Ed Television Program

For a guy with the big title, the office doesn't have much of a view. Even on the sunniest of days, Rob Burnett looks out of his ground-floor window onto a cinder-block wall painted several shades of dirty beige. It's certainly not Broadway, which is where Burnett has resided the last four years as executive producer of "The Late Show With David Letterman."

The compliment that Daryl Mitchell savors most these days is when people believe he's acting the part of a man in a wheelchair. No, that's all too real. In his first substantive role since a motorcycle accident paralyzed him two years ago, Mitchell has brought a feisty energy to the NBC comedy "Ed," and his character, Eli, is reaping the rewards of a high-profile love story. (The show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. but is preempted this week.

When is a television show like a Utica coat rack? Or a Mission-style plant stand? Answer: When that show is NBC's "Ed," a modestly successful new drama and, more important, the first television series based on a boutique chain of home furnishings. Call it Restoration Hardware TV. On paper, "Ed" is about a New York lawyer who moves back to his Ohio hometown (it's called Stuckeyville) and takes over the local bowling alley, converting it into a bowling alley/law office (it's called Stuckey Bowl).

When is a television show like a Utica coat rack? Or a Mission-style plant stand? Answer: When that show is NBC's "Ed," a modestly successful new drama and, more important, the first television series based on a boutique chain of home furnishings. Call it Restoration Hardware TV. On paper, "Ed" is about a New York lawyer who moves back to his Ohio hometown (it's called Stuckeyville) and takes over the local bowling alley, converting it into a bowling alley/law office (it's called Stuckey Bowl).

The compliment that Daryl Mitchell savors most these days is when people believe he's acting the part of a man in a wheelchair. No, that's all too real. In his first substantive role since a motorcycle accident paralyzed him two years ago, Mitchell has brought a feisty energy to the NBC comedy "Ed," and his character, Eli, is reaping the rewards of a high-profile love story. (The show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. but is preempted this week.

For a guy with the big title, the office doesn't have much of a view. Even on the sunniest of days, Rob Burnett looks out of his ground-floor window onto a cinder-block wall painted several shades of dirty beige. It's certainly not Broadway, which is where Burnett has resided the last four years as executive producer of "The Late Show With David Letterman."