Early Edition

Gary Hobson, recently divorced and staying in a hotel, receives a strange newspaper along with an enigmatic orange cat. As he reads through it, he discovers the paper contains news from the next day, leading him to question its origin and purpose.

Gary faces a difficult decision when he discovers he has the power to prevent a plane crash, but doing so may cost the life of a young girl.

Gary assists Chuck in delivering twins during a citywide blackout caused by a malfunctioning water pump he failed to stop. At the same time, Gary pursues a mysterious blonde woman while his ex-wife tries to reconcile with him.

Gary becomes entangled with a journalist who is wary of his seemingly insider knowledge of a particular story as he continues his search for the truth about the paper.

As a growing lottery frenzy sweeps through Chicago with the jackpot increasing nightly, Gary investigates the motives behind a plot to steal the Mayor's pet.

Gary attempts to convince a star basketball player, who has a serious medical condition, to reconsider playing, fearing for his health and safety.

Gary becomes emotionally entangled with a young single mother who is considering giving up her child, uncovering that she ran away as a teenager and now works for a drug dealer. Meanwhile, Chuck tries to use his newspaper job to impress a woman he met in a taxi.

Gary impersonates a social worker to prevent a young boy from shooting his brother, but becomes too deeply entangled in the troubled family's affairs. After stealing the gun and later returning it due to a disturbing newspaper report, Gary arrives with the police just in time to find the younger boy nearly killing his sibling. Meanwhile, Chuck struggles with an infestation of fleas from his cat.

Meredith returns and attempts to rekindle her relationship with Gary, but their progress is complicated by Gary's reluctance to let her see a sensitive document. When Chuck discovers Meredith reading the paper, a deal is struck, leading to a stock market windfall for Chuck. A series of misunderstandings and conflicts follow, culminating in Meredith leaving for Washington after resolving her issues with Gary.

Gary tries to prevent his former boss Phil Pritchard from being killed while dealing with the surprise of Marcia's upcoming marriage to him. As a series of incidents suggest Gary is interfering, he is eventually convinced to help Pritchard and must also stop Sam, the office mailboy, from carrying out the attack.

Gary attempts to stop a bomb threat targeting 20 ice skaters in a park, seeking help from a skeptical Det. Crumb as the bomber continues to stay one step ahead. Meanwhile, Chuck is jailed for accumulating 106 unpaid parking tickets and is persuaded by a delusional cellmate claiming to be Santa to escape and steal a car for gift delivery.

In the bitter cold of Chicago, Gary continues his efforts to help people despite a lack of major news stories. When his friend Chuck moves in after a heating failure, Gary is further drawn out of the house and encounters a homeless child, whose tragic fate is later reported in the paper. Gary and the boy become trapped in an abandoned building and must rely on Chuck to rescue them before they succumb to the freezing temperatures.

Gary and Chuck become entangled with the mob after rescuing a gangster's ex-fiancé from an assassination attempt. As they struggle to extricate themselves from dangerous situations, Chuck develops feelings for the woman.

A newspaper article warns that the U.S. president will be assassinated during his visit to Chicago, with Gary identified as the would-be killer.

Gary attempts to prevent the president's assassination while evading the FBI, which has wrongly identified him as the prime suspect. His friends work to shield him and keep his involvement a secret.

Gary meets a former police officer who assumed the identity of Bat Masterson to fight crime, a man who appears unhinged but assists Gary with his newspaper work. As Gary learns more about him, he discovers that the man, whose real name is Mike Killebrew, became unstable after the death of his police partner.

Gary is selected to serve on a jury in a trial where a man is accused of embezzling company funds. Because the defendant is representing himself, the judge orders the jury to be sequestered, preventing Gary from reading the newspaper.

Gary fails to prevent a child's kidnapping and turns to Claire, a psychic who had previously asked him to open a fortune-telling business after he saved her life, for assistance. She claims she had sensed something was wrong with the child, though Gary initially dismissed it as part of her performance.

Gary brings the cat to the vet, suspecting he is ill, but when he returns the next morning for a paper he left, both the cat and the paper are missing. The cat later appears at Eunice's house with the paper, prompting Gary to investigate her connection to Lucius Snow and her terminal illness.

Gary rescues Emma Shaw during an art heist and continues to assist her as she settles into the city, gradually developing a romantic interest in her, though his work at the newspaper frequently disrupts their time together.

Gary and Chuck wait on a bridge to save a man who is later revealed to be Gary himself after he is knocked unconscious. In the hospital, Gary meets Rachel, a girl in need of a heart transplant, and is assigned to play the role of a religious figure by a mysterious paper that predicts she will receive a heart from a young boy who died in a robbery. Gary must decide whether to save the boy, risking Rachel's life, or let the boy die so Rachel can live.

Gary's estranged father, Bernie, moves in with him temporarily after being kicked out by his wife. Inspired by Gary's work at the newspaper and finding fulfillment in helping others, Bernie decides to stay and become more involved in his son's life.

Marissa is at school when Gary intervenes to prevent her professor from being harmed. Later, she meets a fellow student she encountered during the incident for dinner and a study session.