He's Makin' A List, An' Checkin' It Twice ...

Top three reasons why I love My Name Is Earl:


Number 3:

It's ludicrous.


Number 2:

It's hilarious.


Number 1:

(Brothers Randy and Earl are sharing a bed and falling asleep)
Randy: Hey Earl?
Earl: Yeah, Randy?
Randy: Who do you think would win in a fight - Muppets or Sesame Street?
*beat*
Earl: I don't really think they'd fight. They're both pretty peaceful.
Randy: But what if they had to? Like in that head-choppin'-off movie, where there could be only one.
*beat*
Earl: Muppets.
*pause*
Randy: Okay, what about Muppets or Fraggles?
Earl: Muppets.
Randy: Okay, what about Muppets or He-Man?
Earl: Just He-Man, or He-Man and his friends?
Randy: Just He-Man.
Earl: Muppets.
Randy: (Smiling) That's who I had.
*pause*
Randy: Good night, Earl.
Earl: Good night, Randy.


The cast of My Name Is Earl, clockwise from left:
Ethan Suplee as Randy Hickey, Nadine Velazquez as
Catalina, Eddie Steeples as Darnell, Jaime Pressly
as Joy Darville, and Jason Lee as Earl Hickey.

I admit that I'm a late convert to Earl, which is nearing the end of its second season here in Australia (although apparently Channel Seven airs the episodes out of order). I watched a couple of episodes of the first season, and while I enjoyed them very much and knew I'd like the show if I allowed myself to get into it, I felt there was enough TV on my plate at the time - and it wasn't on a convenient night for me, anyway.

This season, however, I have no such problem. It's on in the gap between Big Brother and Lost, so Wifey and I are happy to have it on and we both get quite a few chuckles out of it.

It really is very clever.


Brothers Randy and Earl are dumb, but
thanks to Karma, they're trying to be better people.

Jason Lee stars as Earl J Hickey, a petty crook with occasional run-ins with the law, whose newly-won $100,000 lottery ticket is lost when he is hit by a car. While lying in his hospital bed after the accident, he develops a belief in the concept of karma when he hears about it during an episode of Last Call with Carson Daly. He decides he wants to turn his life around and makes a list of all the bad things he's done. After a few good deeds, his $100,000 ticket comes back to him. He sees this as a sign and, with his new lucky money, he proceeds to cross items off that list, one-by-one, by doing good deeds to atone for them.

It's an interesting concept, and it works in large part thanks to the characters. The writing is strong, and the storytelling style is both fresh and amusing.

If you haven't yet given it a go, you haven't got long to start. Maybe invest in the season one DVD boxset instead, to get a feel for the characters. It's guaranteed to make you laugh, and then you can get the second season later on, before the third season starts airing here next year.


.