The BEST episodes of Ed season 3

Every episode of Ed season 3, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Ed season 3!

Ed Stevens is a contracts lawyer at a high-profile New York City firm. Around the same time he splits with his wife (she slept with a mailman), he makes a single error in punctuation when going over a contract; and because of the resulting financial loss to the firm, he's fired. Despondent, he heads back to his (small) hometown of Stuckeyville -- 'Anytown', USA. There he realizes he's been missed by a lot of friends whom he's missed; and he sees Carol, the girl he'd adored in high school. Swept up in roiling emotions, Ed buys the local bowling alley on a whim, moves to Stuckeyville, and determines to win Carol's heart. His horizons broaden as he settles once more in Stuckeyville, and the series itself settles into a charming, funny, often serious slice-of-life series focused not solely on Ed but on the lovable ensemble cast of people who live and work with him in Stuckeyville.

Last Updated: 10/6/2024Network: NBCStatus: Ended
The Decision
star
9.31
59 votes

#1 - The Decision

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/11/2003

Eli, Phil and Shirley take over preparations for Stuckeybowl's 75th birthday party; Carol completely freaks out when Ed tells her that Molly stole her journal and read parts of it to him, but she can't resist asking Molly about his reaction; bored with their friends' dinner parties, Mike and Nancy accept an invitation to a kegger from Stacie and Jenny, coeds they find stranded by the side of the road with a flat tire; over his better judgment, Eli takes Phil's advice to invite Vivian to the party, and gets turned down; while one college party and its hangover are enough for Nancy, Mike decides to take the plunge again by attending ""Luau Night"" after helping Stacie and Jenny study for their chemistry exam, but gets more than he bargained for when he's forced to turn down Stacie's proposition; Shirley comes up with the right person and the right motivation, and Eli finally gets up the courage to approach a pretty woman at the party; Warren's band gets booked to play at the festivities an

Directors: Rob Burnett
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Charlotte and Wilbur
star
8.78
117 votes

#2 - Charlotte and Wilbur

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/16/2002

Carol's father returns from Florida in time for his birthday party, unaware that she's engaged. When she finally springs the news on him, he's hurt that she's marrying someone he's never even met. At his birthday party, he gives Carol and Dennis the cold shoulder and refuses to speak to her or accept her apology. When she goes to his house to explain, she is shocked to discover that her father remarried a year earlier without telling her. Carol goes ballistic until she finds out that her father may be sick. When she asks him, he denies it. Finally, he visits her and they talk about how they have tried to protect each other ever since her mother died. He finally admits that he's scared and asks Carol to come with him to his doctor's appointment, where they get good news. Warren freaks out about the unfairness of the SAT system and mounts a one-man protest he calls ""Pencils Down!"". After several fruitless attempts to be taken seriously and enroll anyone else in his boycott, he finally fa

Directors: Timothy Busfield
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Trapped
star
8.73
86 votes

#3 - Trapped

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/20/2002

Tired of the continuing Carol/Ed saga, the pair's friends trap them in Stuckeybowl until they finally work things out, one way or another.

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Second Chances
star
8.60
87 votes

#4 - Second Chances

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/28/2003

Frankie becomes upset when she learns that Ed has not been entirely forthcoming about his past with Carol; when the gang helps him save his former restaurant from going bankrupt, Eli sadly reflects how his life has changed since his accident; Carol dates the handsome new teacher in town, and finally realizes that it's Ed that she wants; to Nancy's delight, Mike picks up some slick moves from a video about becoming a better lover, but he's not so sure he's ready for the increased responsibilies his new-found skills have brought him; Frankie and Carol each make a romantic gesture to win Ed's heart.

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Frankie
star
8.34
86 votes

#5 - Frankie

Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/8/2003

As Ed takes the case of a injured high school football player who's suing another player for unnecessary roughness, he meets an enthusiastic law school graduate eager for a job; Eli helps Warren and Diane give Mark his last great meal before surgery; Molly does her best to be the coolest principal ever.

Directors: Timothy Busfield
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Blips
star
8.34
86 votes

#6 - Blips

Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/12/2003

Ed becomes concerned about his legacy after taking a longevity test and learning that his life expectancy is ""only"" 83 years; Stella returns to Stuckeyville after breaking up with her boyfriend, who follows her there; hoping to cash in on the royalty market, Phil and Eli compete to create a new birthday song; Frankie and Leon come to a parting of the ways; Warren's high-flying approach to playing Cupid for Stella on Valentine's Day gets him the thank-you of his dreams.

Directors: Rob Burnett
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The Wedding
star
8.31
87 votes

#7 - The Wedding

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/13/2002

The families converge for the wedding, and Carol begins to have second thoughts after talking to her father about her parents' courtship; Warren enlists the help of Carol's sister Stella in writing a song for the bride, and the two hit it off better than Warren could have dreamed, leading him to seek out Eli for advice about women; Ed decides not to attend the wedding, but Carol begs him to reconsider; Jennifer encourages Ed to break up the wedding and he decides to go for it and ride up to the church on a white steed, but the horse he ends up with has other ideas; Dennis makes a painful decision to tell the truth at a crucial moment.

Directors: Vincent Misiano
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Hyenas & Wildebeests
star
8.31
87 votes

#8 - Hyenas & Wildebeests

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/22/2003

Carol decides to be objective after debating whether she should avenge Rich Keenan's cruel high school hoax on Molly by writing a negative review of his restaurant in the ""Stuckeyville Progress"". As it happens, she sincerely hates the food and writes a scathing review, which prompts Rich to sue her for maliciously ruining his business. Ed and Frankie represent her in a bench trial before a judge who doesn't care for Ed, but who manages to be objective nonetheless. Although Carol wins the case, she is forced to deal with the aftermath of a secret that's revealed during the proceedings. Phil's latest lamebrained scheme to increase business at Stuckeybowl by attracting a younger crowd gives rise to ""Extreme Bowling"", an idea Ed quickly vetoes before it burns the building down. Molly is stymied about how to help a young geek from being harassed by other students until she devises an ingenious scheme to ensure his popularity, while all kinds of sparks fly between her and the boy's single f

Directors: Rick Stevenson
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Good Advice
star
8.31
87 votes

#9 - Good Advice

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/19/2003

Frankie defends Ed when he's sued for breaking a man's thumb while rescuing him from a burning car; Molly contends with Ryan's disapproval as she gets closer to Sean; Warren refuses to let Stella pull away from him after their night together; Carol gives Ed a little relationship advice about giving Frankie relationship advice, and discovers a small truth about herself; Stella chafes as Carol tries to mother her.

Directors: Thomas Cavanagh
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Neighbors
star
8.07
87 votes

#10 - Neighbors

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/18/2002

When a new lawyer arrives in Stuckeyville and encourages neighbors to sue each other, Ed hatches a scheme worthy of Phil to get Stuckeyvillans back together again; Carol urges Molly to become a candidate for Stuckeyville High principal, now that Dennis is teaching in Minneapolis; Mike prepares to take over Ed's crown as the Stuckeyville Recliner Rally champion; inspired by Mark's upcoming surgery, Phil connives with Eli to become the ""Jared"" of a local sandwich shop.

Writer: Kevin Etten
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Makeovers
star
8.05
86 votes

#11 - Makeovers

Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/11/2002

Lloyd returns to Stuckeyville, and his new scheme is selling makeup for men. When he's prosecuted for being part of a pyramid scheme, Ed doubts Lloyd's claims that he knew nothing about it, creating friction between the brothers. After Mark's father has a heart attack and Mark gets bad news about his own health at his annual checkup, Mike and Warren convince him to have gastric bypass surgery. Ed and Carol smooth over the rough patch in their relationship and become friendly again.

Directors: Don Scardino
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May the Best Man Win
star
8.02
87 votes

#12 - May the Best Man Win

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/6/2002

Jennifer Bradley breezes back into Ed's life claiming that she needs his legal advice; Ed accepts Dennis's sarcastic offer to be his best man; Carol's impending marriage is making Molly feel neglected.

Directors: Gloria Muzio
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Human Nature
star
8.01
89 votes

#13 - Human Nature

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/25/2002

Ed is forced to defend the scam artist who manipulated Mike into betting and losing $3,000 on a baseball game; Carol, still furious at Ed for kissing her before she left on her trip with Dennis, finally makes a decision about her romantic future; Kenny bowls a perfect game, then bids adieu to Stuckeyville to pursue new adventures; and Ed hires a new supervising manager for Stuckeybowl.

Directors: Timothy Busfield
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The Divorce
star
7.98
87 votes

#14 - The Divorce

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/30/2002

Ed represents a pair of squabbling morning radio hosts who want to split up after a twenty year friendship; Mike and Nancy find that their preemptive marriage counselor is more of a hinderance than a help; and Molly knocks some sense into Ed and Carol to prevent them from destroying their friendship.

Directors: Oz Scott
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Babysitting
star
7.94
86 votes

#15 - Babysitting

Season 3 - Episode 19 - Aired 3/12/2003

As Mike and Nancy endure a weekend at a bed-and-breakfast run by a over-enthusiastic owner with her own agenda, Ed babysits for Sarah while Frankie is out of town; when it becomes obvious that Sarah requires a woman's touch, Carol comes to his rescue and sees Ed in a new, more flattering light; Ed and Carol take Sarah's rejection by another toddler personally, and show the world how to host the ultimate playdate; ever the publicity hound, Phil attempts to spark some interest in an ""ebony and ivory"" newspaper story about his friendship with Eli, but Jerry Dobbs is only interested in writing about Eli.

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Captain Lucidity
star
7.78
87 votes

#16 - Captain Lucidity

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/26/2003

Ed tries lucid dreaming to figure out if he should pursue a relationship with Frankie.

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Partners
star
7.75
86 votes

#17 - Partners

Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/15/2003

Ed and Frankie represent a man who is suing his sister for ""outing"" him, even though he insists he's not gay; Carol goes looking for love in all the wrong places; by attempting to drive away all his patients, Dr. Jerome drives Mike crazy until Mike uncovers Dr. Jerome's real motivation in trying to drive him out of business.

Directors: Adam Bernstein
Writer: Drake Sather
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The Movie
star
7.65
86 votes

#18 - The Movie

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/4/2003

When Carol is discouraged after Ed spurns her feelings as ""not real"", Molly becomes the catalyst in helping Ed to rethink his position; Ed helps an old friend achieve his dream of making a movie; Nancy and Mike dip their toes into show business as Mike and Phil pester the star of the movie; claiming that it's never over between Ed and Carol, Frankie flees to Houston to visit Leon; Warren is heartbroken when Stella decides to return to Boston to finish school.

Directors: Timothy Busfield
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Miss Stuckeyville
star
7.58
90 votes

#19 - Miss Stuckeyville

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/2/2002

Ed is shocked when Carol announces her engagement to Dennis; Mark agrees to go on a diet if Diane enters the Miss Stuckeybowl pageant; Diane's participation in the pageant pits Carol against Ed; Phil and Eli continue to clash.

Directors: Don Scardino
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The Case
star
7.07
86 votes

#20 - The Case

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/5/2003

Ed takes on his first homicide case when Eli's friend is charged with second degree murder after another friend dies during the drunken recreation of an old high school prank; Frankie and Eli provide the key to the outcome of the trial after damaging testimony nearly sinks the case; Molly develops a crush on Ryan's dad, and tries to mend the relationship between father and son.

Writer: Kevin Etten
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Business As Usual
star
7.07
86 votes

#21 - Business As Usual

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/5/2003

After Mike and Dr. Jerome get into an ongoing battle over the sign outside their office, Nancy initially brings in Toby to do some conflict management, but is later forced to take matters into her own hands to resolve the dispute; Mark feels responsible when another student's gastric bypass surgery doesn't turn out so well; Ed and Frankie work through the problems of an office romance as they represent an attorney who wants to be released from a contract to marry another lawyer; Carol is shocked and less than thrilled when Ed tells his friends about his romance with Frankie.

Directors: Timothy Busfield
Writer: Aaron Ehasz
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The Road
star
6.96
117 votes

#22 - The Road

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/9/2002

Overwhelmed by Carol's wedding preparations, Ed decides to take to the road for awhile, but finds the peace and quiet more than he can bear; Eli and Phil duke it out on the basketball court for the right to use Ed's office while he's away; Dennis makes Nancy prove her mettle before hiring her as a guidance counselor by assigning her to turn around a multi-cut slacker; Carol plays passive-agressive games with Dennis over plans for their upcoming nuptials; Carol tries to connect with Ed, but he won't admit his true feelings.

Directors: Jamie Babbit
Writer: Drake Sather
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