TV Review: My Name is Earl - "Very Bad Things"

During the regular season last year I only caught a couple of episodes of My Name is Earl. I enjoy Jason Lee in just about anything he does, but this show never really grabbed me. It had some funny bits, but the characters all seemed a little too dumb to be interesting and I kept myself busy with other things to watch much. 

This summer, or as I like to call it, The Summer of TV Addiction, I began watching it regularly and now add it to my ever growing selection of must watch shows.

The second season premier starts with Earl deciding to scratch off Joy from his list of things he must do to repent for his past sins. It seems he never agreed with her while they were married. In a series of flashbacks we see Earl take sides with everybody but Joy including Randy (who grabs the potato chips with his toes) and a lobster (who squirted Joy while she was cutting it up.)

Earl finally takes Joy's side by telling Darnell that he should throw Joy a surprise party even if she knows about it (thus ruining the surprise, argues Darnell.)

Joy decides to buy a “disappearing” TV after watching Britney Spears and K-fed use one on their show.

Unfortunately the TV is too big to fit inside the trailer and the store won’t take it back because there is gum inside the receipt. They attempt to watch the television outside in the yard, but the glare of the sun and motorcyclists keep them from it. After a rain the TV is completely ruined.

Joy again attempts to take the TV back. Declaring she is going to get her $3,000 back one way or another, she steals a truck from the store.

Joy tries to sell the entire truck (not what’s in the truck, mind you) to someone but he doesn’t bite due to the truck having the name of the store still written upon it. His friend, an Eastern European gal by the accent, says she’ll buy the truck, but when they arrive at Joy’s trailer, Darnell has landed the surprise birthday party a month early, scaring off the European.

Earl, still feeling generous, decides to help her unload the truck. They paint the name off it, then brilliantly decide to open the danged thing to see if the contents might be worth $3,000.

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Article Author: Mat Brewster

Mat Brewster is a periodic ex-pat wondering if he'll ever find a home. You can find him musing on pop culture, and obsessing over concert bootlegs at The Midnight Cafe.

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    Karma is a funny thing. Just ask Earl (Jason Lee), who's learning the hard way that when you do something bad, it has a way of coming back and biting you in the ass! Hoping to turn his life around, ...

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