Gary Hobson

Real Name: Gary Hobson

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: former stockbroker

Affiliations: Chuck Fishman, Marissa Clark, Erica Paget, Detective Marion Zeke Crumb, Sammo Law, Willie Dretler (first custodian of the New York paper), Joey Clams (second custodian of the New York paper)

Enemies: Phil Pritchard (ex-boss)

Known Relatives: Marcia (wife, divorced), Bernie (father), Lois (mother)

Aliases:

Base of Operations: Chicago

First Appearance: Early Edition #1 "Pilot" (CBS, 28th September 1996)

Powers/Abilities: Gary Hobson receives the next days paper early each morning, apparently delivered by a mysterious cat. Normally it arrives at the door of his apartment, but on occasions when he has been away from home, the cat and paper still manage to arrive on the doorstep of wherever he is. This gives Gary up to 24 hours notice of events happening, and Gary can and does make changes to what is written - the headlines change or disappear depending on his success - although things can also get worse by some miscalculation. A few times the power of the paper has been shown to be greater than this alone - in one case, it made Gary relive the same day over again until he got things right; in another case he travelled back in time to save one victim of the Valentine's Day Massacre. The role of custodian of the paper can apparently be passed on, though the method for doing this is uncertain - misuse of the paper seems to be one way of losing the "subscription".

History: Gary Hobson lived a fairly normal life as a stockbroker in Chicago until the day his wife threw him out and ended their marriage. Gary moved into a hotel room overnight, and the next morning, at 6.30 am sharp, someone delivered a cat and a copy of the Chicago Sun-Times to his door - tomorrow's edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. Gary soon lost his job, fired by his jerk of a boss, but he no longer cared. He had a new mission in life - to use the paper to change the bad headlines, saving lives and preventing disasters, with the help of his friends Chuck (a fellow stockbroker) and Marissa (his former secretary).

As time passed Gary learned a little more about the paper. He discovered that the cat and paper would follow him if he stayed overnight away from his apartment. He found out that the paper had used to go to Lucius Snow, a man who had once saved Gary's life when he was a child, a man who died the day before Gary started getting the paper. He also met both Willie Dretler, who had been receiving the next day's New York Daily Press since a couple of years before Gary started getting his paper, and Willie's successor Joey Clams, who had his "subscription" removed after he abused the privilege.

Comments: Created by Ian Abrams and Vik Rubenfeld. Played by Kyle Chandler.

Early Edition ran for four seasons and 90 episodes, the last airing on 27th May 2000.

  1. Pilot

  2. The Choice

  3. Baby

  4. The Paper

  5. Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog

  6. Hoops

  7. After Midnight

  8. Gun

  9. His Girl Friday

  10. The Wrong Man

  11. Christmas

  12. Frostbit

  13. Mob Wife

  14. The Wall (1)

  15. The Wall (2)

  16. Bat Masterson

  17. The Jury

  18. Psychic

  19. The Cat

  20. Phantom of the Opera

  21. Faith

  22. Dad

  23. Love is Blind

  24. Home (start of Season 2)

  25. The Medal

  26. The Wedding

  27. Jenny Sloan

  28. Downsized

  29. Angels and Devils

  30. Redfellas

  31. March in Time

  32. A Regular Joe

  33. A Bris is Just a Bris

  34. A Minor Miracle

  35. Romancing the Throne

  36. Walk, Don't Run

  37. The Return of Crumb

  38. Mum's the Word

  39. Where or When

  40. The Fourth Carpathian

  41. The Quality of Mercy

  42. Show Me the Monet

  43. Don't Walk Away, Renee

  44. Hot Time in the Old Town

  45. Second Sight

  46. Blackout (start of Season 3)

  47. Collision

  48. A Horse Is a Horse

  49. Lt. Hobson, USN

  50. Saint Nick

  51. Halloween

  52. Up Chuck

  53. Deadline

  54. In Gary We Trust

  55. Nest Egg

  56. Teen Angels

  57. Slippity-Doo-Dah

  58. The Last Untouchable

  59. Just One of Those Things

  60. Funny Valentine

  61. Number One with a Bullet

  62. Two to Tangle

  63. Fate

  64. Crumb Again

  65. Pinch Hitters

  66. Home Groan

  67. Play It Again Sammo

  68. Blowing Up is Hard to Do

  69. The Out-of-Towner (start of Season 4)

  70. Duck Day Afternoon

  71. Take Me out to the Ballgame

  72. The Iceman Taketh

  73. Camera Shy

  74. Wild Card

  75. Fatal Edition (1)

  76. Fatal Edition (2)

  77. Weathergirl

  78. Run, Gary, Run

  79. Rose

  80. Snow Angels

  81. Gifted

  82. Performance Anxiety

  83. False Witness

  84. The Play's the Thing

  85. Blind Faith

  86. Occasionally Amber

  87. Mel Schwartz, Bounty Hunter

  88. Time

  89. Everybody Goes to Rick's

  90. Luck o' the Irish

Thanks to Vesa Lehtinen for additional information.

CLARIFICATIONS: None.

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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