I know I liked it.
