11.15.01 - 4:06 p.m.

Ah, yes. Three hours of work to go and stuck in the doldrums of mid-afternoon, so it must be time for my daily ramblings. Damn, I want a taco. And not just any taco - only a soy taco will do. But this is not why I am here today. I have a plan, a subject, thought up last night in my slightly buzzed stupor. I am here to discuss the re-emergence of Ed as one of the finer hours of television.

The sheer goofiness of last night's episode - Doogie Howser aping Ed as another bowling alley lawyer - warmed my heart like no episode has done in what was shaping up to be a rather disappointing season. Everything seemed out of joint, the scenarios forced and in poor imitation, until last night. But the plot itself, of Doogie (I'm sorry, Neal Patrick Harris, but I just can't call him by his real name) attempting to take the show's essences and recreate them, immediately revived the originals.

When Joe Baxter (yep, Doogie) makes his low-rent Stuckeybowl over in Ketchum, Ed is forced to assert himself as the first and original bowling alley lawyer - a title he has striven to disassociate himself from since he started the practice. ("I'm a lawyer and I own a bowling alley. Two separate things," he states repeatedly.) And now Ed must accept it, nay, defend it as his 'brand identity.'

Not to mention that all this is happening alongside Carol's self-involvement over Dennis 'the Menace' Martino, leaving Ed to reaffirm himself as himself, unhampered by any feelings between him and Carol. At one point Ed shouts, "I'm back!" to let his friends know who is the king of all bowling alley lawyers. Indeed you are, Ed. Indeed you are.

(And may I also note the long-awaited return of the Walk and Talk, AND, as Dan said, the premiere of the Drive and Talk in Miss Vessey's automobile? It can't replace the pie shop, but it's something.)