Early Edition F.A.Q. - Section 2

Frequently Asked Questions


CONTENTS

1.0 DISCLAIMER AND UPDATES

2.0 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
2.1 What is "Early Edition?"
2.2 When is it on?
2.3 Where is it filmed or set?
2.4 Why Chicago?
2.5 Can I watch them filming?
2.6 Isn't this just like Quantum Leap, Strange Luck, Due South?
2.7 Is "Early Edition" based on that old movie about a newspaper?
2.8 Who stars in it?
2.9 Isn't the Sun-Times a real newspaper?
2.10 Why is there a cat?
2.11 Does the cat have a name?
2.12 Why doesn't Gary just use The Paper to make loads of money?
2.13 How does Gary pay his bills when he doesn't have a job?
2.14 Has Gary *ever* used The Paper to make money?
2.14.1 Where does The Paper come from?
2.14.2 Does anyone else get The Paper?
2.15 Is Marissa/Shanesia really blind?

2.16 How long has Marissa been blind?
2.17 What is the Blackstone?
2.18 Where did Gary stay at the Blackstone?
2.19 What and where is McGinty's?
2.20 Why did Gary and Marcia get a divorce?
2.21 Did Gary enter into an "intimate" relationship with Meredith Carson?
2.22 What does the phrase "Live Your Life" mean?
2.23 What is gnocchi?
2.24 What are those monologues/voiceovers and where did they go?
2.25 Whatever happened to...?
2.26 What's with the new theme music?!?
2.27 How can I get copies of the episodes?
2.28 What about syndication?
2.29 What is an EEL?
2.30 What does GTA stand for?
2.31 Is there any merchandise available for Early Edition?

3.0 THE SHOW

4.0 CAST AND CREW

5.0 HOW TO CONTACT EARLY EDITION

6.0 EARLY EDITION ON THE INTERNET

7.0 FAN FICTION

8.0 MUSIC

9.0 MISCELLANEOUS

10.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Return to Complete Table of Contents


2.0 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

2.1 What is "Early Edition?"

"Early Edition" (commonly referred to as EE) is an hour-long drama about Gary Hobson, an unassuming Chicago-based stock broker who becomes a reluctant hero when a newspaper with tomorrow's headlines and tomorrow's date appears on his doorstep.
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2.2 When is it on?

"Early Edition" originally aired on CBS on Saturday nights at 8pm Central, between Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Walker Texas Ranger. When Dr. Quinn was canceled, Early Edition moved up one hour to 7pm and was followed by Martial Law and Walker Texas Ranger. In May 2000, CBS canceled Early Edition after its fourth season. The cable network Fox Family Channel picked up off-network syndication rights (for $500,000 an episode!) and in May 2000 began airing Early Edition twice every weeknight at 6pm and 9pm Central. In September 2000, Early Edition began airing on various network affiliates (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, UPN, WB, etc) across the United States. The weekend syndication deal was only for one year, and has since expired. Currently Early Edition is not airing anywhere in the United States that we're aware of. (For information on where and when you *used* to be able to watch Early Edition in the U.S., please visit the 'syndication' page of EarlyDues' Early Edition Site. (Other countries please check your local listings. See also question 9.4 Alternate Titles For Early Edition for help in locating the show in other countries.)
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2.3 Where is it filmed or set?

"Early Edition" is set and filmed in its entirety in and around Chicago, Illinois. The standard interior shots - McGinty's, Gary's Apartment, etc., are filmed on the Early Edition Sound Stage at Studio City in Cicero. Exterior shots as needed are filmed on location in and around the Chicago area.
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2.4 Why Chicago?

According to Michael Dinner, the original Executive Producer, EE was originally written for a New York locale. However, after shooting on location in Chicago for "Chicago Hope," he realized that Chicago could offer them a wide range of stories they could tell for EE. As Dinner stated, "There's something magical about the place. Chicago is a very real city, and it photographs beautifully." In addition, Chicago is known for its rich history, extraordinary architecture, and newspaper influence.
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2.5 Can I watch them filming?

If they are filming on a public street, you can watch from afar as long as you don't interfere. However, as EE films on a closed set, it would require permission from the production office to watch any filming at the studio.
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2.6 Isn't this just like Quantum Leap, Strange Luck, Due South?

As with most any television show, similarities can be found between these programs and EE, but no, Early Edition isn't just a rehash of an old, albeit good, premise.
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2.7 Is Early Edition based on that old movie about a newspaper?

According to the creators, no. There is a 1944 film named "It Happened Tomorrow" with a synopsis of "Newspaper reporter given otherworldly access to news in advance finds himself in trouble in delightful comic fantasy" and which stars Dick Powell and Linda Darnell. The premise is very similar to that of Early Edition, and perhaps the creators had it in their subconscious mind when brainstorming over Early Edition, but they have always maintained that Early Edition is in no way based on this film. Hey, great minds *do* think alike sometimes! (By the way, "It Happened Tomorrow" was released on video in 1999 and is available for purchase from your favorite video provider.)
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2.8 Who stars in it?

"Early Edition" stars Kyle Chandler as Gary Hobson, Fisher Stevens as Chuck Fishman (season 1 and 2), Shanesia Davis-Williams as Marissa Clark, Kristy Swanson as Erica Paget (season 3), Myles Jeffrey as Henry Paget (season 3), and Billie Worley as Patrick Quinn (season 3 and part of season 4).
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2.9 Isn't the Sun-Times a real newspaper?

Yes, the Chicago Sun-Times is an actual newspaper. The newspaper that Gary receives in "Early Edition" is specially designed for the show by the Sun-Times. For more information about the Sun-Times, visit their website at: http://www.suntimes.com/
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2.10 Why is there a cat?

While the cat appears to be a guardian of the paper, no reason has been given so far as to why the Paper comes with a cat. In the season 4 opener ("The Out-of-Towner"), Sam Cooper, a character who receives a similar paper in the city of New York, stated that his paper originally came with a pigeon who later perished (the neighbor's dog ate it!). Perhaps the cat's purpose will be revealed later on in the series and we will understand why Gary's paper has a guardian while Sam's paper no longer requires one.

In a later season 4 episode ("Performance Anxiety"), Joey Clams, who took over the duties of the New York paper from Sam, was demoted to receiving the Dayton Daily News, which arrived with a small terrier.
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2.11 Does the cat have a name?

The cat does not have an official name on the show, and has only ever been referred to as "Cat" or "Snow's Cat." However, in the scripts themselves, the character of the cat is denoted by the name of "Carl" - and was named so by Executive Producer Michael Dinner after a cat that used to hang out near where he worked - but that name has never been used during an episode.
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2.12 Why doesn't Gary just use The Paper to make loads of money?

Gary's view is that the Paper comes to him to allow him to help people and avert tragedy. Marissa supports him in this view. He believes it would be wrong to use his advance information for his own personal gain.
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2.13 How does Gary pay his bills when he doesn't have a job?

This is a question that comes up more frequently during the first season since, in those episodes, Gary is unemployed and living in a hotel. It was established in the first season episode "The Wall" that Gary uses the paper to place small bets at the race track - just enough to cover his monthly expenses.
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2.14 Has Gary *ever* used The Paper to make money?

Yes, but only for the greater good. In the "Pilot" episode, when Gary first started receiving the paper, he tested it out at the racetrack, winning at least $15,000, which he promptly gave to Marissa so that she could buy herself a guide dog. In "Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog" Gary used his advance knowledge to buy a lottery ticket at the last minute, with a jackpot worth $20 Million. However, his purpose in purchasing the ticket was to expose a crooked lottery scheme and he did not keep the winnings. He instead gave it anonymously to a nun. In "A Horse is a Horse" Gary again used the race results in an effort to get Mike Paget out of debt and out of trouble with his bookie.
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2.14.1 Where does The Paper come from?

Nobody knows for sure. Marissa is of the opinion that it comes from God, or at least that it comes from "someplace good." Chuck thinks it might come from the Newspaper Fairy. The question was explored in "Performance Anxiety" when Gary (as a "special subscriber") received an invitation to a meeting with a mysterious gentleman in a bowler hat, but we were left with no clear answers.
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2.14.2 Does anyone else get The Paper?

Yes. In "The Out-of-Towner" we met Sam Cooper, who received the New York Daily News. Unlike Gary, Sam had a regular crew on his payroll and had no moral dilemma about using The Paper to make money, some of which he used to pay his helpers. In "Performance Anxiety" we find out that Sam has "retired" from the Paper to spend more time with his daughter. One of his crew members, Joey Clams, took over Sam's job. Also in "Performance Anxiety," when Gary was having his meeting with the mysterious man in the bowler hat, there were many pictures on the wall of other "special subscribers," one of whom was the Pope.
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2.15 Is Marissa/Shanesia really blind?

The character - Marissa Clark - is indeed blind. However, the actress that portrays Marissa (Shanesia Davis Williams) is NOT blind. To perfect her depiction of Marissa, Williams has done research for her role with the Chicago Guild of the Blind, and continues to do so throughout the series.
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2.16 How long has Marissa been blind?

Marissa has been blind since she was 16 months old due to a bout with meningitis. However, in the second season finale ("Second Sight"), it was intimated that she had been blind from birth. The fact that she had a doctor for her eyes - someone she went to when she thought she was recovering her sight - seems to give more weight to the first factoid.
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2.17 What is the Blackstone?

The Blackstone Hotel is an actual historic hotel in downtown Chicago and was used as the setting for Gary's home during season one. For more information about the Blackstone, please visit this website: http://w15.cityofchicago.org./landmarks/B/BlackstoneHotel.html

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2.18 Where did Gary stay at the Blackstone?

After Gary was thrown out by his wife (who later became his ex-wife), he stayed in the hotel portion of the Blackstone, in room 67. After the "Pilot" episode, Gary moved into a more residential section *above* the hotel, and was in fictional room number 1611. Gary's room burned down at the beginning of season two and from then on he stayed at McGinty's.
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2.19 What and where is McGinty's?

McGinty's is a fictional bar/restaurant in Chicago. It was given to Gary in the first episode of the second season, "Home." He and Chuck became partners during the second season with Marissa as bookkeeper. After Chuck left, Gary offered Chuck's half of the bar to Marissa.

According to information on the set, "The full name is McGinty's Bar & Microbrewery." Interesting as the set has a fully functional kitchen set - for when McGinty's was a restaurant - but has no microbrewery equipment. Two of the specialty brews served according to the drink cards at the tables are The Home Run and The Hat Trick.

The building used for the exterior shots of McGinty's is a real building located at 228 W Illinois Street (the NE corner of Franklin and Illinois), not far from the Merchandise Mart El stop. It is across the street from Gene and Georgetti's and just around the corner from the Discount Liquor Store on Grand Avenue. The building is an old Chicago Fire Department building and, during the filming of the series, housed a furniture repair/refinishing shop named "Hammer Design." Hammer has since vacated the building, and it now stands empty.
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2.20 Why did Gary and Marcia get a divorce?

Once Marcia got through law school she decided she kind of liked that high profile, high society, up-scale life. Gary, on the other hand, was content to live a modest lifestyle, have kids, raise a family. In short, he wasn't ambitious enough for Marcia, so she divorced him.
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2.21 Did Gary enter into an "intimate" relationship with Meredith Carson?

Some say yes, but the *general* consensus is no, he did not. Arguments used in favor of "not": In both "The Paper" and "His Girl Thursday" (the two Meredith episodes) it was made clear that Meredith spent the night on the couch while Gary slept in his own cozy bed; both Gary and Meredith were clothed by morning; in "The Paper," one scene panned from a shot of Gary sleeping in his bed while hugging a pillow to a shot of Meredith sleeping on the couch; in HGT, Meredith told Gary she could hear him snoring all the way from the couch. You could also throw the "Gary's very nature" theory into the mix. It's unlikely, given his personality, that once he actually had a woman "in bed" that he'd kick her out after the deed and send her to go sleep on the couch. However, with that said, there is still the intimation that they *might* have done more, so this is still very much open to interpretation. Note: it has never been stated outright that Gary has ever been "intimate" with any of the other episodic girlfriends either, although it is possible to come to the conclusion that he has.
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2.22 What does the phrase "Live Your Life" mean?

This phrase was written on a piece of paper that Gary found in an old trunk belonging to the late Lucius Snow. Presumably, it is advice from Lucius to the person destined to receive the paper after him. However, the paper on which the phrase was written appeared to be torn and there could possibly be more to the message. We may never know for sure.
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2.23 What is gnocchi?

According to Webster's, gnocchi is defined as: "Dumplings made of flour, semolina, or potatoes, boiled or baked and served with grated cheese or a sauce." EE's fans from Italy confirm that this definition is the correct one. (Thanks, Daniela!) As far as Early Edition is concerned, though, gnocchi is the preferred food of Bernie Hobson.
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2.24 What are those monologues/voiceovers and where did they go?

The "monologue" is a voiceover narration that bookmarks the beginning and end of the episode. These have been referred to as life lessons, parables, and moral lessons. They are sometimes a foreshadow or overview of the episode and sometimes they come across like poetry.

Fisher Stevens did the voiceovers during the first two season - there was one for every first season episode, several second season episodes did not have one, and they are a rare occurrence during the third and fourth seasons. During an September 1998 online chat with Jeff Melvoin (Executive Producer), the following exchange occurred:

Q. The voiceover was missing from several episodes last year. Will they be completely gone this year? And if not, who will be doing the voiceovers now that Fisher is gone?

A. Good question. The voiceovers disappeared a bit last year because I felt they had become a bit of a straightjacket. If we have nothing to say in a voiceover then I prefer that we not use a voiceover, rather than force some empty phrases onto the show. This year however, we've started the year with a healthy number of voiceovers. After experimenting with the idea of an omniscient, unnamed narrator to deliver the voiceovers, we've settled on Kyle Chandler to deliver the voiceovers, which we think works very well.

Opening monologue from the "Pilot" episode:
"What if you knew, beyond a doubt, what was going to happen tomorrow? Sure, I know it's crazy. But, what if you did? Whether you'd be rich or poor, a hero or loser, lucky in love, unlucky in life... what would you do? What if, by some magic, you found the power to really change things? People, events, maybe even your life. Would you even know where to start? Maybe you *can't* know. Until it happens
."

Closing monologue from the "Pilot" episode:
"
There are no explanations, of course. But that's nothin' new. Magic's like life. Mostly unexpected. Which means, newspaper or not, you can never be sure what's around the corner. Or what you'll do when you find it."

The monologues from most of Season 1 and part of Season 2 can be found at TJ's Early Edition website here: http://home.arcor.de/eeonline/EE/index.html (go to "The Kitchen")

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2.25 Whatever happened to...?

Fisher Stevens/Chuck Fishman: Fisher left after the end of the second season in what was a mutual parting. Fisher wished to spend more time on directing and on getting his production company (Green Street Productions) off the ground. Fisher's character, Chuck Fishman, left Chicago to start the fictional "Fishman Productions" in California. Chuck's goal was to develop family-friendly programming. Fisher has returned to guest star in at least one episode each season since then.

Kristy Swanson/Erica Paget: Kristy Swanson left after the end of the third season, as her character's usefulness on the show was used up. Swanson also wanted to pursue other opportunities, so that was also a mutual parting. Her character, Erica Paget, left Chicago to return home and live with her parents until she could get her life on solid ground. She felt the stability of having close family around would be the best thing for her son, Henry. According to Executive Producer Jeff Melvoin, "Kristy was originally signed for only six episodes. After six episodes we decided we wanted to make it the length of the season. We think it worked well, but from our end, we thought that playing out this romance had really gone about as far as it could, that it would limit the series more if we ended up pairing off Gary Hobson with somebody than if we left it open." Many fans felt that the chemistry between Erica and Gary was lacking, and in fact, several times during season 3, the main characters were written inconsistent to the show's previous two seasons to accommodate the Erica character.

Myles Jeffrey/Henry Paget: Myles Jeffrey left after the end of the third season along with Kristy Swanson. As Erica Paget's son, his character, Henry Paget, was destined to go anywhere that Erica went.

Billie Worley/Patrick Quinn: Billie Worley left during the first part of the fourth season (after episode "Wild Card"). According to Executive Producer Jeff Melvoin, "Billie did a great job. Frankly the problem here is that you just can't get quite enough use out of him. Billie is a terrific actor, and both for him, in terms of the amount of work we can throw his way, and also, frankly, the amount of money it costs to keep somebody like that around just to deliver occasional lines, it became a situation were we felt we were limiting ourselves economically and also limiting Billie." Patrick left his bartender job at McGinty's to become a kindergarten teacher in Bend, Oregon.
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2.26 What's with the new theme music?!?

See #8.3 for answer.
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2.27 How can I get copies of the episodes?

There are currently no episodes available commercially. You can either wait until the episode airs in reruns or in syndication and catch it that way, or you can wait until they are available for purchase.

An alternative to that is to have a friend make a copy for you. While the legalities of this method are debatable, it is generally accepted that tape copying or tape trading is okay as long as no one is making a profit from it. That is, it is acceptable to ask for compensation for your costs (a new tape plus postage), but nothing more. However, should episodes ever become available for purchase, it would *not* be appropriate to make bootleg copies of those tapes, as that would be in clear violation of copyright laws.
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2.28 What about syndication?

On November 15, 1999, we learned that that Fox Family Channel (a cable channel available on most expanded basic cable lineups) had picked up the syndication rights to Early Edition. It began airing on Fox Family in May of 2000 and continued until early in 2002, at which point Fox Family was bought out by ABC/Disney and became ABC Family. ABC Family quickly removed Early Edition (and several other fine syndicated programs) from their schedule in favor of reruns of ABC programming. In September 2000, Early Edition also began airing weekends on various network affiliates (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, UPN, WB, etc) across the United States. However, the weekend syndication deal expired after two years, and is no longer seen. For further information on Early Edition's U.S. syndication, please visit the 'syndication' page of EarlyDues' Early Edition Site.
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2.29 What is an EEL?

EEL is an acronym for "Early Edition Lover." Hence, an EEL would be someone who proudly claims to be a fan and supporter of the show.
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2.30 What does GTA stand for?

Giant Tobogganing Ants? Gratuitous Thankful Accolades? What the letters in GTA stand for is anybody's guess - Those Who Know have chosen to remain silent on that subject. But what the GTA itself stands for is great fanfic!
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2.31 Is there any merchandise available for Early Edition?

Official merchandise? No. As of yet, there is no *official* merchandise (including Soundtrack CDs, T-shirts, Hats, Action Figures...) available for Early Edition. However, there is some Early Edition related merchandise that has been put together for the Early Edition Conventions (or "EELFests," if you will). Information about those products can be found at the Early Edition Convention website here: http://www.geocities.com/eelfestnews/

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[Continue to Section Three]

 


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Last modified: December 3, 2000
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