I was resistant to My Name Is Earl
when it first bowed last fall. I resented the ubiquitous ad campaign,
which seemed to trump the rest of, if not the entirety of that autumn’s
offerings, then certainly the rest of NBC’s schedule in aggregate.
There was a seeming air of arrogance and condescension attached to the
manner in which the show was pitched — “Here’s our new comedy, and by
Jesus, you’re going to like it!” Even if the product itself
isn’t actually detestable, I tend to react negatively to that sort of
from-on-high dictation; it reminds me too much of the hot girl who’s
just more than a little aware of her hotness, and a vacuous
bitch as a result of not having to develop any other qualities of
personal merit. A year later, I’m not completely sold on My Name Is Earl
as the type of mainstream comedy hit that NBC — and many Emmy voters,
coincidentally — envision it as, but there are certain trashy delights
to be found herein.
</b>, who, when struck by a car, loses his winning lottery<br />
ticket and has an epiphany — deciding to make a list of the many people<br />
he’s wronged and put those situations right. Aiding Earl in his quest —<br />
which sometimes conveniently plays out as if the show is already<br />
syndicated — is his dimwitted brother and best pal, Randy (a<br />
slack-jawed Ethan Suplee), who nurses a crush on the maid, Catalina<br />
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Nadine Velasquez), that works in the hotel where the pair live. Also
figuring into the proceedings is Earl’s screeching ex, Joy (Jaime
Pressly, always spot-on in purposefully heightened and/or deep-fried
fare like this and Poor White Trash).
The show gets a way with an awful lot for its early time slot
(pedophilia and rape jokes, anyone?), but what holds it together is
Lee, who has a natural, easygoing doofus’ charm. The parade of guest
stars (Jon Favreau, Christine Taylor, Juliette Lewis, Giovanni Ribisi,
Beau Bridges, Missi Pyle and Timothy Olyphant) commences a bit early
for a show of this type (can Ben Stiller be far behind, or Kevin Smith
and Jason Mewes, for that matter?), but I suppose is just further
confirmation of NBC’s infatuation… err, confidence in it.
Spread out over four discs in slimline cases in turn stored in a cardboard slipcase, My Name Is Earl: Season One
is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with an English language,
Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound audio track, a nice differentiation
for a sitcom. Optional subtitles in English, Spanish and French are
also available. Exclusive to this DVD set is a 13-minute short, “Bad
Karma,” which proffers an amusing alternate vision of the show’s
conceit — namely, that Earl makes a list of everyone who’s ever screwed
him over and dishes out some cold-case payback. All two dozen episodes
are contained herein, along with eight episodic audio commentaries by
Garcia, various members of the creative team… and, on the Mother’s Day
episode entitled “Dad’s Car,” their mothers. The last bit is a nice,
amusing twist — something I don’t think I’ve seen/heard on a DVD
before. Deleted scenes with optional commentary, an extremely hearty
little blooper reel (20 minutes!) and a 38-minute behind-the-scenes
featurette round out a solid slate of bonus materials. B- (Show) A- (Disc)