The BEST episodes of Early Edition season 1

Every episode of Early Edition season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Early Edition season 1!

Gary Hobson was a regular Chicago stockbroker. One day his wife dumped him and he was forced to move into a hotel room. The next morning, at 6:30 am, a mysterious yellow cat showed up at his front door with tomorrow's edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. From that day on his life was never the same. At first skeptical, Gary started to try saving people's lives and stop disasters from happening. With the help of his friends Chuck and Marissa, Gary became a man with a mission, even though he doesn't know why or how the paper gets to him every morning.

Last Updated: 4/7/2024Network: CBSStatus: Ended
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The Cat
star
8.57
90 votes

#1 - The Cat

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/13/1997

Gary takes the cat to the vet after the cat appears lethargic. He begrudgingly leaves the cat overnight, but returns the next morning to see that the cat is gone, with no sign of the paper.

Directors: Daniel Attias
Watch Now:Amazon
Faith
star
8.25
55 votes

#2 - Faith

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/26/1997

Gary is hit by a car, and wakes up in the hospital where he meets a young girl who is waiting for a heart transplant. A match is found in a little boy, but the paper says he will be killed in a hold-up.

Writer: Bob Brush
Watch Now:Amazon
Phantom at the Opera
star
8.18
56 votes

#3 - Phantom at the Opera

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/19/1997

Gary saves an artist from being murdered in her studio and they fall for each other. But Gary can't keep his mind off the paper, and repeatedly cancels their dates.

Directors: Jan Eliasberg
Watch Now:Amazon
Psychic
star
8.14
58 votes

#4 - Psychic

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/12/1997

Gary meets a psychic named Claire (Kathy Najimy) who tries to sell him on a ready, but Gary claims psychic powers are not real. After a kidnapping, Claire approaches Gary claiming she has a "feeling" about where the child could be.

Directors: Mel Damski
Watch Now:Amazon
The Jury
star
8.09
88 votes

#5 - The Jury

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/8/1997

Gary is summoned to serve on a jury in a case involving grand theft and embezzlement. Not only is Gary uncomfortable that he cannot follow the headlines while serving, but the cat brings him the paper in the courtroom, with the headline of the outcome of the court case.

Directors: Stephen Cragg
Watch Now:Amazon
Dad
star
8.00
51 votes

#6 - Dad

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/3/1997

Gary's father, Bernie, temporarily moves in with his son after his wife kicks him out. After learning about the paper, and enjoying helping others, Bernie decides to stay permanently.

Directors: Randy Zisk
Watch Now:Amazon
Gun
star
7.94
131 votes

#7 - Gun

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/16/1996

Gary poses as a social worker in order to stop a little boy from shooting his brother, but he gets more involved with the family than he should. Meanwhile, Chuck has a really hard time trying to get rid of the cat's fleas.

Directors: Jace Alexander
Watch Now:Amazon
Christmas
star
7.85
131 votes

#8 - Christmas

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/21/1996

Gary finds a headline about a bomb that will kill several people skating on a lake, and enlists the help of Detective Crumb to stop it. Chuck is arrested and imprisoned for unpaid parking tickets, and in his cell, he meets a man who claims to be Santa Claus.

Directors: Daniel Attias
Writer: Bob Brush
Watch Now:Amazon
Love Is Blind
star
7.79
111 votes

#9 - Love Is Blind

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/17/1997

Marissa begins seeing a fellow student from her school, but the student is involved in a murder.

Watch Now:Amazon
Pilot
star
7.75
230 votes

#10 - Pilot

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/28/1996

After being kicked out of his house by his wife, Gary Hobson is forced to move into a hotel room. It was a regular Monday morning, except for a mysterious paper that was delivered by an even more mysterious yellow cat at his door. At first Gary didn't pay much attention to the paper, but after a while he realized that wasn't a regular paper, it was tomorrow's paper. The first thing Gary does is get himself fired at his stockbroking job by messing around with stocks without his boss's permission. Then he devotes his free time to earn some money on bets, and eventually gives it to Marissa, the receptionist at his old job, who's blind and needs a dog. After Gary's regular news trader suffers an accident, Gary realizes that he could have saved him. The paper came for a reason after all. And so Gary decides to stop a shooting at a bank, which causes a lot of confusion. But that doesn't keep the paper from coming every morning, at 6:30 am sharp.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Wall (2)
star
7.65
148 votes

#11 - The Wall (2)

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/8/1997

While on the run from the police, Gary attempts to find out more about the origin of the paper. Gary attempts to stay away from the President to prevent the murder, but is curious what will happen instead.

Directors: James Quinn
Writer: Bob Brush
Watch Now:Amazon
The Wall (1)
star
7.63
150 votes

#12 - The Wall (1)

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/1/1997

Morris from Chicago Sun-Times finds a box in the name of Lucius Snow, giving Gary another lead to the origin of the paper. Meanwhile, Gary finds a headline that the President of the United States will be murdered in Chicago... by Gary Hobson.

Directors: Michael Dinner
Writer: Bob Brush
Watch Now:Amazon
Bat Masterson
star
7.63
86 votes

#13 - Bat Masterson

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/22/1997

While attempting to save a life in Millennium Park, a lawman on horseback charges into the scene, claiming to be the fictional character Bat Masterson.

Directors: Rick Wallace
Writer: Dusty Kay
The Choice
star
7.62
238 votes

#14 - The Choice

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/5/1996

Gary has to make a decision between saving a little girl from dying or stop a plane from crashing and making over 190 victims. Since Chicago is stuck in its biggest traffic jam ever, Gary can't get to the airport. When he is about to take the train, he sees the little girl and decides to save her. The doctors ignore her and Gary then has to open their eyes for her real condition. Will he also be able to stop the plane crash, or will he fail?

Directors: Michael Dinner
Watch Now:Amazon
Frostbit
star
7.59
152 votes

#15 - Frostbit

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/11/1997

On a 20-below-zero day in Chicago, Gary encounters a homeless child who asks him for money on several occasions. Gary tells the boy off, but then finds a headline saying that the child freezes to death inside a building. Meanwhile, Chuck moves in with Gary after the heat goes out in his house.

Directors: Lee Bonner
After Midnight
star
7.46
165 votes

#16 - After Midnight

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1996

Gary has to stop a 17 year-old single mother from abandoning her child. But as always, Gary gets more involved with her than he should, and finds out she left home pregnant and now works for a drug dealer. Meanwhile, Chuck uses the paper to get a date with an attractive woman he had to share a cab with.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Wrong Man
star
7.43
104 votes

#17 - The Wrong Man

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/7/1996

Gary's ex-wife Marcia tells him she is getting married, and Gary finds out the groom is his old boss Pritchard.

Directors: David Jones
Writer: Alex Taub
Watch Now:Amazon
The Paper
star
7.40
181 votes

#18 - The Paper

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/19/1996

Gary is invited to the office of the Sun-Times, and he falls for one of the paper's star reporters.

Directors: Michael Nankin
Watch Now:Amazon
Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog
star
7.28
116 votes

#19 - Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/26/1996

Gary has to stop the mayor's dog from being kidnapped. The kidnapper turns out to be Chuck's uncle, who was trying to get back at the mayor after a public truck ran over his dog. Phil says he'll only stop after he gets a written apology from the mayor. All Gary gets is an autograph.

Directors: Susan Seidelman
Watch Now:Amazon
His Girl Thursday
star
7.21
132 votes

#20 - His Girl Thursday

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/23/1996

Meredith returns to create a second chance with Gary, and he is presented with a choice to throw away the paper and follow love, or give up the girl and continue saving lives.

Directors: Stephen Cragg
Writer: Jeff Melvoin
Watch Now:Amazon
Mob Wife
star
7.21
151 votes

#21 - Mob Wife

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/25/1997

Gary and Chuck save a gangster's ex-fiancee from being shot, which gets them into hot water with the mob.

Directors: Rick Rosenthal
Watch Now:Amazon
Baby
star
7.12
195 votes

#22 - Baby

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/12/1996

Gary helps Chuck deliver twins in an elevator after Chicago has a blackout due to Gary's inability to stop street workers to keep a water pump turned off. Meanwhile, Gary keeps chasing for a mysterious blonde woman while his ex-wife attempts to get back together.

Directors: Randy Zisk
Watch Now:Amazon
Hoops (a.k.a. Hoop Dreams)
star
7.06
168 votes

#23 - Hoops (a.k.a. Hoop Dreams)

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/2/1996

Michael Williams, one of the biggest high school basketball stars, has a heart condition that may cost him his life. Gary tries to convince him not to play, but his coach keeps pushing him to do so. He and Marissa visit Michael's neighborhood, where Marissa grew up. They appeal to Connie Hooks, one of Marissa's old friends and also the Michael Williams of their time.

Directors: Rick Rosenthal
Writer: Bob Brush
Watch Now:Amazon