Me llamo Earl

I rarely watch sitcoms any more because they are normally both inane and indistinguishable from one another. This show may actually induce me to watch it on a regular basis. If you liked "Raising Arizona", you just might like "My Name Is Earl". After I watched the first episode I did an online search to find out who the creative forces were behind it. In doing so I stumbled into a review that described Earl as the illegitimate son of Nicholas Cage in "Raising Arizona". That just about nails the character. In In fact, while recounting the season opener to a friend who had missed it, I nearly called Earl, Hi. Catch it before it's gone. If you didn't think the first episode was brilliant, then this show is just not for you.

I saw the first episode of "My Name Is Earl" last night, (9 p.m. on NBC) and I just had to plug it. I thought it was brilliant - wonderfully cast, written, and directed. I hope the show is a hit and keeps it up.

If the Coen brothers wrote and directed a TV sitcom, it could be very much like this show.

The premise is simple: Earl (the very likable Jason Lee, often seen in Kevin Smith films, and whose on screen demeanor sometimes reminds me of Chevy Chase in his youthful prime) is Earl, a small-time raggedy thief who snags a $100,000 winning lottery ticket. Seconds later he's mowed down by a car, and the ticket floats away in the breeze. While recovering in the hospital, doped up on morphine, he watches a TV show with MTV host Carson Daly talking about doing good deeds so that good things will happen to you...and he comes up with the the idea of repairing his mess of a life by making a list of all the people he's harmed in the past, tracking them down one by one, and making amends however he can.

When Earl briefly thinks of backing out on his plan, the ticket miraculously floats back seemingly out of nowhere..inspiring him to keep up the good work. Karma is a funny thing, as the tagline says.

The inimitable evil vixen Jaime Pressley (as his trashy ex-wife Joy) is part of a great supporting cast, and the superior writing and directing of the show gives it a comedic, quirky quality that reminded my husband and myself of Coen brothers' films such as "Raising Arizona". I hope the show can keep the quality up as the season progresses. The bar's been set pretty high with this first episode.

Anyway, "My Name Is Earl" is on NBC on Tuesdays at 9:00. Give it a whirl, and let's keep this one on the air, as long as the creators can maintain the quality of its premiere. As long as it keeps its sharp wit and avoids sinking into maudlin sentimentality, it should stay a winner.

And yes, My Name is Earl is literally about trailer trash, and hilariously so.

Even though Earl is reformed from his earlier days where nothing crooked or immoral was out of bounds, the same is not true for some of his friends. And of course since each show has Earl attempting to right a past wrong, we get to see just how depraved Earl was for most of his life.

The writers' creativity stretches far, for they have now produced a LOT of shows with fresh ideas and situations both funny and completely out of left field. How they come up with things like "fish wings" I'll never guess, and I'm not bad at coming up with funny stuff myself.

Is a lot of Earl "low-brow". Oh yes. Let you hair down and just laugh, for the laughs are there all show long, every show.

I'm not much of a TV watcher anymore, as most stuff these days doesn't appeal to me, especially the whole "reality TV" trend. It's not often that a show comes along that is original in concept (or, at least in presentation!), and that makes me laugh all the way through.

Having said this, we caught this show on the TiVo, and it's just plain funny. It's more for mature audiences, and if you grew up in redneck USA (like I did) in the 80's, it'll leave you in stitches. Plus, there is a bit of a message presented as well. "Do good deeds to others, and good things will happen to you." In a sort of bizarre, twisted way, you could call this the "Kung Fu" of the 00's.

Lee does an excellent job of narration and acting, and the rest of the cast is pretty much perfect at their roles, even in the first episode. I had never really heard of him until his (quite good) performance in "The Incredibles", but his acting is really impressive.

It's funny. Best stuff I've seen in years. Watch it and see for yourself.

I am a Jason Lee fan and when I saw the advertisements for his show, I was a little skeptical. I thought it was going to be all hype and not funny. But,I watched the premiere last night and I couldn't stop laughing. You have to understand the humor to get the jokes, but it is so worth it. I think this is going to be a huge hit for NBC and Lee. The cast was awesome and a great combination. It is nice to see Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee on the screen together again.If you get the chance watch this show. You won't be sorry. It is also followed by another great show The Office. I think they work well together. Tuesday nights are better than they used to be.I hope that NBC keeps this show around for several seasons.