My Name Is Earl
| My Name Is Earl |
Title card featuring Jason Lee as Earl Hickey. |
| Format |
Sitcom |
| Created by |
Greg Garcia |
| Starring |
Jason Lee
Ethan Suplee
Jaime Pressly
Eddie Steeples
Nadine Velazquez |
| Narrated by |
Jason Lee as Earl J. Hickey |
| Country of origin |
USA |
| Language(s) |
English |
| No. of seasons |
4 |
| No. of episodes |
80 (List of episodes) |
| Production |
Executive
producer(s) |
Greg Garcia
Marc Buckland
Tom Palmer
Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (Co-executive producer)
John Hoberg (Co-executive producer)
Kat Likkel (Co-executive producer) |
| Camera setup |
Single camera |
| Running time |
Approx. 21 min. (30 min. with commercials)
"Super-sized" episodes: Approx. 29 min. (40 min. with commercials)
Two part and hour long episodes: Approx. 42 min. (1 hour with commercials) |
| Broadcast |
| Original channel |
NBC |
| Picture format |
480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run |
September 20, 2005 – present |
| External links |
| Official website |
| IMDb profile |
| TV.com summary |
My Name Is Earl is an American sitcom created by Greg Garcia. It is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. In the United States it is broadcast on the NBC television network Thursdays at 8:00 PM Eastern time.
The Writers' Guild strike caused production to end after only 13 of the 25 episodes originally planned for the third season were filmed.[1] When the strike ended, production resumed. A further nine episodes were filmed for Season 3, and new episodes began airing April 3rd, 2008. Season 4 premiered on September 25th, 2008.
Overview
The series stars Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly, Eddie Steeples and Nadine Velazquez. Lee stars in the title role 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 doing his first good deed, he finds his $100,000 lottery ticket. He sees this as a sign and, with his new lucky money, he proceeds to cross items off the list, one-by-one, by doing good deeds to atone for them.[2]
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 to his first TV starring role until after meeting with Garcia, after which he signed on to play Earl Hickey.
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 then for fourth (2008-09).
| Season |
Timeslot (EDT) |
Season Premiere |
Season Finale |
TV Season |
Rank |
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 |
#40 |
10.9[3] |
| 2 |
Thursday 8:00 P.M. (September 21, 2006 - May 10, 2007) |
September 21, 2006 |
May 10, 2007 |
2006-2007 |
#58 |
8.9[4] |
| 3 |
Thursday 8:00 P.M. (September 27, 2007 - May 15, 2008) |
September 27, 2007 |
May 15, 2008 |
2007-2008 |
#75 |
7.3[5] |
| 4 |
Thursday 8:00 P.M. (September 25, 2008 - ) |
September 25, 2008 |
|
2008-2009 |
unknown |
6.6 |
Characters
Main characters
- Earl J. Hickey (Jason Lee) - The protagonist and narrator of the show, was born on April 25, 1970. Married three times: to Joy Turner, Ralph's mom in Season two (they got an annulment) and Billie in season three; Joy and Billie divorced him (albeit under very different circumstances). He is often the voice of reason among his friends. He is a huge fan of Southern rock and heavy metal bands including Def Leppard, Van Halen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Iron Maiden and AC/DC. He also played bass guitar in a band with Ralph and Randy and owned a stolen guitar.
- Randall "Randy" Hickey (Ethan Suplee) - Earl's younger brother, former husband to Catalina in a green-card marriage. He is very dimwitted and a criminal, but is at heart a very sweet and sensitive person and shows signs of having much more comprehension than he lets on. He frequently does stupid things when trying to help Earl and is loyal to his brother, but has acted out because he sometimes feels Earl cares more about the List than him. He tends to try to make himself into someone he's not when he dates a woman (previous examples include an African-American feminist and a Hasidic Jew) and had a long-standing crush on Catalina that ended after they had sex, because Randy--to her vast surprise--lost all romantic interest in her immediately afterwards.
- Joy Farrah Turner (née Darville, previously Hickey) (Jaime Pressly) - Earl's ex-wife, now married to Crabman. She has been pregnant three times during the show; first was in the pilot episode when she was 6 months pregnant with a baby whose father has never been revealed, second was with Earl Jr (Darnell's and Joy's baby) and the third time when she was the surrogate mother to her half-sister's baby. At the beginning of the series, she divorced Earl after his lottery win/hit by car day, and later tried to steal his lottery winnings by attempting to kill him numerous times. When she married Crabman, these efforts ended. Joy was at first shown as violent and ungrateful, but has since evolved into a loving and devoted mother who is more appreciative of the things others do for her. While she often makes dimwitted remarks, she also shown a high capacity for crisis management, most recently when an old episode of MacGyver gave her an idea that saved the gang from a tornado. She has remained aggressive to those who threaten her family or friends.
- Darnell "Crabman" Turner (Eddie Steeples) - Joy's current husband. Works at the Crab Shack. His real name is Harry Monroe and he graduated from college at age 14, but he hides the truth about himself as he is part of the Witness Protection Program. Joy is suspicious about his identity; the most definitive statement he has made about his background is that his parents were Canadian. He keeps a pet turtle called Mr. Turtle. He speaks French, Russian and Arabic and can identify hundreds of different types of cheese by smell alone. He is shown to be very intelligent and calm, although no one seems to take notice. He greets Earl by saying "Hey Earl", to which Earl responds with "Hey Crabman". In the Creative Writing episode, he implores everyone to "Respect the Meat."
- Catalina Aruca (Nadine Velazquez) - A beautiful Latin American immigrant who works as hotel housekeeper and is a stripper at Club Chubby. Randy married her to allow her legal residency in the USA (he had a brief crush on her) after Earl accidentally 'ratted' her out. Catalina was uncomfortable with Randy's affections and made herself as disgusting as possible before she slept with him (and she did so mostly to let him down gently after he agreed to the fake marriage that got her back into the U.S.) but to her vast shock, not only did she become very attracted to Randy afterwards but he made it clear he no longer wanted to have a relationship with her. Her troubled past is often alluded to or shown in flashbacks. She claims to have once killed someone. She arrived in the U.S. right after Y2K via a shipping crate. And her brother killed her father saying "men don't like it when other men sleep with their moms" when she was helping Earl cross off 'Slept with Ralph's mom'. She frequently breaks the "Fourth Wall" when she delivers what appear to be angry diatribes in Spanish, usually to Joy, but are actually messages to the show's fans.
Recurring characters
-
Main article: List of minor characters on My Name Is Earl
- Carl Hickey (Beau Bridges) — Earl and Randy's father. Earl was supposed to be named after him but due to Carl's cursive writing the word "Carl" looked like "Earl" because of the extra loop on the 'C' on Earl's birth certificate. At the start of the series he refused to have anything to do with Earl, but gradually realizes his son's efforts to improve his life were sincere and they have since become close again.
- Kay Hickey (Nancy Lenehan) — Earl and Randy's mother, a friendly woman who gently chides Earl to be nicer to his father. In Season 4, it was revealed she once slept with a neighbor, causing Carl to leave home for a while before he returned and they reconciled.
- Dodge Hickey (Louis T. Moyle) — Joy's oldest son by another man. Named Dodge because all she could remember about the father was he drove a Ford.
- Earl Hickey Jr. (Trey Carlisle) — Joy and Darnell's son due to an affair; legally, Earl's first child.
- Kenny James (Adult - Gregg Binkley, child - Andy Pessoa) — Kenny is a childhood victim of Earl's bullying and a formerly suppressed homosexual, who became the first person Earl helped with the List. He is now dating a friendly (male) police officer.
- Patty the Daytime Hooker (Dale Dickey)- A friendly Camden prostitute who also works as a nighttime waitress. She got 1500 on her SAT's, holds a Masters degree and speaks Bengali.
- Ralph Mariano (Giovanni Ribisi) — Earl's childhood friend. He is constantly in trouble with the Law and has betrayed Earl and Randy for as little as $175 (burning down Pop's hotdog stand), but they always forgive him. In season two Earl married Ralph's mom but later had the marriage annulled. He was in jail with Earl but quickly escaped, and Earl got revenge by Bigfooting one of Ralph's schemes during a time where Earl disavowed the List.
- Willie the One-Eyed Mailman (Bill Suplee). Played by Ethan Suplee's father, he lost an eye when Joy broke Earl's Def Leppard mirror with a bowling ball and the glass shot into his eye. His understandably poor depth perception is not an asset in his line of work.
- Billie Cunningham (Alyssa Milano) — Earl's most recent wife, married in "Love Octagon", divorce papers presented in "Camdenites Part 2". She is a little crazy and gets very jealous of Earl spending so much time with his List instead of her. After finding inner peace on an Amish-type location near Camden, she not only divorced Earl but gave him $72,000 she'd gotten after being hit by a car.
- Liberty Washington (Tamala Jones) — Joy's biracial half-sister. They hated each other for years but eventually bonded to the point where Joy became a surrogate mother for Liberty and her husband Ray-Ray's baby (a storyline to explain Jaime Pressly's real-life pregnancy). She tends to treat Ray-Ray exactly the way Joy treats Darnell: with full measures of both hostility and love. In addition, both Joy and Liberty are in interracial marriages.
- Jerry Hazelwood (Craig T. Nelson) - The prison warden. He is an immature, whiny man who has his job because his wife is the Governor of the unnamed state Camden County is located in. He apparently was in charge of the state's National Guard units, but stated on September 10, 2001 that it's not like they'd ever need to fight a war! He gave Earl numerous "time off" certificates when Earl helped him out with prison problems, but later broke Earl's spirit by reneging on the agreement, which led Earl to escape from prison. When the warden met Crab Man and realized a nasty secret from his past was recognized, Earl was given a pardon and set free.
Other recurring characters include Electrolarynx Guy, Nescobar Aloplop, Didi, Doug, Jasper, Donny Jones, Bob Smiley, and TV's Tim Stack. Stack usually appears in his Son of the Beach wardrobe, completely intoxicated, or both; he is also a writer for the show.
Several of the show's characters appeared on the July 8, 2008 episode of Celebrity Family Feud. One team, the Hickey family, consisted of Earl, Joy, Randy, Crabman, and Catalina. The other team, dubbed "Camden County," consisted of Tim Stack, Patty, Wilford (Tim's agent), Kenny James, and Nescobar Aloplop. The Camden County team defeated the Hickey family, but lost to the cast of The Office in the finals.
DVD releases
Season Releases Overview
| DVD Name |
Release dates |
Ep # |
Additional Information |
| Region 1 |
Region 2 |
| Season One[6] |
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 tells Earl to get revenge on everyone who wronged him. |
| Season Two[7] |
September 25, 2007 |
January 28,2008 |
23 |
The four disc box set includes all 22 episodes. Bonus features include deleted scenes, commentary tracks on selected episodes, as well as other featurettes. |
| Season Three |
September 30, 2008[8] |
October 20, 2008[9] |
22 |
The four disc box set includes all 18 episodes. Bonus features as a gag reel, "Creating the characters" featurette and deleted scenes. |
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.[10]
- At Best Buy locations the set came wrapped in a miniature replica of Earl's flannel shirt.[11]
- The DVD set at Target stores featured a limited-edition bonus DVD with extra bloopers and other bonus features.
Season 3 DVD set
This edition includes bonus features such as a gag reel, "Creating the characters" featurette and deleted scenes. No Special Edition has been announced.
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 [1].
- Jaime Pressly won the 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
- Nominated for the 2008 People's Choice Award for "Favorite TV Comedy".[12]
- Nominated for 2008 GLAAD Media Award for Best Individual Episode ("The Gangs of Camden County")
- Nominated for 2008 BAFTA TV Awards for International Programme of the Year
References
See also
- List of My Name Is Earl episodes
Further reading
External links