My name is Earl

Television series
German title	My name is Earl
Original title	My name is Earl
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Year (s)	2005-2009
length	21 minutes
Episodes	96 in 4 seasons
genre	Comedy
idea	Greg García
production	Greg García , Marc Buckland, Tom Palmer
music	Jeff Silbar Dillon O'Brian
First broadcast	September 20, 2005 (USA) on NBC
German-language first broadcast	August 30, 2007 on ORF 1
occupation
Jason Lee : Earl J. Hickey Ethan Suplee : Randy Hickey Jaime Pressly : Joy Turner Nadine Velazquez : Catalina Aruca Eddie Steeples : Darnell "Crabman" Turner

My Name Is Earl is an American comedy series about a petty criminal who begins to believe in karma after an accident and tries to undo all his bad deeds during the course of the series. The series was written by Greg García and produced by 20th Century Fox . The series aired on NBC from September 20, 2005 through May 14, 2009 .

The protagonists of the series are played by Jason Lee , Ethan Suplee , Jaime Pressly , Nadine Velazquez and Eddie Steeples .

action

Jason Lee plays Earl Hickey, a petty criminal who wins $ 100,000 with a scratch card , but loses it when he is hit by a car. Earl begins to believe in karma when he hears the late-night talker Carson Daly talk about it on TV in the hospital after the accident under the influence of morphine . He decides to radically change his life and makes a list of all the bad things he has done in his life and wants to make amends for them. When he picks up rubbish to check the first item on the list (No. 136), his scratch card flies on his shoe. This completely convinces him of the concept of karma and the money won will help him gradually tick off every item on his list.

The individual episodes mostly deal with checking off one or more items on Earl's list and the complications that arise. With the exception of a few storylines that affect Earl's ex-wife Joy and her family (criminal trial, pregnancy, witness protection program), they hardly build on one another in terms of content. It should be mentioned, however, that people with whom he has made amends appear as friends in later episodes and sometimes actively support him in making amends later. Only the third season contains a noteworthy cross-episode plot: At the beginning Earl is in jail after confessing to a crime in the last episode of the second season that was actually committed by Joy. While in custody, he did various jobs for the incapable prison director Jerry Haslewood , from whom he received vouchers for a reduction in his term in return. However, when Haslewood realizes that he will have to solve his problems on his own without Earl, he decides not to fire Earl early. The frustrated Earl then takes part in an attempt to escape, which fails. However, he learns of Haslewood's past as a porn actor and blackmailed him with this knowledge, so that he was released early. His fortune has now been used up and the only job Earl can get doesn't appeal to him at all. Because of his negative experiences, he doubts karma and begins to behave ruthlessly and mean again, which his friends do not like. When they organize an intervention to get him back on the path of virtue, he escapes the house and is promptly hit by a car again. This time his injuries are so severe that he falls into a coma. His brother Randy ticks off items on the list in Earl's name to help him recover. In fact, Earl wakes up after a while. He marries Billy, whom he sees as his reward from karma. However, the relationship doesn't work well. Eventually the two split up again and Earl - recovered from money - resumed his pre-prison life.

characters

main characters

Earl J. Hickey

Earl Jehosaphat Hickey ( Jason Lee , German speaker: Markus Pfeiffer ): The former petty criminal noticed in the hospital that he didn't like his life. That's why he makes a list of all the bad things that he has done in his life so far, in order to gradually make amends. He is mainly helped by his brother Randy, motel maid Catalina and sometimes his other friends. Whenever he neglects his list, karma quickly reminds him of his new task in life.

At the hospital, his wife Joy lets him sign the divorce papers without him noticing because he is on pain medication. He also overwrites the caravan in which they live together. When he comes out of the hospital, he and his brother Randy rent a room in a motel.

In contrast to his brother, Earl has a normal average intelligence, but his education is very sketchy. This is particularly evident in the fact that he does not understand many foreign words and has problems pronouncing them. He is also completely clueless when it comes to the use of computers and similar modern technology.

Randall "Randy" Hickey

Randall "Randy" Doo Hickey ( Ethan Suplee , German speaker: Christian Gaul ): Earl's younger brother, with whom he spent his entire life. Randy is not particularly intelligent and on the verge of intellectual disability. He cannot survive without other caregivers and has followed Earl unconditionally from early childhood. However, he occasionally shows efforts to differentiate himself from Earl as a personality, to be more independent and no longer allow himself to be patronized. He has a decidedly childlike and naive manner and is often ridiculed by Earl's ex-wife Joy, who regularly calls him, among other things, "dumbass" (German about "Depp") because of his behavior. He doesn't have a job (except for the few episodes in which he works in the warehouse of a home appliance store and the time he becomes a jailer because Earl is serving a sentence) and lives off Earl's lottery win, which is fine with Earl , since he sees that he needs Randy to work through many items on his list. From time to time he says things that are helpful to Earl in certain situations and that are basically not expected of him. He marries Catalina so that she can live in America. He is also very afraid of all kinds of birds.

Joy Turner

Joy Turner ( Jaime Pressly , German speaker: Marie Bierstedt ): Earl's ex-wife who divorced him while he was in hospital. She is now married to Earl's boyfriend Darnell, who is believed to be Earl Jr.'s father. In the first episodes she tries to get Earl's winnings and even kill him, but makes up with him again in episode 6. She lives with Darnell and the children in the trailer park Pimmit Hills Trailer Park . She is a very emotional, irascible, patriotic and superficial woman who loves her children above all else. After stealing a van, she faces a court case, which is difficult because she has a deaf lawyer at her side, whom Joy cannot get along with.

Catalina Aruca

Catalina Rana Aruca ( Nadine Velazquez , German speaker: Iris Artajo ): The Latin American, illegal immigrant is the maid in the motel where Earl and Randy have rented. Her home country is never specifically mentioned in the series, but she always emphasizes that she is not from Mexico. Yet she is often mistakenly referred to as the Mexican Lady . Catalina is attractive and quick-witted. In the meantime she worked in the strip club Club Chubby as a pole dancer.

Darnell "Crabman" Turner

Darnell "Crabman" Turner ( Eddie Steeples , German voiceover: Asad Schwarz ): Darnell is Earl's friend. He works as a cook at Earl's local pub. There he met Joy while she was still married to Earl and got her pregnant. Both wed shortly after Earl signed the divorce papers at the hospital. However, this does not affect the friendship between him and Earl. He is extremely intelligent, which he rarely shows. Darnell's real name is Harry Monroe, which he had to change as part of a witness protection program. He also has a close relationship with his turtle, “Mr. Turtle ".

Minor characters

• Eric "Dodge" Chaz Hickey ( Louis T. Moyle , German speaker: Salvadore-Hugo Garth ): Joy's oldest son. Joy was six months pregnant with Dodge when she married Earl. In the final episode, it emerges that, by accident, Earl is Dodge's real father.
• Earl Hickey Jr. ( Trey Carlisle , German speaker: Amadeus Siegel ): Joy and Darnell's son. In the last episode of the series, it emerges that Darnell isn't the real father.
• Carlton "Carl" Hickey ( Beau Bridges , German speaker: Norbert Gescher ): Earl's and Randy's father. He is disappointed with his sons' lives but blames Earl for the most part. This only changes in the 18th episode of the 1st season. Earl, with Randy's help, wins back a '65 Mustang (which is a 1966 initially but is a 1965 after the restoration) at a car race that he lost years earlier. Together with his father, he is restoring the car that Carl wanted to give his son for his 16th birthday. The time they spend together helps the relationship between the two to improve.
• Katherine "Kay" Hickey ( Nancy Lenehan , German speaker: Liane Rudolph ): Earl's and Randy's mother. She is also disappointed with the lives of her sons, but is more tolerant than Carl from the start. She is happy that Earl wants to change his life.
• Mr. Sydney Turtle: Darnell's beloved pet. He is evidently Jewish and was born in 1913. In Made A Lady Think I Was God , Darnell mentions that Mr. Turtle doesn't have a first name, but in Got the Babysitter Pregnant his headstone says “Mr. Sydney Turtle ”.
• Liberty Washington ( Tamala Jones , German speaker: Diana Borgwardt ): She is Joy's half-sister and fights under the name Lady Liberty as a wrestler for the Black Ladies of Wrestling. At first Joy and Liberty hate each other, but after a wrestling match and discussion that followed, they bury their disagreements and agree that Joy should carry a child for Liberty and her husband Ray-Ray, as Joy is about to go to court and appears as Pregnant women are hoping for more compassion from the jury, while Liberty wants to pursue a career as a wrestler and not drop out because of the pregnancy.
• Ray-Ray ( DJ Qualls , German speaker: Ozan Ünal ): Liberty's man who shares many traits with Darnell. He owns a bearded dragon named "Mr. Bearded Dragon, ”whom he treats with the same paternal affection as Darnell Mr. Turtle. His father's name was "Ray" and he named him "Ray-Ray" so he would like to name his son "Ray-Ray-Ray". However, the baby becomes a girl and is named Ray-Ray-Ray-Ann.
• Didi ( Tracy Ashton , German speaker: Christin Marquitan ): A one-legged woman who is also on Earl's list.
• Ralph Mariano ( Giovanni Ribisi , German speaker: Björn Schalla ): Earl's childhood friend. Constantly in conflict with the law. He betrayed Earl and Randy for less than $ 175, but they always forgive him. In season two, he forces Earl to marry his mother, but the marriage is later annulled.
• Kenny James ( Gregg Binkley , German speaker: Sven Plate ): Was bullied by Earl when he was a child. Earl and Kenny become friends when Earl helps Kenny live out his homosexuality. Occasionally, Kenny, who works in a copy shop, helps Earl with his list.
• Donny Jones ( Silas Weir Mitchell , German speaker: Michael Deffert ): Earl's friend and fully rehabilitated criminal. Donny spent two years in jail for a crime Earl committed. Donny found Jesus in prison and forgave Earl for the incident.
• Patty ( Dale Dickey , German speakers: Astrid Bless , Sabine Walkenbach ): A friendly prostitute from Camden who also works as a night waitress. She has a Masters degree and speaks Bengali. Her full name is revealed in the episode Witch Lady (Patricia Weezmer). Her middle name, Michelle, is revealed in the episode Inside Probe .
• Officer Stuart Daniels ( Mike O'Malley , German speaker: Bernhard Völger ): An incompetent Camden County Police Officer who is on the list because Earl stole his badge to abuse his authority. He comes from a family of female police officers who often make fun of him for his professional incapacity. He reveals himself to be a talented bowler and eager to turn pro. He is later revealed to be gay and has a relationship with Kenny James.
• Rodney ( Clint Howard , German speaker: Gerald Schaale ): The worst execution of a thief - he even steals the booty of other thieves as soon as the opportunity arises.
• Sonny ( Leo Fitzpatrick , German speaker: Oliver Elias ): Appears for the first time in the first episode. After that, he doesn't appear again until the third season. Earl meets him again in the prison yard. Sonny teaches Earl in prison how to behave as inconspicuous / invisible as possible, but then reveals Earl to Glenn because he owes him a favor.
• Frank Stump ( Michael Rapaport , German speaker: Oliver Rohrbeck ): Was never mentioned until the third season, but then shows up like Sonny in prison. He was originally the owner of Joy's trailer and was Darnell's job at the Crab Shack. He ended up in jail for a robbery that Earl and Randy were supposed to be part of. It did not come to that, because Earl was made drunk by Joy the day before and persuaded to marry her.
• Paco ( Raymond Cruz , German speaker: Sebastian Christoph Jacob ) - Frank's friend and accomplice, who ended up in prison with him. He was in a relationship with Catalina, who originally came to the USA because of him. Because of his imprisonment, however, there were no more encounters and Catalina did not know what had become of him. Towards the end of the third season, the two get together again. After that Paco disappears from history without explanation.
• Billie Cunningham ( Alyssa Milano , German voice-over artist : Dascha Lehmann ): Frank's friend who leaves him in prison and, after talking to Earl, begins to improve her life. She is later briefly married to Earl.
• Warden Jerry Hazelwood ( Craig T. Nelson , German speaker: Christian Rode ): Overstrained prison director, the Earl relieved of his work several times in order to be released earlier in freedom. He is under the slipper of his wife, who is the governor of the state.
• Richard "Big" Chubby ( Burt Reynolds , German Speaker: Norbert Langer ): He owns just about everything in Camden County, Chubby's Pulled Pork - BBQ restaurant- to Chubby's gym. He runs his business with an iron hand and likes to scare people with a water pistol filled with vodka. At the end of the second season he mistook this pistol for a real weapon and instead of vodka injected a bullet into his mouth. His business is taken over by his son Little Chubby. Earl needs Big Chubby because he's supposed to bail Joy for $ 1 million.
• Little Chubby ( Norm MacDonald ): He is an absolute sadist and torments everything and everyone. Earl has him on his list because he had kicked his soft tissues years earlier and it then disappeared without a trace. When Big Chubby dies, Little Chubby reappears and takes over the business. It turns out that the groin kick made Little Chubby a tame person. Earl still has to help him and helps him with the testicular operation, after which Little Chubby becomes a sadist again. In the end, however, he decides against a life as a sadist and mutilates himself. In the last episode you learn that he later became a villain again because he was not taken seriously as a nice guy in business life.
• Ron ( Larry Joe Campbell , German speaker: Michael Iwannek ): Security guard in the prison in which Earl is incarcerated. He stands out due to his lack of intelligence. There is a certain similarity between him and Randy.
• Ruby Witlow ( Marlee Matlin , German speaker: Dorette Hugo ) - Joy's deaf public defender . She has an affair with Earl, but ends it when she learns that he broke into her years ago.
• Tim Stack ( Timothy Stack , German voice over artist : Bodo Wolf ) - Worn actor and local celebrity in Camden County. He appears to have a massive drinking problem and is mostly drunk. Usually he wears a kind of lifeguard outfit.
• Nescobar A-Lop-Lop ( Abdoulaye N'Gom , German speaker: Aloysius Itoka ) - An immigrant from Africa. He first appeared as a student in Earl's class when he was teaching English at the community college (episode Our Teacher Earl ). He later runs into Earl and his friends on a regular basis. Like many recurring minor characters, he can often be found in the Crab Shack .
• Willie ( Bill Suplee , German speaker: Raimund Krone ) - also called Willie the one-eyed mailman. He shows up often, he loses his eye when Joy throws a bowling ball at a Def-Leppard wall mirror, seen in episode 36 (Our Cops is on)

Episode list

Charisma

The third season of the series aired in the United States on NBC from September 27, 2007 to May 15, 2008. The Austrian broadcaster ORF 1 started broadcasting the first 20 episodes on August 29, 2007 in the satire program Thursday night . In Switzerland, My Name Is Earl has been broadcast by SF Zwei since September 6, 2007 . The German broadcaster RTL planned to take the first 12 episodes into its program from July 18, 2008 on Fridays at 11:30 p.m. On August 13, 2008, after only four weeks, it was announced that the series would be discontinued at the end of the same month due to unsatisfactory ratings. From October 2008 the new episodes were broadcast on Swiss television, whereas ORF 1 did not broadcast the broadcast that had been announced. The second season has only been broadcast in Austria since September 24, 2009. In 2017 the complete series was also broadcast on the RTL NITRO channel.

Deposition

After broadcasting the fourth season, the broadcaster NBC decided not to commission another season. While the production company 20th Century Fox as well as producer Greg García and lead actor Jason Lee were willing to shoot another season, no station could be found that would broadcast or finance the series in its original format. Then 20th Century Fox decided not to continue the series.

Greg Garcia was on Reddit to answer questions from disappointed fans looking for the intended end of the storyline. So it was planned that Earl would never really complete his list. As he becomes increasingly desperate at an impossible point on his list, he runs into someone else with a list of his own who had something to do well with Earl himself. When he asks about what triggered his list idea, the latter tells him that he was on someone's list himself. As Earl continues on the lead, he ends up with someone he (Earl) had on his list. So he realizes that his action with the list has started a chain reaction and more and more people are walking around with their own list. So he realizes that he has finally brought more good than bad into the world, closes his list and is free to live his life.

Others

• In one episode, his father tells him that Earl should originally be named after his father Carl, but that his father wrote the name too illegibly.
• Earl has closed his eyes on all of the photos he has taken, which he doesn't like. His eyes are even closed on his driver's license.
• Randy thinks ET is a monkey, which occasionally comes up casually.
• In the episode "Randy's Touchdown" (1.03), Randy holds up a handwritten sign in the copy shop that reads "High Def Rocks". This can only be seen in the HDTV broadcast and on the DVDs.
• Another poster that is only visible in the HDTV broadcast can be seen in the episode “Cost Dad the Election” (1.09). It's in Earl's father's election materials. The poster reads “Carl Hickey loves High Def”.
• In the episode “Something to Live For” (1.15), when Earl brings Philo to the Crab Shack on a date with Joy , a post-it with the words “HD Draft” is on the tap. This can also only be seen in HDTV format.
• In the episode "Barn Burner" (1.11) it seems that Catalina is cursing in Spanish during an argument with Joy. In reality, she says, “I want to thank the Latinos in the audience for watching the show every week. And I would like to congratulate all non-Latinos for learning a foreign language. "
• In “Number One” (1.24), Catalina apparently answers Joy's hostility with a lot of insults in Spanish. In truth, it is conveying another hidden message to viewers: “This concludes the first season of Earl. We are very grateful that you have accompanied us to this point and hope to see you again next autumn. "
• Catalina's driving license, which she shows in “Born a gambling man” (2.09), is signed by Greg García .
• In “The Trial” (2.23) the sentence uttered by Catalina means: “Thank you for seeing our program. We will miss you this summer. Isn't it funny that Earl thinks I'm telling him how much I hate Joy - I'm just saying how much I love you guys! "
• In the episode “No Heads and a Duffle Bag” (3.17) there is an allusion to The Big Lebowski . While Earl and Randy buy drugs at Circus with their father Carl, the latter says to Carl “I'm just, like, wondering about this old dude.” Carl replies “Don't call me 'dude'”, to which Circus “Easy , Lebowski “says to Carl. Beau Bridges , who plays Carl Hickey, is the older brother of Jeff Bridges . This plays the role of Jeffrey Lebowski in The Big Lebowski. In contrast to Carl Hickey, who does not want to be called Dude, Jeffrey Lebowski makes it a point not to be addressed by his real name, but to be called exclusively Dude. The pun is a little lost in the German dubbed version, but the name Lebowski is still mentioned.
• In the motel room next to them "strange sex practices" are being held by other fellow citizens, into which they burst into some episodes.
• In episode 10 of the second season of Raising Hope - a series also produced by García in which several of the actors from "My Name Is Earl" have guest appearances - a poster sticks to a cinema that advertises "MY NAME IS EARL - THE MOVIE " power.
• In the episode "Earl and Joy's Anniversary" (4.10) Catalina, fleeing from bees, saves herself to Darnell's phone booth. Later in the episode, Patty the full-time hooker also saves herself in the phone booth. During the conversation taking place there it is mentioned that Catalina from La Paz comes from the area near the bloodstream. La Paz is a place name that can be found several times around the world, but most often in South America. Furthermore, the mentioned blood flow is the Rio Xingu, a tributary of the Amazon in Brazil.
• The main characters are united in the series Raising Hope (3.19).
• In the first episode of the Raising Hope series, there is a news report that a petty criminal with a long list of crimes he wanted to correct is finally done with.
• In the series Raising Hope , Season 3, Episode 3 features the Earl J. Hickey Memorial Nursing Home, to which Maw Maw is to be admitted.

Awards and nominations

• Nominated for the 2006 Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy
• Jason Lee is nominated for a 2006 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy
• Greg García won an Emmy in 2006 for My Name Is Earl in the category "Script for a Comedy Series"
• In 2007 Jaime Pressly received an Emmy for "Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series"

Web links

• My Name Is Earl in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Information on US broadcasting with quotas and broadcast dates at TVGuide.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ www.My-Name-Is-Earl.net ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ): ORF1 moves the premiere to August 30
2. ↑ quotemeter.de : RTL shows "My Name is Earl" on Fridays , June 2, 2008 (accessed on December 28, 2013)
3. ↑ www.dwdl.de: RTL discontinues US comedy series “My name is Earl”
4. ↑ Los Angeles Times: 'My Name Is Earl' creator is OK with being 'thrown off the Titanic'
5. ↑ E! Online: My Name Is Earl Dead, Deal with TBS Won't Work Out
6. ↑ Reddit: Greg Garcia answers Fan Questions