Ten years ago today, NBC debuted the one-hour comedy-drama "Ed," a charming series about a nice, idealistic young lawyer who returns to his hometown in Ohio and opens a practice in a bowling alley. But I'm not really here to celebrate the anniversary of "Ed," much as I loved that show. It's pretty hard to celebrate the tenth anniversary of a series that only lasted four seasons before NBC so cavalierly canceled it. I'm here to celebrate the career of its biggest breakout star - actress Julie Bowen.
Julie Bowen played Carol Vessey, Ed Stevens's unrequited high school love interest who became a high school teacher in that same small town, Stuckeyville. Ed pursued Carol as an adult, having failed to do so as a teenager; they ended up being just friends, only to get married when the series ended. Although Tom Cavanagh (as Ed) was the show's star, it was Julie Bowen who caught the attention of "Ed"'s small but loyal audience. Her sunny disposition and bright presence allowed her to dominate every scene she was in. She displayed a unique ability to be stunningly beautiful yet still come across as the woman next door rather than as a Hollywood starlet.
"Ed" was not Julie Bowen's introduction to Americans; she had been in a few minor TV roles in the nineties, and she had also appeared in a few movies - none of which were Oscar-winning cinematic masterpieces. (I doubt she brags about having been in Happy Gilmore.) But it was "Ed" that put her on the map; it made her a star to watch. "Ed" got canceled in 2004 by NBC executives who wanted bigger ad revenue from trashier shows; what actually happened was that the network fell to fourth place, and it's been there ever since. At the time, I reluctantly selected Julie Bowen as of of the "losers" of 2004, not just because of her canceled show, but also because of a failed television pilot she appeared in right after "Ed" was done. But in that same item, I opined that she would most certainly be back. I was right - for all the reasons I just noted. A year later, she joined the cast of ABC's "Boston Legal," where she played attorney Denise Bauer, and she even found time to play a guest role on "Lost."
She's still on ABC, now on the sitcom "Modern Family," the extended-family pseudo-documentary sitcom that cleaned up at the Emmys this year. Bowen plays Claire Dunphy, the harried, stressed-out mother in a dysfunctional nuclear family coping with everything from a clueless husband to a brainless son. (The male stereotypes are bound to offend many with Y chromosomes, but Claire's daughters aren't exactly upstanding children either.) Bowen retains the ebullient, accessible persona that made her famous, and she's excellent as a woman who is the only member of her family with her head on straight and is trying to keep the family functioning properly. She has more going for her than Patricia Heaton's Frances Heck in "The Middle" (also on ABC) but it's still a challenge.
Bowen is not only back, she's here to stay. It's worth noting that, apart from Justin Long (whose post-"Ed" fame rests largely on his Mac computer commercials with John Hodgman and who has had fourteen minutes and thirty seconds of fame with the clock ticking), she's the only "Ed" alum who has remained in the public eye since that show went off the air. Fellow cast members Josh Randall, Lesley Boone, Jana Marie Hupp, and even Cavanagh have since been banished to the Archipelago of Forgotten Television Actors (and by the way, there's still no word on Happy, the Baby New Year), but Julie Bowen keeps on pleasing audiences with her impeccable light comedy abilities and her indelible personality. She's on her way to becoming a TV legend. :-)
Julie Bowen played Carol Vessey, Ed Stevens's unrequited high school love interest who became a high school teacher in that same small town, Stuckeyville. Ed pursued Carol as an adult, having failed to do so as a teenager; they ended up being just friends, only to get married when the series ended. Although Tom Cavanagh (as Ed) was the show's star, it was Julie Bowen who caught the attention of "Ed"'s small but loyal audience. Her sunny disposition and bright presence allowed her to dominate every scene she was in. She displayed a unique ability to be stunningly beautiful yet still come across as the woman next door rather than as a Hollywood starlet.
"Ed" was not Julie Bowen's introduction to Americans; she had been in a few minor TV roles in the nineties, and she had also appeared in a few movies - none of which were Oscar-winning cinematic masterpieces. (I doubt she brags about having been in Happy Gilmore.) But it was "Ed" that put her on the map; it made her a star to watch. "Ed" got canceled in 2004 by NBC executives who wanted bigger ad revenue from trashier shows; what actually happened was that the network fell to fourth place, and it's been there ever since. At the time, I reluctantly selected Julie Bowen as of of the "losers" of 2004, not just because of her canceled show, but also because of a failed television pilot she appeared in right after "Ed" was done. But in that same item, I opined that she would most certainly be back. I was right - for all the reasons I just noted. A year later, she joined the cast of ABC's "Boston Legal," where she played attorney Denise Bauer, and she even found time to play a guest role on "Lost."
She's still on ABC, now on the sitcom "Modern Family," the extended-family pseudo-documentary sitcom that cleaned up at the Emmys this year. Bowen plays Claire Dunphy, the harried, stressed-out mother in a dysfunctional nuclear family coping with everything from a clueless husband to a brainless son. (The male stereotypes are bound to offend many with Y chromosomes, but Claire's daughters aren't exactly upstanding children either.) Bowen retains the ebullient, accessible persona that made her famous, and she's excellent as a woman who is the only member of her family with her head on straight and is trying to keep the family functioning properly. She has more going for her than Patricia Heaton's Frances Heck in "The Middle" (also on ABC) but it's still a challenge.
Bowen is not only back, she's here to stay. It's worth noting that, apart from Justin Long (whose post-"Ed" fame rests largely on his Mac computer commercials with John Hodgman and who has had fourteen minutes and thirty seconds of fame with the clock ticking), she's the only "Ed" alum who has remained in the public eye since that show went off the air. Fellow cast members Josh Randall, Lesley Boone, Jana Marie Hupp, and even Cavanagh have since been banished to the Archipelago of Forgotten Television Actors (and by the way, there's still no word on Happy, the Baby New Year), but Julie Bowen keeps on pleasing audiences with her impeccable light comedy abilities and her indelible personality. She's on her way to becoming a TV legend. :-)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment