My Name Is Earl

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Modèle:Infobox television

My Name Is Earl is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom created by Greg Garcia. It is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. It is currently in its third season and is broadcast on the NBC television network Thursdays at 8:00 PM Eastern time.

Overview

The series stars Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly, Eddie Steeples, and Nadine Velazquez. 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 ever 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.

Conception

Creator 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 until after meeting with Garcia.

Ratings

The series premiere on September 20, 2005, drew in 15.2 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 most popular of NBC's new fall offerings, and a full season (22 episodes) was ordered.<ref>[1]</ref> In its first month, it was also the most popular new sitcom of the season to air on any network and was the most popular sitcom on any network in the coveted 18–49-year-old demographic. The show was renewed for a second season, which although has seen a dip in average viewers (around 10 million or so in Season 2 compared to 12 million for Season 1) is still a critics' juggernaut and has recently been renewed for another season.

Season 1 #40 (10.9) Tuesdays at 9:00 (September-December 2005) Thursdays at 9:00 (January-May 2006)

Season 2 #58 (8.9) Thursdays at 8:00

Characters

Main characters

• Earl J. Hickey (Jason Lee) — The protagonist and narrator of the show. In flashbacks, we see Earl before he began reforming himself: a jobless ne'er-do-well with no respect for authority or just about anyone. Self-described as the guy who would've stolen anything that wasn't nailed down, Earl now stands by the principle of karma. He explains karma by saying, "do good things and good things happen, do bad things and bad things happen." He was supposed to be named after his father, Carl, but an extra loop on a cursive "C" was Earl's first step into a life of misfortune. Earl has never had a photograph taken without blinking at the wrong moment, something regularly demonstrated throughout the show. Earl knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with a moustache when he first drank chocolate milk, and in episode 3.01 he implies that it is one of his two favorite things.
• Randy Hickey (Ethan Suplee) — Earl's dim-witted brother who assists Earl with righting his wrongs. He initially assumed he and Earl would resume stealing once Earl completed his list. Despite his poor intellect (a doctor supposedly once told Randy that he was borderline autistic), he often says profound things and has proven to be extremely helpful to Earl in his missions, though he is sometimes resentful when Earl's list forces him to make sacrifices. He has a boyishly innocent nature. He has a schoolboy crush on Catalina. It is also revealed that he has an extreme fear of birds; he is afraid of the pope's mitre because he thinks there might be a chicken under it. He mistakenly believes that ET is not an alien, but a monkey. Squeaky noises make his toes hurt. He hates cats and is allergic to them. He holds the Camden County record for staring at the sun. He often trims Earl's toenails at night while Earl is asleep.
• Joy Turner (née Darville, previously Hickey) (Jaime Pressly) — Earl's ex-wife, Darnell's current wife, and mother of Dodge and Earl Jr., neither of whom are Earl's biological children. She operates a nail parlor in her home. Though she puts on a front of self-centeredness, she fully appreciates the people around her, even Earl, and has been found to be a dedicated, loving mom. She is also a very good fighter, a fact she puts down to "watchin' a lot of Springer" — when she was pregnant with Dodge, Joy knocked Earl's girlfriend Jessie (and her front teeth) out. Joy was arrested and almost convicted for stealing a cargo van from a local department store and kidnapping a store employee who was trapped inside.
• Catalina Aruca (Nadine Velazquez) — A maid at the motel where Earl and Randy currently reside. She is an illegal immigrant who entered the United States in the late '90s. She learned English a year ago. She worked for a month as a pole dancer at Club Chubby and was very successful at it because instead of dancing, she jumped. She has a fear of snakes and rape. Her mother is dead but Catalina tells others not to feel sad, as "It's OK, it was either her or me." She also says her brother killed her father, her father was shot down and her cousins were slain execution style in the Festival of Redemption. She and Joy have a mutual hatred stemming back from when they first met. (The first thing Joy ever said to Catalina was "who's the whore?"). During Season 2, Catalina went back to stripping in order to help Earl, although she had to help Joy along the way. She seems to be very fond of Earl, even hitting on him when they first met. Earl appreciated but rejected the pass because Randy called "dibs." Her last name, Aruca, was first revealed in a newspaper article in Bad Karma. It wasn't mentioned on the show itself until the third-season episode "Creative Writing," in the voiceover of the soap opera she imagined herself starring in. She recently married Randy to get back to America after being deported. While she originally found Randy to be unattractive, she later became infatuated with him after they had fantastic sex, and, in somewhat of a role-reversal, Randy now refers to them being together as just "a greencard marriage".
• Darnell "Crab Man" Turner (Eddie Steeples) — Joy's new husband and father of Earl Jr. Despite this, he and Earl are good friends (although they rarely do anything together, they greet each other every episode with the famous lines: "Hey, Earl!" ... "Hey, Crabman!"). Darnell works as a cook at the local Crab Shack (hence his nickname). It was revealed that his real name is "Harry Monroe," (a reference to Richard Pryor's character in Stir Crazy who is also named Harry Munroe) but he was forced to change it through the Witness Protection Program. Although generally calm and soft-spoken, Darnell is implied to be very intelligent (graduated college at age 14, speaks several languages) and occasionally makes highly intellectual statements, which the others usually ignore or brush off. He has a fondness for cheese and a pet box turtle named Mr. Turtle. Before marrying Joy and moving to the trailer park, he lived in Camden with his grandmother, where he grew a large amount of marijuana in his bedroom; his grandmother didn't know what the plants were and simply thought he enjoyed gardening.

Recurring characters

• Carl Hickey (Beau Bridges) — Earl and Randy's father. He ran for mayor twice but lost both times after Earl was arrested. Carl lives beneath an airport flight path, which causes his entire house to vibrate several times a day and angers him very much. He is sorely disappointed in his sons but puts all the blame on Earl. However, he and Earl are mending their relationship (with the help of an old Mustang).

• Kay Hickey (Nancy Lenehan) — Earl and Randy's mother. She is also disappointed in Earl but is more tolerant than Carl. She is happy Earl is trying to turn his life around. She spends a lot of time dealing with Carl's battered ego. Earl's friend Ralph attempted unsuccessfully to come on to her after learning Earl had slept with Ralph's mother.

• Dodge Hickey (Louis T. Moyle) — Joy's oldest son, born June 10, 2000. Joy was six months pregnant with Dodge when she and Earl got married. In the pilot Earl notes; "Joy didn't remember much about the boy's real father, except that he drove a Ford. So, we named him Dodge."

• Earl Hickey Jr. (Trey Carlisle) — Joy and Darnell's son, born April 3. After introducing Dodge in the Pilot, Earl introduces Earl, Jr. by saying; "A few years later we were having our first child from my own personal seed. Doctors had already told us he was going to come out a boy, so we went ahead and named him." But as the doctor holds up a newborn African-American baby, Earl gets a confused look on his face and finishes: "There he was — Earl, Junior."

• Kenny James (Adult - Gregg Binkley, child - Andy Pessoa) — Kenny is a childhood victim of Earl's bullying. The two became friends after Earl discovered karma and wanted to do something nice for him and accidentally helped him embrace his homosexuality. Since then Kenny has helped Earl complete items on his list whenever he can, usually with his job at a copy shop (fake birth certificates and résumés for example), or other skills he possesses. After his boyfriend broke up with him, Kenny asked Earl to help him become a more manly man, which unwittingly led to both of them having a gambling addiction, though Kenny sought treatment.

• Patty the Daytime Hooker (Dale Dickey) — A prostitute so devoid of shame enough she plys her trade during the day. Her introduction on the show had her trolling for Johns at a school bus stop, intermingling with the children. Not only does she operate in the daytime, but has no qualms about fulfilling various fetishes, and doesn't try to keep them secret. She also has been known to trade sexual favors for fast food. She once had Earl's winning lottery ticket stuck to her boot, but failed to notice. She holds a masters degree, and has admitted to having "a good boob." She spent the early part of her 20's doing exotic sex shows in Calcutta, where she became fluent in Bengali. She says about the experience, "the pay was good, but when the opium buzz wears off and you're standing there naked with a tambourine in one hand and a tiger's junk in the other, it's time for a young girl to come home."

• Ralph Mariano (Giovanni Ribisi) - Earl's childhood friend. Was a part of "The Gang," along with Earl, Randy and Joy, until he went to jail. He was released early for "good behavior" and immediately looked to get back to his criminal ways until Earl told him about karma and his list. After getting a straight job in a lamp store, he stole all the lamps, not completely understanding. In a later episode, Earl gets his old band, Phish Taco, back together and is forced into marrying Ralph's mom after he admits to having had sex with her in the past. At the end of the second season, Ralph is back in prison, and he is Earl's cell mate. However, Ralph soon escaped from prison, because, as he says, "I can't take this god forsaken hellhole anymore." Fortunately, Ralph left the melon he used as a dummy head to fool the guards for Earl, with a mouth hole cut into it for Earl's benefit.

• Willie the One-Eyed Mailman (Bill Suplee) - A local mailman with a patch over one eye, Willie is friendly but somewhat lazy, frequently throwing mail on the floor of someone's home or in the garbage. He also nearly got Earl's winning lottery ticket, but his lack of depth perception prevented him from being able to pick it up. He lost his eye when Joy threw a bowling ball onto a glass Def Leppard mirror, which shattered and sent a shard of glass into his face.

The List

Main article: Earl's list

While hospitalized and under the influence of morphine, Earl hears Carson Daly talk about karma on TV and comes to the conclusion that his bad luck has been caused by his lifestyle. (It is typical of Earl that he believes Carson Daly invented the concept of karma.) He decides to make a list of everything bad he has ever done, with the intention of making up for all of his mistakes and crossing the items off the list as he goes.

Earl's first good deed, picking up garbage, leads to him finding his lost winning lottery ticket.

Karma is a recurring theme throughout the show, and its effects are shown not just on Earl, but also on other characters, such as Earl's ex-con friend Ralph, who ends up wanted by the police again after refusing Earl's offer to help him change his ways and trying to steal Earl's money.

In some instances, Karma exists not only as a theme, but also a character that dictates Earl's actions. Earl will occasionally address Karma directly as if it were a deity or an otherwise omniscient and powerful being, and will (almost) always yield to whatever he perceives as its will. Earl proclaims in one episode, "I am Karma's bitch." The List is portrayed as the physical manifestation of Karma. Karma is also portrayed in the final episode of the first season as the old woman who hit Earl with her car after he scratched off his winning lottery ticket ("I saw Lady Karma again").

Earl's behavior raises an interesting question of morality: Is he motivated only by his desire to gain good 'karma', thus acting only in his own self-interest, or is he truly sorry for everything he has done, and has turned his life around? The show is somewhat ambiguous on this matter, with different episodes suggesting different answers, and some implying that it could be both. For example, in episode 1.04 Earl intends to confess to his ex-girlfriend that he faked his death to get away from her because she was too clingy. When Catalina points out that this will hurt her feelings and asks him what's more important, his list or someone's feelings, Earl responds, "I dunno. My list?" On the other hand, Earl shows true empathy in episode 2.02 when Joy is arrested. He eventually passes out from worrying about Joy. When he asks Catalina why he may have passed out, she responds, "Because you're a good person, Earl." Another case showing that Earl just might be becoming a better person, not just to get on "karma's good side" is episode 2.03. He meets up with a bearded lady named Maggie that he made fun of when they were kids. Before long, he sees what she's like on the inside and she appreciates that and tells him to cross her off the list. After leaving her house, Earl and Randy see a few other of the circus employees walking around and they begin to make fun of these people as well. Earl quickly realizes that he's "doing it again". He then says "What good is it to cross Maggie off my list if I'm gonna keep doing the same thing to other people?"

In a number of episodes, Earl will not cross something off if he isn't sure that he has solved all the problems that his actions caused. For example, in episode 1.15, Earl states that while he has crossed someone off his list, when he discovers that the person is going to kill himself, that he can't not help him. Earl even says that the list is making him feel things he didn't feel before. It's been suggested that while Earl may have started the list for his own ends, he has eventually come to genuinely care about righting many of the wrongs in his life.

Setting and shooting locations

The state in which the show takes place is never mentioned, but according to the creator, Gregory Thomas Garcia, the show takes place in the fictional town of Camden County (not to be confused with the actual Camden Counties in New Jersey, Missouri, Georgia, and North Carolina). Creator Garcia said that the town is named after his son.

The references to Maryland locations (such as Hagerstown, Cumberland, Shady Grove, and Frostburg State University) are due to his familiarity with an area he hails from and that "the show doesn’t technically take place anywhere ... we like to think it’s anywhere. We don’t really say exactly where it is." The pilot episode showed that Earl and Joy drove from Camden County to Las Vegas, Nevada within a single night, suggesting a location in the American Southwest.<ref>[2]</ref>

The street scenes seen in most episodes are shot on Woodley Avenue in Van Nuys, CA, next to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area. Joy's wedding and the Win a Dodge Neon contest ("White Lie Christmas") take place at the Recreation Area. The exterior hotel shots are filmed at the Palm Tree Inn in North Hills, California. And the set for the trailer park where Joy and Darnell live is situated in a vacant lot on Louise Ave. and Roscoe next to a church in Van Nuys, California. The church itself appeared in an episode as the orphanage Joy visits in "Broke Joy's Fancy Figurine" (1.6). The scenes involving the ransom drop in the episode "Buried Treasure" were filmed on High Street in Moorpark, California. The exterior of the convenience store where Earl bought the lottery ticket and the street where he was hit by the car in the first episode (with the car wash in the background) are in Beaumont, CA.

Episodes

Main article: List of My Name Is Earl episodes

DVD releases

Season Releases

. TVShowsOnDVD.com  
 

 

. TVShowsOnDVD.com  
 

 

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.<ref name="badkarma"> My Name Is Earl - Season 1 DVDs To Have New Bonus Mini-Ep with Family Guy Crossover!

. TVShowsOnDVD.com  
 

 

. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. </ref>

• At Best Buy locations the set came wrapped in a miniature replica of Earl's flannel shirt.<ref name="dvdfanatic"> Klein , Eric

.    My Name Is Earl - The Complete First Season 
. DVDFanatic
. UGO Networks 
   

. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. </ref>

• The DVD set at Target stores featured a limited-edition bonus DVD with extra bloopers and other bonus features.^{[citation needed]}

Season 2 DVD set

• A limited edition Season 2 DVD set at Target and Best Buy contain a scratch and sniff card for use with the viewing of the "Get a Real Job" episode.^{[citation needed]}

Soundtrack

The show is unusual among sitcoms not only for its lack of a laugh track, but also for its soundtrack. The music on the show includes bands as widely varied as Queen, Styx, Rush, Metallica, Thin Lizzy, The Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blue Öyster Cult, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Buckethead, The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd,Young MC, Jerry Reed, The Steepwater Band, Nick Drake, Eric Clapton, Guns N' Roses, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, The Cardigans, Nancy Sinatra, Cyndi Lauper, AC/DC, Jet, Cat Stevens, Ted Nugent, Santana, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils,The Doors, The Wiggles, Dire Straits, REM, Canned Heat, Bob Marley, ELO, Joni Mitchell, Los Lobos, Social Distortion,The Ramones, and Beastie Boys, as well as a blues underscore by composers Mark Leggett and Danny Lux. A lot of the soundtrack was replaced with generic background music in the DVD, likely for copyright reasons. An often featured song in the series is Hair of the Dog by Nazareth. The Animals have been featured repeatedly in the 3rd season.

Kevin Smith connections and allusions

Modèle:Original research Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee both got their start and co-starred in four Kevin Smith films: Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and Clerks II. My Name Is Earl has contained several references to the "View Askewniverse" (the universe in which most of Smith's films take place):

• Earl claimed to have robbed a "Quick Stop" - a convenience store which was the main location of Smith's films Clerks and the sequel Clerks II.
• Whenever Earl wakes up Randy, the first thing that Randy says in his half-awakeness is "poopie trim" — in Mallrats, when Ethan Suplee's character, Willam Black, is interrupted from trying to see the hidden image in a Magic Eye, he says, "poopie trim." The same is uttered by Chris Rock when he is asleep on the train in Dogma.
• When Randy first takes the GED, he fills in the bubbles to make a picture of a sailboat. The hidden image of the Magic Eye picture he was trying to see in Mallrats was of a sailboat.
• In "O Karma, Where Art Thou?" Earl refers to a roll of toilet paper as "the soft stuff", which is one of the old mans requests before he enters the bathroom in Clerks.
• In "White Lie Christmas," Randy says that his favorite-ever Christmas present was "Weeble-wobbles." Weebles were the gift that Randal asked for when Santa was demonstrating his toy making machine located in the Apartment beside the video store in "Clerks: The Holiday Special" comic book.

Easter eggs

HD-related easter eggs

During its first season, My Name Is Earl was aired in HD, where fourth-wall breaking signs were seen, out of frame in standard-definition. The second season was broadcast in letterbox format on standard-definition channels, so further widescreen gags are unlikely. These signs were also fully visible on the DVD set.

• In "Randy's Touchdown" (1.3), when Earl is in the copy store, Randy is in the background holding a handwritten sign that reads "High Def Rocks." The sign can only be seen when the show is viewed in 16x9 widescreen associated with high definition digital broadcasts.
• Another sign legible only in widescreen reading "Carl Hickey loves High Def" can be seen among the campaign materials in "Cost Dad an Election" (1.9). However, the sign is still only half visible in widescreen.
• In "Something to Live For" (1.15), when Earl brings Philo to the Crab Shack to see Joy, the beer spigot (out of frame in 4:3) says "HD Draft".

Spanish language easter eggs

Nadine Velazquez, in character as Catalina, sometimes makes comments in Spanish, which characters around her don't understand, but break the fourth wall.

• In "Barn Burner" (1.11), while it appears that Catalina is cursing out Joy, she is actually saying: "I want to thank the Latino audience that tunes in to watch the show every week. And to those of you who aren't Latino, I want to congratulate you for learning another language."
• In "Number One" (1.24), Catalina responds to Joy's drunken insults with what appears to be a slew of invectives, however, she actually says: "With this, we conclude our first season of Earl! We're very grateful for your company, and we hope to see you next fall!"
• In "Robbed a Stoner Blind" (2.Image:Cool.gif, the cartoon version of Catalina delivers this message: "This was going to be me taking my head off to dust with it, but animation is so expensive, it's better you see me dance!"
• In "The Trial" (2.23), after being asked to be a character witness for Joy, Catalina replies: "Thanks for watching our show; we will miss you this summer. Doesn't it seem funny to you that Earl thinks I'm saying how much I hate Joy while in reality I'm saying how much I love you?"
• In "The Frank Factor" (3.4) Catalina explains that a continuity error was noticed by the producers. Additionally there was an easter egg in Japanese, with the actor complaining about being stereotyped.
• In "Frank's Girl" (3.6) Catalina says after being photographed in the bathroom: "if you were offended by these jokes, we're very sorry but we thought they were funny."

Prison entrance plate easter eggs

Since Episode nine of season three the subtitle on the entrance plate of A.J. Johnson Prison changes per episode.

• In "Randy In Charge (Of Our Days and Our Nights)" (3.9) it reads "If you were a rapist you'd be home right now.".
• In "Midnight Bun" (3.10) it reads "Safer than you think, but still not that safe.".
• In "Burn Victim" (3.11) it reads "Honk if you know someone on death row.".
• In "Early Release" (3.12) it reads "Available for film locations.".

Awards and nominations

• Nominated for 2006 Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy.
• Jason Lee nominated for 2006 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy.
• Jason Lee nominated for 2005/06 Screen Actors Guild award for best actor in a comedy series.
• Cast nominated for 2005/06 Screen Actors Guild award for best ensemble in a comedy series.
• Jaime Pressly nominated for a 2005/06 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
• Marc Buckland won the 2005/06 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (episode: Pilot).
• Gregory Thomas Garcia won the 2005/06 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (episode: Pilot).
• Jason Lee nominated for 2007 Kid's Choice Award for Best Actor.
• Nominated for 2007 BAFTA TV Awards for International Programme of the Year [3].
• Jaime Pressly won the 2006/2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

References

• Fry , Kim

  . 
 "
   California church plays role in ‘My Name Is Earl’ TV series 
     
 " , United Methodist News Service
  , November 28, 2005
 
 . 

• Nominations and Winners

. Hollywood Foreign Press Association

 

. Retrieved on January 13, 2006.

</div>

External links

• My Name Is Earl at NBC.com
• My Name Is Earl at IMDbar:اسمي إيرل

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