\'Ed\'

The most refreshingly sincere new show this fall is NBC's "Ed." The title character (played by Thomas Cavanagh), a New York City lawyer hotshot, has just been fired from his job and has just caught his wife cheating on him. He leaves to find peace and love in his small home town of Stuckeyville. The show works because it is not so much about a fish out of water as it is about the merits of being a big fish in a little pond.\nExecutive produced by David Letterman, it is quite surprising how free of cynicism Ed is, but not at all surprising how funny the hour-long dramady has been so far. Reminiscent of "Picket Fences" and "Northern Exposure," Ed focuses on a few characters but has an outstandingly quirky supporting cast.