My Name Is Earl

My Name Is Earl
My Name Is Earl title screen.jpg
Title card featuring Jason Lee as Earl Hickey
Genre Sitcom
Format Comedy
Narrative
Created by Greg Garcia
Starring Jason Lee
Ethan Suplee
Jaime Pressly
Eddie Steeples
Nadine Velazquez
Narrated by Jason Lee
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 96 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Greg Garcia
Marc Buckland
Tom Palmer
Camera setup Single camera
Running time 21-42 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel NBC
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Original run September 20, 2005 (2005-09-20) – May 14, 2009 (2009-05-14)
External links
Official website

My Name Is Earl is an American television comedy series created by Greg Garcia that was originally broadcast on the NBC television network from September 20, 2005, to May 14, 2009, in the United States. It was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and starred Jason Lee as the title character.

Most episodes from the first season, then only a few from the rest, begin with Earl presenting the premise of the series: "You know the kind of guy who does nothing but bad things and then wonders why his life sucks? Well, that was me. Every time something good happened to me, something bad was always waiting round the corner: karma. That's when I realized that I had to change, so I made a list of everything bad I've ever done and one by one I'm gonna make up for all my mistakes. I'm just trying to be a better person. My name is Earl."

Overview

The series stars Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly, Eddie Steeples and Nadine Velazquez (Lee and Suplee had also worked together on the film "Mallrats" more than ten years prior). Earl J. Hickey (Lee) is a petty criminal and ne'er-do-well, living in the fictional rural county of Camden, whose winning $100,000 lottery ticket is lost when he is hit by a car while he celebrates his good fortune. Lying in a hospital bed, under the influence of morphine, he develops a belief in the concept of karmic retribution when he hears about karma during an episode of Last Call with Carson Daly. Convinced he has to turn his life around to survive, Earl gives himself over to the power of karma and as his first step of a makeshift 12 step program (the type of "Anonymous" program that has meetings at which attendees introduce themselves only by their first name) to fix his misdeeds, Earl makes a list of every bad thing and every person he has wronged and commences efforts to fix them all. After doing a first good deed, he finds the $100,000 lottery ticket that was previously lost. Seeing this as a sign of karma rewarding him for his commitment, Earl uses his newfound wealth to do more good deeds according to his list.[1]

As he continues to perform good deeds, Earl's motives initially come across as shallow and selfish – that he is only doing good to improve his karma and by extension his own life. However, Earl begins to develop a genuine sense of morality and ethics, refusing to participate in illegal or immoral activities – though sometimes finding himself in very awkward situations, including those involving a suicidal stunt man, a second-hand hot tub that gives his ex-wife Joy a communicable toe disease, a Korean War veteran who wants to reclaim some possessions Earl destroyed (including the ear of a fellow soldier) and a "witch woman" who proves him right in thinking she is evil when she knocks him and many others out and stores them in her basement.

In many cases, Earl discovers that his crimes and misdemeanors had far more repercussions than he could have imagined, and that complete fixes in those cases would require far more trial and effort than could have been imagined. Yet he would also find that repairs would also have deeper and more layered results as well, bringing the realm of the show into the religious and spiritual as well as comedic.

The series generally ended its episodes with Earl and Randy talking about things that have nothing to do with the rest of the show before saying good night and turning in for a night's sleep. In many cases, these conversations took place in their shared motel room bed.

Conception

Creator and head writer Greg Garcia wrote the pilot while working on another sitcom, Yes, Dear. He initially pitched the series to Fox which passed on the series. He then approached NBC, which optioned the pilot on a cast-contingent basis, meaning they would order the pilot provided a suitable cast could be assembled. Jason Lee was approached for the lead role, but was uninterested in working in television and passed on the series twice before finally agreeing to read the pilot script. Though he liked the pilot, he was hesitant to commit to his first TV starring role until meeting with Garcia, after which he signed on to play Earl Hickey.[2]

Ratings

The series premiered on September 20, 2005, drew in 14.9 million viewers in the United States, earning a 6.6 rating. By the airing of the third episode it was apparent that My Name Is Earl was the highest rated of NBC's new fall offerings, and a full season (22 episodes) was ordered. In its first month, it was also the highest rated new sitcom of the season to air on any network and was the highest rated sitcom on any network in the 18–49-year-old demographic. The show was renewed for a second season (2006–07), a third (2007–08), and a fourth (2008–09).

Season Timeslot (EDT) Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Viewers
(in millions)
1 Tuesday 9:00 P.M. (September 20 – December 6, 2005)
Thursday 9:00 P.M. (January 5 – May 11, 2006) 		September 20, 2005
May 11, 2006
 2005–2006 10.9[3]
2 Thursday 8:00 P.M. (September 21, 2006 – May 10, 2007) September 21, 2006
May 10, 2007
 2006–2007 8.9[4]
3 Thursday 8:00 P.M. (September 27, 2007 – May 15, 2008) September 27, 2007
May 15, 2008
 2007–2008 7.3[5]
4 Thursday 8:00 P.M. (September 25, 2008 – May 14, 2009) September 25, 2008
May 14, 2009
 2008–2009 6.6[6]

Cancellation and future

The series ended on May 19, 2009 after running for four seasons. Season four had ended with the caption 'To Be Continued'. The series' producer, 20th Century Fox Television, approached the Fox, ABC,[7]TBS[8] and TNT[9] networks to continue the series, but they were unable to come to terms without "seriously undermining the artistic integrity of the series."[8][10][11][12][13][14]

In October 2011, Jason Lee told E Online he has been in talks with Greg Garcia to finish the list via a movie, it remains to be seen whether it will be a TV movie or a proper feature film but he was intent on making the film happen. It was also mentioned that the film could be released online.[15]

Connection to Raising Hope

In 2010, Garcia premiered a new show, titled Raising Hope on Fox Broadcasting Company. On the series premier, a newscaster in the background reports, "A small-time crook with a long list of wrongs he was making amends for has finally finished, and you'll never guess how it ended."[16] However, the newscast is cut off before viewers can hear more. In episode 10 of the first season, Jason Lee appears as a rock star and refers to Gregg Binkley's character as Kenny instead of Barney, (saying "Thank you Kenny" instead of "Thank you Barney") even though his character's name was actually Kenny in My Name is Earl and Barney in Raising Hope.

Midway through season two, more nods to My Name Is Earl were made. In "It's a Hopeful Life", when Jimmy is standing outside the movie theater, posters for two movies – My Name Is Earl: The Movie and 2 the Max – can clearly be seen. In "Gambling Again", Patty the Daytime Hooker and TV's Tim Stack make an appearance. The Hope two-part second-season finale "Inside Probe" and "I Want My Baby Back, Baby Back, Baby Back," featured the show within the show Inside Probe, which formerly had appeared (with Geraldo Rivera hosting) in a two-part fourth-season Earl episode also titled Inside Probe. Part of the opening sequence to Earl can also be seen on the Chance's television in the "Inside Probe" episode of Hope.

Characters

Main article: List of My Name Is Earl characters

Notable guest stars

Location

My Name Is Earl is set in fictional Camden County. Creator Greg Garcia says:

“ The show doesn’t technically take place anywhere....we like to think it’s anywhere. We don’t really say exactly where it is. ”

On episode Inside Probe (Part 2), Earl hints at a general location by saying, "I guess we are in the central time zone." The show is filmed in the San Fernando Valley, in Southern California. On the last DVD, in reply to a viewer's question, Greg Garcia admits that Camden is loosely modeled on Waldorf, Maryland.

Critical reception

The show was well-received by critics and audiences alike, on Metacritic it garnered a 77% "generally favorable" critics' metascore; 8.7 out of 10 users' rating.[17] One reviewer speculated that Earl's forthrightness to having led a life of idiocy is what endears him to the viewer, and is what suggests there is a depth to his character beyond what is initially seen.[1] Many of the negative and ambivalent reviews center on what are perceived to be base [18] and bigoted humor.[19]

Some critics claimed the series had a Scientologist bias or message, with actors Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee being Scientologists.[20] In 2008, Alec Baldwin publicly accused Earl creator Greg Garcia of also being a Scientologist;[21] Garcia quickly denied any involvement with Scientology, claiming that the Daily Mirror had incorrectly reported him to be a Scientologist.[22]

Episodes

Main articles: List of My Name Is Earl episodes, My Name Is Earl (season 1), and My Name Is Earl (season 2)
Season Episodes Originally aired DVD release Blu-ray release
1 24 2005 – 2006 September 19, 2006 TBA
2 23 2006 – 2007 September 25, 2007 TBA
3 22 2007 – 2008 September 30, 2008 TBA
4 27 2008 – 2009 September 15, 2009 September 15, 2009

DVD releases

Season releases overview

DVD Name Release dates Ep # Additional Information
Region 1 Region 2
Season One[23] September 19, 2006 September 25, 2006 24 The four disc box set includes all 24 episodes. Bonus features include deleted scenes, commentary tracks on selected episodes, selections from the season's gag reel, and a "mini-episode" vignette where Stewie Griffin from Family Guy influences Earl to get revenge on everyone who wronged him.
Season Two[24] September 25, 2007 January 28, 2008 23 The four disc box set includes all 23 episodes. Bonus features include deleted scenes, commentary tracks on selected episodes, as well as other featurettes.
Season Three[25] September 30, 2008[26] October 20, 2008[27] 22 The four disc box set includes all 22 episodes. Bonus features include a gag reel, "Creating the characters" featurette and deleted scenes.
Season Four[28] September 15, 2009 October 5, 2009 27 The four disc box set includes all 27 episodes. Bonus features include deleted scenes, a gag reel, "Earl's Fan Mail" featurette and a movie trailer inspired by the premiere episode.

Season 1 DVD set

The season one "mini-episode", titled Bad Karma, is an alternate version of the events of the pilot episode featuring what would have happened if, instead of seeing Carson Daly talking about karma while in the hospital, Earl saw Stewie Griffin of Family Guy talking about vengeance.[29]

Syndication

20th Century Fox Television has cleared My Name Is Earl in nearly 50% of the U.S., said Bob Cook, the company’s president and chief operating officer. 20th had sold the off-net sitcom to the Fox, Tribune, CBS, Hearst-Argyle and Sinclair station groups for a fall 2009 debut.[31]

My Name Is Earl is being currently rerun in off-network syndication and on TBS, Ion Television and MyNetworkTV.

In September 2009, The Comedy Network in Canada began to show My Name Is Earl on a nightly basis at 8:30 PM EST, however The Comedy Network ended their run in 2010.

In Canada, Joytv currently airs My Name Is Earl on a nightly basic at 6:30 PM a it also airs on Fox Spokane, MyTV38 and Peachtree TV in Canada.

In March 2011, E4 in the UK began to show two heavily edited episodes of My Name Is Earl every weekday at 6:00pm, showing them again uncut later that night. It was later moved to 8:00 pm.

Adaptation outside the U.S.

Με λένε Βαγγέλη (Μy name is Vaggelis). Starring Vasilis Charalampoupoulos as Vaggelis, Makis Papadimitriou, Klelia Renesi, Anna Dimitrievic and Michalis Afolayan. The show premiered on November 14, 2011 in Mega Channel.

Comic book

Independent comic book publisher Oni Press had announced a comic book tie-in to the series in 2006,[32] and season one's DVD release included ads for the comic; but none were produced. Since the cancellation of the show, Oni has abandoned the comic.[33]

See also

References

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (April 2012)
  1. ^ a b DeWolf Smith, Nancy (2005-09-16). "Arts and Entertainment Review". Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112682695254842324,00.html?mod=arts%5Fand%5Freviews%5Farts%5Fonly%5Fhs#articleTabs%3Darticle. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
  2. ^ My Name is Earl season 1 DVD extra: Making Things Right: Behind the Scenes of My Name is Earl Featurette
  3. ^ "Series". The Hollywood Reporter. 2006-05-26. Archived from the original on 2006-12-08. http://web.archive.org/web/20061208201731/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002576393. Retrieved 2008-05-12. 
  4. ^ "2006–07 primetime wrap". The Hollywood Reporter. 2007-05-25. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/features/e3ifbfdd1bcb53266ad8d9a71cad261604f. Retrieved 2008-05-12. [dead link]
  5. ^ Justin Van De Kamp (2008-06-01). "TV Ratings: 2007–2008 Season Top-200". televisionista. http://televisionista.blogspot.com/2008/06/tv-ratings-2007-2008-season-top-200.html. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
  6. ^ "Season Program Rankings from 09/22/08 through 05/17/09". ABC Medianet. May 19, 2009. http://abcmedianet.com/web/dnr/dispDNR.aspx?id=051909_05. Retrieved 2009-07-03. 
  7. ^ Fernandez, Maria Elena (May 19, 2009). "'My Name Is Earl' creator is OK with being 'thrown off the Titanic'". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/05/my-name-is-earl-creator-greg-garcia-is-a-writer-because-he-has-a-way-with-wordsasked-for-his-take-on-nbcs-unceremonious-canc.html. Retrieved May 19, 2009. 
  8. ^ a b Littleton, Cynthia (June 8, 2009). "TBS may give new 'Earl' segs a whirl". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118004694.html. Retrieved October 5, 2009. 
  9. ^ Flint, Joe (May 20, 2009). "TBS ready to be lifeboat for 'My Name Is Earl'". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2009/05/earl.html. Retrieved October 5, 2009. 
  10. ^ Suplee, Ethan (May 23, 2009). "Thanks for the effort guys…". Twitter. http://twitter.com/EthanSuplee/status/1894444292. Retrieved May 23, 2009. [self-published source?]
  11. ^ Chambers, Elizabeth; Godwin, Jennifer (June 9, 2009). "Could My Name Is Earl Be Saved?". E!. http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b128264_could_my_name_earl_be_saved.html. Retrieved October 5, 2009. 
  12. ^ O'Connor, Mickey (June 10, 2009). "My Name Is Earl in Talks to Move to TBS". TV Guide. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Earl-Talks-TBS-1006752.aspx. Retrieved October 5, 2009. 
  13. ^ Godwin, Jennifer (June 11, 2009). "My Name Is Earl Dead, Deal with TBS Won't Work Out". E!. http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b128769_my_name_earl_dead_deal_with_tbs_wont.html. Retrieved October 5, 2009. 
  14. ^ Ausiello, Michael (June 11, 2009). "This just in: 'My Name is Earl' will NOT live on". Entertainment Weekly. http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/06/11/my-name-is-earl-canceled/. Retrieved October 5, 2009. 
  15. ^ "Jason Lee on My Name Is Earl Movie: "It's Time!"". E! Online. 2011-10-21. http://www.eonline.com/news/watch_with_kristin/jason_lee_on_my_name_earl_movie_its_time/270861. Retrieved 2012-04-29. 
  16. ^ New Fox Comedies: "Raising Hope" and "Running Wilde", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette[dead link]
  17. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/tv/shows/mynameisearl
  18. ^ "We learn that the items on Earl's list include No. 86, "stole a car from a one-legged girl," and No. 22, "peed in back of cop car." Gosh, what swell episodes those ought to make." Quote by Shales, Tom (2005-09-20). "Earl Defines What It Takes To Be Sorry". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901760_pf.html. Retrieved 2008-05-18. 
  19. ^ "My Name Is Earl is not a stupid sitcom – that is what makes its sexist and homophobic jokes so maddening... Viewers aren't encouraged to laugh at Earl, as much as they are with him – at the people on his list." Citation from Will karma smile on NBC's 'My Name Is Earl'?, Baltimore Sun, by David Zurawik, 20 Sept 2005; text retrieved from AV Science Forum, Feb 2009.
  20. ^ Donaghy, James (2007-06-29). "My name is L Ron Hubbard". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/features/story/0,,2097544,00.html. Retrieved 2009-04-17. 
  21. ^ Gawker article: "Alec Baldwin Doesn’t Take Any Shit From Scientologists."
  22. ^ Spiegelman, Ian (2009-04-17). "Greg Garcia Responds to Baldwin: 'I'm Not a Scientologist.'". 'Gawker.com. http://gawker.com/5046326/greg-garcia-responds-to-baldwin-im-not-a-scientologist. 
  23. ^ "My Name Is Earl – The Complete 1st Season DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releases/Earl-Complete-1st-Season/5969. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
  24. ^ "My Name Is Earl – The Complete 2nd Season DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releases/Earl-Complete-2nd-Season/6803. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
  25. ^ "My Name Is Earl – The Complete 3rd Season DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releases/Earl-Complete-3rd-Season/7853. Retrieved 2009-06-18. 
  26. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0019CLMW8
  27. ^ "(UK) : My Name Is Earl: Season 3 (4 Discs) : DVD – Free Delivery". Play.com. http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/5125815/My-Name-Is-Earl-Season-3/Product.html. Retrieved 2012-04-29. 
  28. ^ "My Name Is Earl – The Complete 4th Season DVD Information". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releases/Earl-Complete-4th-Season/8820. Retrieved 2009-06-18. 
  29. ^ "My Name Is Earl – Season 1 DVDs To Have New Bonus Mini-Ep with Family Guy Crossover!". TVShowsOnDVD.com. http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Earl/5271. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
  30. ^ Klein, Eric. "My Name Is Earl – The Complete First Season". UGO Networks. http://www.dvdfanatic.com/review.php?id=earl. Retrieved 2007-11-30. 
  31. ^ Paige Albiniak (2009-01-08). "Twentieth Clears ‘Earl’ In Half The Country". Broadcasting & Cable. Reed Business Information. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6627825.html?rssid=193. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
  32. ^ http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2006/07/19/My-Name-Is-Earl-to-become-a-comic-book/UPI-10301153353619/
  33. ^ [1][dead link]

Further reading

External links

My Name Is Earl
Series
Main cast
1980s debuts
1990s debuts
2000s debuts
2010s debuts