My Name is Earl
Review: “My Name is Earlâ€
I admit to having seen this hilarious new TV show only a few times and to a gross failure to take notes. Hey, even I like to relax a bit sometimes.
For those few of you on Pluto who don’t know the storyline, Earl was hit by a car, survived, and realized that by spreading bad Karma he was often on the receiving end of it. The spreading of good includes not only reforming himself, but also paying amends to victims of his prior misbehaviors. He carries a list of some 260 amends he must make, of which he gets to cross off one per episode. Hopefully, we’ll get to see him right his wrongs for many years to come.
The writing, stories and acting are all very good, and the show is one of this season’s surprise hits (which NBC, the show’s home, badly needs). I suppose it wouldn’t be so popular if the writers made it clear that Earl’s metamorphosis couldn’t have “just happened”and that he must have stopped drinking for the “magic”of clarity to appear. But it would be refreshing and educational if, just once, they could mention the fact that Earl has the disease of alcoholism”and the cessation of drinking made good behavior possible, along with a need to pay amends to those he had previously harmed.