Light-hearted `Ed’ poignant, humorous

The simplest-titled show of the new season is one of its best.

“Ed,” debuting at 8 p.m. Sunday on NBC, is named after Ed Stevens. Ed (played by Thomas Cavanaugh) was a New York City contracts lawyer who suffers professional and professional setbacks on the same day.

In a moment of drunken epiphany, he moves home to the middle-American town of Stuckeyville. His quest: to win the heart of Carol Vessey (Julie Bowen), the former cheerleader who never even knew Ed existed in high school.

Aside from his anonymity problem, Ed has another obstacle. Carol, now the high-school English teacher, is in a long-term, going-nowhere relationship with would-be author Nick Stanton, their former English teacher.

Ed manages to go out with Carol, and even gets a good-night kiss. At that point, he promptly buys the local bowling alley, planning to put down roots. Waffling Carol, however, didn’t invest so much in their one date and kiss.

Not being a hunk, Ed feels he has but one strategy in his pursuit of Carol: “to make a complete ass out of myself.” And this he does, with poignant, humorous results.

But “Ed” focuses on more than one relationship. Ed is staying with high-school chum Mike and his wife, Nancy, who are re-establishing their union after the birth of their first child. Also, Ed must learn to deal with his staff of irregulars at the Stuckeybowl, where he is also giving out free legal advice.

“Ed,” which has Rob Burnett and David Letterman among its executive producers, is an endearing, lighthearted drama with an offbeat sense of humor. It scores points for not employing TV’s bad habit of pat happy endings, as the hero won’t necessarily get the girl. It will be enjoyable to watch how the characters of Stuckeyville grow closer together.

CBS has a charismatic new addition to its Saturday-night lineup in the person of Jack Mannion.

Mannion, played by Craig T. Nelson (“Coach”), is the lead character in “The District,” debuting at 10 p.m. Saturday. “The District” is largely a crime drama, with the study of a larger-than-life character thrown in.

As the highly effective police commissioner of Newark, N.J., Mannion boasts that he can cut crime in any metropolitan area by 50 percent. Mary Ann Mitchell (played by Jayne Brooks, “Chicago Hope”), the Washington, D.C. deputy mayor, convinces the district’s mayor (played by John Amos doing a great Marion Barry impression) to put Mannion to the test.

Mannion is part showman, part inspirational speaker. He assembles his own multiracial version of “The Untouchables,” including a forgotten statistics clerk, a young former Marine, an Irish cop escaping “the troubles,” and his own public relations man.

Together, they attempt to improve life for the district’s residents by cutting crime and by ridding the force of lazy cops. Naturally, they meet resistance from veteran police officers, personified by Deputy Chief Noland (Roger Aaron Brown).

“The District,” in part created by former New York Deputy Police Chief Jack Maple, is a different sort of cop show. Its characters promote a kind of social justice, with change and hope its main ingredients. Coupled with “That’s Life” at 8 p.m., it’s a breath of fresh air on what had been a stale night on CBS.

Also premiering Sunday are two new WB comedies, “Hype” at 9 p.m. and “Nikki” at 9:30. Preview tapes of these didn’t arrive by press time.