My Name Is Earl

My Name Is Earl
Title card featuring Jason Lee as Earl Hickey
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 minutes "Super-sized" episodes: 29 minutes Two part and hour-long episodes: 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)
Status	Cancelled

My Name Is Earl is a comedy 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.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Conception 3 Ratings 4 Cancellation 5 Characters 5.1 Main characters 5.2 Recurring characters 5.3 Notable guest stars 6 Location 7 Critical reception 8 DVD releases 8.1 Season releases overview 8.2 Season 1 DVD set 9 Awards and nominations 10 Syndication 11 Comic book 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External links

Overview

The series stars Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee, Jaime Pressly, Eddie Steeples and Nadine Velazquez. Earl J. Hickey (Lee) is a petty criminal whose winning $100,000 lottery ticket is lost when he is hit by a car. 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. To turn his life around, he makes a list of every bad thing he's ever done in an attempt to correct them, as he believes that this is the only way he can gain positive karma. After doing his first good deed, he finds the $100,000 lottery ticket he had previously lost. He sees this as a sign of karma rewarding him and, with his newfound wealth, he begins doing good deeds according to his list.^[1]

As he continues to fulfill good deeds, Earl seems to be only doing so to improve his own life but begins to develop a sincere sense of morals and ethics, refusing to participate in illegal or morally wrong activities-though sometimes finds himself in very awkward situations including 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 psychotic '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.

Conception

Creator and head writer Greg Garcia wrote the pilot while working on another sitcom, Yes, Dear. He initially pitched the series to Fox. Fox 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. ^[2]

Ratings

The series premiered on September 20, 2006, 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	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 – May 14, 2009)	September 25, 2008	May 14, 2009	2008–2009	#85	6.6[6]

Cancellation

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 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]} My Name Is Earl is syndicated on TBS.

Characters

Main characters

• Earl Jehosaphat Hickey^[15] (Jason Lee) — The protagonist and narrator of the show. He has a long history of petty crime (mostly theft), for which he is trying to atone. Although he lacks a good formal education, he seems to be bright and open-minded and is guided by a strong moral compass. His conversion to an understanding of Karma now drives his life, as he seeks to make up for his past wrong-doing. He is afraid of flying and needles. Earl has a 1973 red El Camino which once belonged to his friend Frank; it has a blue driver's side door, stolen by Earl from a blue car of the same model. (This car also appears in the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks.) Earl is married and divorced three times in the course of the series. Earl's father intended to name him Carl, but his cursive letter 'C' was read as an 'E' by the hospital where Earl was born. In many flashbacks, he is seen wearing an AC/DC or Metallica shirt in Joy's trailer. He also appears to be incapable of keeping his eyes open when photographs are taken. He moved out of his parents' house on March 14, 1989 (which his father was so thrilled about that he made 3.14.89 the combination to his gun case). In one episode it says that Earl is allergic to cats, but eventually that is changed when later Randy seems to be the one allergic and not Earl.
• Randall "Randy" Hickey^[15] (Ethan Suplee) — Earl's younger brother. He is thought to be very dimwitted and simple, bordering on mild mental retardation. Described as "borderline artistic" by his elder brother for his creativity and for what a doctor once said about him (unaware the doctor was referring to autism), Randy possesses a childlike naïveté that manifests as both sweetness toward others, and an unawareness of the potentially harmful consequences of his actions. He doesn't fully understand Earl's List, and sometimes resents the importance it plays in Earl's life, but he supports his campaign out of brotherly love. Randy is a huge fan of H.R. Pufnstuf. He is afraid of birds and allergic to cats. He has been shown to be an excellent singer (particularly at opera) many times. He also is very good at acting. He is a fan of Michael J. Fox. At one point he was married to Catalina and in love with her, but later changed his mind about that. Randy constantly falls in love with women that are too different from him and so his relationships never last.
• Joy Farrah Darville Hickey Turner (Jaime Pressly) — Earl's first ex-wife, now married to Darnell. She is unsophisticated "trailer trash", self-centered, manipulative and aggressive. She tricked Earl into marrying her when she became pregnant with another man's child (which turns out might actually be Earl's after all), then had an affair with Darnell while she and Earl were still married. However, she is very protective of her family. She is openly scornful of Earl's List. She has a strong dislike for Catalina, although ends up saving her life in the fourth season. She drives a Subaru BRAT painted with the American flag. Her frequent catchphrases are "Oh Snap", "What the Hell", and she frequently calls both Earl and Randy "Dummy". In the episode "Pinky" it is revealed that Joy and Randy (who knew each other as 'Pinky' and 'Skipper') fell in love when they were kids staying by a lake; though this initially horrified Joy, she kissed Randy after they spent a day reliving childhood pastimes. Eventually Joy becomes a surrogate mother for her estranged half sister. Joy inadvertently kidnapped an appliance-store employee, but was saved from her "third strike" (third felony, which would have meant a lengthy prison stay) by Earl, who chooses to take the fall for her misdeed.
• "Darnell 'Crabman' Turner", formerly Harry Monroe (Eddie Steeples) — Joy's husband, and still one of Earl's best friends despite apparently impregnating Earl's then-wife Joy. He now acts as father to Joy's two sons. He works in the local dive, "The Crab Shack". He is educated and mild-mannered, but is actually a former assassin for a secret government organization. He was placed in the witness protection program when he refused to kill the child leader of a socialist nation and testified in court against his former employers. Darnell demonstrates greater intelligence than those around him. A running gag within the show is that Darnell smokes marijuana. He had a sister Pam who was killed by honesty, according to Joy. Darnell's dad is called Thomas Monroe and works for the agency. His afro is shown to hide cell phones which self destruct after use. Earl calls him Crabman because he took so long to learn his name. It is revealed in the very last episode of the show that Earl Jr., generally believed to be his son, is not.
• Catalina Rana Aruca (Nadine Velazquez) — The beautiful housekeeper at Earl and Randy's motel. She is also the number one dancer at Club Chubby. She killed her mother (albeit in self-defense) in order to get to America in a crate. Now shares a green card marriage with Randy who had a huge crush on her until she ended it by sleeping with him and purposefully making the experience unenjoyable (although she regrets this when she finds out that Randy was very good lover). She has a strong dislike for Joy as Joy called her a whore when they first met. Later she softens up when Joy proves she would be willing to knock out Darnell in order to save Catalina's life. Though obviously Latin American her origins were kept vague, except that she was not from Mexico, until the fourth season in "Earl and Joy's Anniversary" when it is revealed that she is from La Paz, Bolivia. In the same 'prequel' episode it is also revealed that she lost her virginity during an orgy with Patty, Darnell and Kenny in a phone booth when they were all avoiding the killer bees. She occasionally breaks the fourth wall by seemingly shouting insults to Joy in Spanish which are actually notes for the fans.

Recurring characters

• Carlton "Carl" Hickey (Beau Bridges) — Earl and Randy's father. Earl was supposed to be named after him, but due to Carl's poor penmanship, the 'C' was confused to be an 'E'. 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.
• Katherine "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 made up.
• Eric "Dodge" Chaz Hickey (Louis T. Moyle) — Joy's oldest son. Named Dodge because all she could remember about the man she believes to be his father was he drove a Ford pickup truck. However, in the Season 4 final episode Earl is revealed to be his father.
• Earl Hickey Jr. (Trey Carlisle) — Joy's son due to an affair. His father was presumed to be Darnell Turner, but the final episode's cliffhanger leaves this in doubt.
• Kenny James (Gregg Binkley; as 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. Later he developed a gambling problem when Earl was teaching him to be more manly. He is now dating Stuart, a male police officer, whom he liked to the point of faking break ins to call the cops. It is implied that his first male kiss was with Darnell during the phone booth four-way, due to fear of death from the killer bees.
• Patty the Daytime Hooker, Patricia Michelle Weezmer (Dale Dickey) — A friendly Camden prostitute who also works as a night-time waitress. She got 1500 on her SATs, holds a Masters degree and speaks Bengali. In the episode "Witch Lady", her full name was revealed to be Patricia Weezmer. In the episode "Inside Probe", her middle name was revealed to be Michelle.
• 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, 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. He was not seen at all in the fourth season.
• Willie the One-Eyed Mailman — (Bill Suplee, Ethan Suplee's father). He lost an eye when Joy broke Earl's Def Leppard mirror with a bowling ball and a shard flew into his eye.
• Billie Cunningham (Alyssa Milano)  — Earl's third wife. 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 in an Amish-type settlement near Camden, she not only divorced Earl but gave him $72,000 she'd received after being hit by a car.
• Officer Stuart (Mike O'Malley) — An inept Camden County police officer, on the List because Earl stole his badge and abused its authority. He comes from a family of female cops, who often make fun of him for his professional ineptness. He is revealed to be a talented bowler and has aspirations to go pro. He is later revealed to be homosexual and has a relationship with Kenny James.
• Liberty Washington (Tamala Jones) — Joy's mixed race 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. She tends to treat Ray-Ray exactly the way Joy treats Darnell: with full measures of both hostility and love.
• Ray-Ray Washington (DJ Qualls) — Liberty's husband, who shares many character traits with Darnell. He owns a bearded dragon named "Mr. Bearded Dragon" whom he treats in the same fatherly manner that Darnell treats Mr. Turtle. His father's name was "Ray" and named him "Ray-Ray", that is why he would like to name his unborn child "Ray-Ray-Ray".
• Jeremiah "Jerry" Hazelwood (Craig T. Nelson) — The Camden County prison warden. He is an immature, whiny man who has his job because his wife is the Governor. 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, having come to rely on Earl. Hazelwood was then revealed to be a former porn star, so he restored Earl's "time off" certificates to keep the scandal quiet.
• Mr. Sydney Turtle — Darnell's beloved pet. He is apparently Jewish and was born in 1913. In "Made A Lady Think I was God", Darnell mentions that Mr. Turtle had no first name; but in "Got the Babysitter Pregnant" his grave marker reads Mr. Sydney Turtle.
• Donny Jones (Silas Weir Mitchell) — An intimidating reformed thug who went to jail for a crime that Earl committed. While in prison he read the Bible and started believing in Jesus, and forgave Earl. His mother (Kathryn Joosten) did not forgive Earl for 'taking her son away for 2 years' until he helped her quit smoking (effectively giving her 2 extra years of life).
• Didi (Tracy Ashton) — She is a one-legged girl whom Earl claimed to love. She hates Earl since he stole her car. She was #86 on Earl's List, and he crossed her off when she made him walk all day on one leg, and buy half of a pair of shoes.
• Little Chubby (Norm MacDonald) — Little Chubby owns most of Camden. He appeared on Earl's list after Earl kicked him in the testicles. After getting them fixed, Little Chubby then became extremely aggressive, like his father. After deciding to change his ways, he took a baseball to the testicles. In the final episode ("Dodge's Dad"), he says he got testicles transplanted from a bull, and is once again very aggressive, because kindness was bad for his business.

Other recurring characters include Electrolarynx Guy, Bruce, Nescobar-a-lop-lop, Doug, Jasper and his Russian mail-order bride, Joy's deaf lawyer and her interpreter, DJ Dave, Slow Roger, Creepy Rodney, Bob Smiley, and TV's Tim Stack. Stack (also a writer for the show) usually appears in his Son of the Beach costume, completely intoxicated, or both.

Several of the show's characters appeared on the July 8, 2008 episode of Celebrity Family Feud: the Hickey Family (Earl, Joy, Randy, Crabman and Catalina) played against "Camden County" (Tim Stack, Patty, Wilford [Tim's agent], Kenny and Nescobar). The Camden County team defeated the Hickey Family but lost to the cast of The Office in the finals.

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.

”

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.

The two-part episode "Inside Probe"^[16] gives conflicting clues:

• Television scheduling indicates that Camden is in the Central Time Zone.
• Earl's lawyer is seen to have a Connecticut telephone number.
• Camden County seceded from both the United States and the Confederacy on March 10, 1861, but the independent "Central" only lasted from 3:30 to 3:35 before its citizens were massacred by forces of both sides.

Outdoor scenes were actually filmed in Lake Balboa, California.

Critical reception

The show has been on the whole 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 has 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 humour.^[19]

Some critics have claimed the series has a Scientologist bias or message, with actors Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee being Scientologists.^[20] Reports in the British press incorrectly identified series creator Greg Garcia as also being a Scientologist, but Garcia himself has denied any affiliation with Scientology.^[21]

DVD releases

Season releases overview

DVD Name	Release dates		Ep #	Additional Information
	Region 1	Region 2
Season One[22]	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[23]	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[24]	September 30, 2008[25]	October 20, 2008[26]	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[27]	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.^[28]

• At Best Buy locations the set came wrapped in a miniature replica of Earl's flannel shirt.^[29]
• The DVD set at Target stores featured a limited-edition bonus DVD with extra bloopers and other bonus features.

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").
• Nominated for 2007 BAFTA TV Awards for International Programme of the Year.
• Giovanni Ribisi nominated for Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 2007
• 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".^[30]
• 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
• Michael Goi, ASC, nominated for 2008 Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography For A Half Hour Series/Episode "Stole A Motorcycle"
• Betty White nominated for 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress("Witch Lady")In A Comedy Series
• Al Jones nominated for 2009 Emmy Award for Stunt Coordination in "Bullies."

Syndication

Twentieth 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. Twentieth has sold the off-net sitcom to the Fox, Tribune, CBS, Hearst-Argyle and Sinclair station groups for a fall 2009 debut.^[31]

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

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 was produced. Since the cancellation of the show, Oni has abandoned the comic.^[33]

See also

• List of My Name Is Earl episodes
• The List (My Name Is Earl)

References

Further reading

• Fry, Kim (November 28, 2005). "California church plays role in My Name Is Earl TV series". United Methodist News Service. http://www.umc.org/site/c.gjJTJbMUIuE/b.1212677/k.8897/California_church_plays_role_in_My_Name_Is_Earl_TV_series.htm. 
• "Nominations and Winners". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/year/2005. Retrieved January 13, 2006. 

External links

• My Name Is Earl at the Internet Movie Database
• My Name Is Earl at TV.com

My Name Is Earl Episodes (Pilot) · Minor characters · The List · Jason Lee