My Name is Earl
What goes around comes around
// The skinny: Earl Hickey has
been a two bit criminal and trouble maker his whole life until he wins
the lottery, only to lose the ticket. He believes it's all due to karma
and sets out to right every wrong he's ever done.
// Review: Jason Lee rebounds from
the amazingly horrible and bland romantic comedy It's a Guy Thing with
this new tv show. Convinced that karma is the reason why his life sucks
instead of his poor choices, he makes a list of everything he has ever
done wrong and tries to make ammends in hopes of appeasing karma. When
he decides to change his life his lost lottery ticket stumbles back
into his life. Crediting it to an affirming sign from karma, he decides
to devote all of the winnings and his time to make up to the people
he has wronged over his life with the help of his brother.
/ Each episode has Earl bump into something or someone from his past.
This triggers a flashback scene re-enacting how he was responsible for
negatively affecting a person's life, and then he sets upon trying to
make up for it. The writing isn't particularly witty or ironic, but
the situational comedy is straight forward and takes genuinely funny
pokes at white trash culture. It's also refreshing that the comedy is
relatively clean and has some real heart in each story. Earl keeps saying
that by marking people off his list that he just trying to be a better
person, but the truth is, he already is.
/ One of my favorite episodes is Stole a Badge. Earl and his crew once
stole a bunch of shoes at a bowling alley because people keep their
valuables in them while they bowl. In one pair they find a police badge
and discover a wealth of perks that comes with people thinking you're
a cop, but that power also corrupts. In Lord of the Rings fashion, the
One Badge continues to change hands ultimately leading to misfortune
for the owner.
// Wrap up: It's not in the same
league as Scrubs or Arrested
Development, but it's entertaining enough and cracks my regular
viewing rotation.
Entertainment rating: 3.5
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