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My Name Is Earl


''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.

Season 4 premiered on September 25, 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. Lying in a hospital bed, under the influence of morphine, 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.

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).



Characters



Main characters



*Earl J. Hickey (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 education, and frequently demonstrates poor judgment, he has a clouded grasp of right and wrong which he tries to impart to his friends. His conversion to a faulty understanding of Karma now drives his life, as he seeks to make up for his past wrongdoing. He is afraid of flying and needles.
*Randall "Randy" Hickey (Ethan Suplee) - Earl's younger brother. He is very dimwitted, with a childlike naivete that manifests as both sweetness toward other people, and unawareness of the potentially harmful consequences of his actions. He doesn't fully understand Earl's List, and sometimes resents the importance it now plays in Earl's life, but he supports his campaign out of brotherly love for him. He is afraid of birds, and drives a green 1970 or 1971 Ford Ranchero with wood grain side panels.
*Joy Farrah Turner (Jaime Pressly) - Earl's ex-wife, now married to Darnell. She is unsophisticated "trailer trash", self-centered and manipulative, having tricked Earl into marrying her when she became pregnant with another man's child, later having an affair - and child - 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 ever since she called Catalina a ''whore''.
*Darnell "Crabman" Turner (Eddie Steeples) - Joy's current husband, and still one of Earl's best friends despite impregnating his then-wife Joy. He now acts as father to Joy's two sons. He works in the local dive "The Crab Shack" where he acts the part of a good-natured fool, but he has a secret past which he hides from everyone as a participant in a witness protection program and quietly demonstrates greater intelligence than those around him (e.g. speaking several languages). A running gag with in the show is that Darnell smokes/consumes marijuana as seen in several episodes the latest were Randy says his hair taste like marijuana a common side effect of heavy doses of THC.
*Catalina Aruca (Nadine Velazquez) - The beautiful Latin American who works as a housekeeper at Earl and Randy's hotel and as the number one stripper at Club Chubby. She shares a green - card marriage with Randy who had a huge crush on her but this ended when they slept together and he appreciated her as a friend more. She has a strong dislike for Joy since Joy called her a ''whore'' when she first saw her. She occasionally breaks the fourth wall when supposedly shouting insults to Joy in Spanish which are actually notes for the fans.

Recurring characters





*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". 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 Dodge pickup truck.
*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 male police officer.
*Patty the Daytime Hooker (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.
*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.
*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 the glass shot into his eye.
*Billie Cunningham (Alyssa Milano) — Earl's most recent 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 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. She tends to treat Ray-Ray exactly the way Joy treats Darnell: with full measures of both hostility and love.
*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 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.
*Mr. Turtle He is the beloved pet of Darnell's. He is apparently Jewish and was born in 1913.

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




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.

*At Best Buy locations the set came wrapped in a miniature replica of Earl's flannel shirt.
*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 [http://www.bafta.org/awards/film/].
*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".
*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


Source: Wikipedia