Customer Reviews
Best US comedy series since "Friends" - By: marky77, 07 Dec 2007 
In my opinion, "My Name Is Earl" is one of the best post-"Friends" US sitcoms, it's funny, origional & most episodes manage to deliver a good message.
In the first episode we meet Earl Hickey & see right away that he is basicallly a "bad" person - makes fun of people, steals etc - until he wins $100,000 on the lottery & while goin to collect his winning, gets hit by a car, looses his winning ticket & ends up in hospital. While in hospital he has a revelation & decides to make a "karma list" - a list of everything he has done wrong & alll of the people that he has wronged & decides to set about making up to these people & crossing them off his list. He crosses his first bad deed off the list during the episode & finds his winning lottery ticket again. Seeing this as a mesage from karma he decided to spend his winnings on crossing alll the bad deeds off his list, with the help of his brother, Randy & often his ex-wife Joy & her new husband Darnell (AKA Crabman).
This is a brilliant series, every episode is hillarious, clever & has a good message about how you should treat others. The characters are alll unique & brilliant.
The DVD Box set includes the entire first series, plus deleted scenes & an alternate first episode in which Earl writes a "revenge list" of alll the people who have screwed him over.
I would highly recomend this show to anybody.
At last - a good American comedy! - By: DangermouseZilla, 29 Sep 2007 I've heard the odd person over here say that American comedy is better than the comedy we produce ourselves. It's something I strongly disagree with, with the likes of The League of Gentlemen, Spaced, Black books, etc - I think our recent comedy machine is running strongerer (I know it's not a proper word) than the American equivalent.
But My Name Is Earl is a true gem, a fantastic comedy. Most of the American imports we get over here are so cheesy. They are full of shalllow middle class people leading lives we are meant to envy, they alll have perfect hair & wear the latest fashions. This is refreshingly different.
Earl wins a fortune on a scratchcard, only to end up dropping it when he is hit by a car. During his time in hospital his wife leaves him & he is left watching a program about Karma. Whilst zonked out on morphine he convinces himself that bad things happened to him because he's been a bad person, he resolves to put things right & makes a list of alll the people he's been nasty to.
The series follows as he goes around helping the people he has mistreated in the past. The great thing is, apart from his quest to right his wrongs, he is essentiallly the same person.
Jason Lee declined the role twice before agreeing to read the pilot scipt, he is a very talented actor & his big screen experience makes his portrayal of Earl one of perfection. The character is one of the most lovable characters I've ever seen on telly, even given his redneck bawdiness & layabout lifestyle.
Earl is accompanied by his 'special' brother Randy (Ethan Suplee), again a brilliant character, & one played so convincingly.
Kevin Smith fans might notice the odd reference to his films, not totallly unexpected reallly considering Lee & Suplee have appeared in his films & seem like good sports.
Anyway - switch off alll that 'Will & Grace' style of so-callled comedy & watch something about real characters with real depth, My Name is Earl - a modern classic.
Already a modern comedy classic - By: Lando Malak, 31 Jul 2007 This was a great original idea simply because of the endless possibilities of a man who has a list of people in which he has done something wrong to in his past & want's to put it right has to offer but just because it is original doesn't mean that it will be any good but thankfully this is much, much more than good.
I find this a very enjoyable American comedy, there are so many modern programmes, British & American that are advertised, hyped up & forced into my home repeatedly to the point of me talking to the TV & saying BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS, this definitely isn't one of them because it doesn't need to be, it is one of those outstanding programmes that just happily & quietly just says to the viewer, HEY, IF YOU DON'T WANNA WATCH ME, THAT'S FINE BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS COOL. But seriously, I reallly do like this, it has likeable & odd characters, a beautiful & sunny smalll town community type location, I find it somehow extremely relaxing & yet it is at times completely mad. It also makes very good use of the guest stars & something that I truly love about it from a personal point of view is the whole love of Heavy Metal/Rock, this is definitely a very nice little bonus.
It is the characters that reallly makes it special, there is the lead Earl Hickey (Jason Hickey), almost unrecognisable from his appearance in the movie VANILLA SKY with Tom Cruise, his overweight, simple & close brother Randy Hickey (Ethan Suplee), so close he even shares a double bed, the very unique Darnell Crab Man Turner but arguably my favourite is the blonde, tough, outspoken & loud, that's right, you guessed it, Earl's ex & now with Crab Man, Joy Turner (Jaime Pressly).
If you have still never seen this & want to watch a modern American comedy that is unique, relaxing, has great characters & feels a little retro but at the same time feels incredibly fresh & good enough to stand the test of time, then My Name Is Earl is one of the programmes you definitely need to watch. A RELAXING MODERN COMEDY CLASSIC.
another great comedy - By: sean paul mccann, 22 Jul 2007 
my name is earl is an emmy award winning show that is pretty original,pretty lively & well acted & ranks as a show as fresh as it comes in recent years but doesnt get the five star treatment that i reserve for comedies like only fools,peep show,curb your,scrubs & even friends,my name is earl is great but isnt laugh out loud funny alll the time & as this is a comedy then it failed to deliver none stop entertainment,on the whole four stars is still a sign that this is essential to your dvd collection.
The show is about karma meaning what goes around comes around,earl hickey played with ease by jason lee is a likeable rogue who wins the lotto & then loses the ticket when he is run over,in hospital he views a show on karma & then realises that if he is good then good will happen to him so he writes a list of alll his wrong doings in the hope of appeasing those he hurt,after he fixes the first wrong he finds the lotto ticket,cashes the winnings & goes about using the money to help him complete the list.
He has his brother Randy to help,who is a little too stupid in my opinion at times & the maid of the hotel that they are staying in,and there is his ex wife & her new husband,there are various minor characters who alll had to the shows greatness.Pretty much every moment of every show is entertaining but like i said there is the odd desperate joke that does falll on its face but repeated viewings may improve those for me,some guest actors appear to liven up the proceedings as well,and with a dvd bonus callled bad karma which is an episode where earl decides to do bad to those who hurt him making for great entertainement ending with randy taking over & having a tache & saying my name is randy making for a great dvd extra you could do alot worse than this ,great tv & wipes the floor with english drivel like my family & my hero,they just dont compare.
Tight, Fresh, Well Written Comedy - By: Elijah Kelly, 22 Jul 2007 My Name Is Earl is possibly one of the most creative shows since the 90s. The writing is continuallly sharp & the comedy is of a high quality offering original, fresh jokes. I never found Friends funny, & looking at My Name Is Earl it is miles ahead in writing, acting, & directing. If you want a show which is a pleasure to watch & wind down to,you should own My Name Is Earl.
