It's rather hard to imagine anyone trying to revive the series "Mr. Ed". After all, the show was likable BUT kind of dopey (such as the time Ed the horse tried out for the LA Dodgers) and the concept was very, very limited. I mean...how much can you do with a show about a talking horse?! Yet, despite this and the original show being the butt of jokes, someone thought reviving the show with this 2004 pilot was a good idea. Fortunately, the networks DIDN'T think this was a great idea and the series was never made.
The show begins with Wilbur Pope* moving his family out to the country. On the farm he buys, there is a horse..Mr. Ed...and, Ed can talk...and only Wilbur seems to hear him. Ed, by the way, is voiced by veteran TV star Sherman Hemsley. In this pilot, the main problem Wilbur and Ed deal with is the horrid boyfriend Wilbur's daughter has picked up...and Ed is determined to get rid of him.
While the 1960s "Mr. Ed" was silly, the new attempt to revive the series is a bit different in style. The new one is filled with one-liners...like Mr. Pope is a frustrated stand-up comic. And, as a result, the laugh track is more obvious and invasive. It wasn't horrid...but it also wasn't very good.
*In the 1950s-60s show, the man was named Wilbur Post. However, he WAS Wilbur Pope in the original pilot episode from 1958...and the new proposed series chose this original name and not the more familiar one.
