My Name is Earl and Raising Hope

[dead-ced-dead]

Both of these Greg Garcia shows have been put on Disney+ so I've been revisiting.

So far they're living up to my memory of the from when I watched them when they were first on TV. Earl has higher highs, with some episodes being great, but comes unstuck around season 3 or so. Hope never rises above a 7/10 but for me it's a consistent 7/10. Pretty much 7/10 across the board and sweet enough to make it bingeable.

This would be sacrilege among my friends group who were all Kevin Smith/Jason Lee fans, but I think Hope is better. It's a shame both shows just missed out on syndication, especially Earl, which got to 96 episodes. You'd think at that point it would make more sense and profit to just make a short season 5 that allows the show to limp over 100 episodes and makes it a package to sell worldwide.

Still, both good nostalgic fun, if a little imperfect.

[frajer]

I loved Earl at the time (Jesus, 15 years ago now) but haven't revisited since, especially as you say since the show went into a sharp tailspin after he went to prison in Series 3 and it drifted way too far from the main concept.

I did keep up with it at the time, and from memory Series 4 was a bit of a return to basics, but it felt like the spark had gone. I've got Disney+ so might have to give this a rewatch. Jason Lee is a charismatic performer, even in the shonky Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, and it's a shame he isn't in more stuff.

[dead-ced-dead]

Jason Lee is a charismatic performer, even in the shonky Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, and it's a shame he isn't in more stuff.

As far as I know, he's retired from acting (favours aside, like Jay and Silent Bob Reboot). He's now a full time stills photographer with a gallery in LA. His website has some examples of his work:

https://www.jasonleefilm.com/

[Gulftastic]

Season one of . .Earl is superb, two not bad then terminal tailspin.

Whenever Eorl Crabtree was playing (RL) we would amuse ourselves by saying 'Hey, Eorl. Hey Crabtree.'

[frajer]

As far as I know, he's retired from acting (favours aside, like Jay and Silent Bob Reboot). He's now a full time stills photographer with a gallery in LA. His website has some examples of his work:

https://www.jasonleefilm.com/

That's cool, just had a quick look at those, thanks.

Not to derail the thread but just had a google as I couldn't remember what the last news had been, and apparently Mallrats 2 (Twilight of the Mallrats) is still in the works with Lee returning. Part me of knows it won't be good, but all of me knows I'll be watching it.

Back to Earl - from memory, Jaime Pressly as Joy was one of the funniest performances I'd seen at the time. All huge eyes, quick talking and bad attitude, like a cartoon character had sprung to life. Think I'll definitely have to get this rewatched.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I was reminded of Earl's sitcom coma dream while watching WandaVision earlier this year.

Jason Lee is a charismatic performer, even in the shonky Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, and it's a shame he isn't in more stuff.

It seemed like Ryan Reynolds stole his thunder. Mallrats doesn't seem to be held in high regard, even in the context of Kevin Smith's career, but Lee was an inspired bit of casting. If it weren't for him (and Arrested Development being cancelled around the same time) I likely wouldn't have bothered checking out My Name is Earl. That said, I remember thinking his performance in it was a bit low energy, with Jamie Pressly stealing the show.

[AsparagusTrevor]

I was a huge fan of My Name is Earl and did a rewatch a few years ago, but I remember thinking the quality dipped hugely during the coma/sitcom episodes. I even thought the prison period was fine as a bit of a change of pace (and Craig T Nelson's governor was a great character). As mentioned, Jaime Pressly was probably the standout as Joy amongst a lot of great main and recurring characters.

Raising Hope was pretty good too, and they even brought back a lot of the Earl cast as other characters (and had a few easter eggs thrown in here and there) but also suffered from some quality dips, probably when

Spoiler alert

they brought back the baby's mother

[close]

was the nadir for me. Overall though, still an entertaining series with some great performances.

[dead-ced-dead]

I was reminded of Earl's sitcom coma dream while watching WandaVision earlier this year.
It seemed like Ryan Reynolds stole his thunder. Mallrats doesn't seem to be held in high regard, even in the context of Kevin Smith's career, but Lee was an inspired bit of casting. If it weren't for him (and Arrested Development being cancelled around the same time) I likely wouldn't have bothered checking out My Name is Earl. That said, I remember thinking his performance in it was a bit low energy, with Jamie Pressly stealing the show.

Reynolds seems to be the slacker wise-ass after Lee forged the path; just one with a superhero body and classically good looks, which I suppose answered why Reynolds was able to overtake Lee.

Also, given that Lee retired from acting when he was still in his relative youth, I get the impression that around the mid-2000s, Lee got kind of fed up from acting and had emotionally checked out for a few years prior to retiring. He must have made a shit tonne of money from the Alvin and the Chipmunk movies, so he had the means to say fuck off to acting and fuck off to Scientology (which he left around 2016 or so).

Because from Mallrats to around Vanilla Sky, he's a proper character actor. He's such a thorny cunt in Almost Famous and Chasing Amy and relishes in playing the prick. But you're right, on a rewatch he is kinda low energy in Earl.

[Gulftastic]

Is ...Earl on Disney+ cut to ribbons? I remember Channel 4 used to slash loads out.

[dead-ced-dead]

Is ...Earl on Disney+ cut to ribbons? I remember Channel 4 used to slash loads out.

It seems pretty intact to me, but their copy of Dodgeball was cut to ribbons, so maybe I'm mistaken.

[AsparagusTrevor]

Is ...Earl on Disney+ cut to ribbons? I remember Channel 4 used to slash loads out.

I imagine it's the regular US broadcast versions, so should be uncut. Channel 4 have a habit of airing US shows in inappropriate timeslots and then making careful content edits with rusty pinking shears.

It seems pretty intact to me, but their copy of Dodgeball was cut to ribbons, so maybe I'm mistaken.

I think it's just because they've used the US PG-13 rated cinema version.

[Mister Six]

Does it still have the gag where he apologies to a black guy by (for some reason) burning golf clubs in an act of sacrifice, but the black guy thinks he's burning a cross, so Earl kicks over the clubs and they form a perfect swastika?

Haven't seen the show since it was on UK TV but that gag - and the hysterical laughter it created - have stayed with me.

[dead-ced-dead]

Does it still have the gag where he apologies to a black guy by (for some reason) burning golf clubs in an act of sacrifice, but the black guy thinks he's burning a cross, so Earl kicks over the clubs and they form a perfect swastika?

Haven't seen the show since it was on UK TV but that gag - and the hysterical laughter it created - have stayed with me.

It certainly is still there and it's still a gut buster.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

This scene.

[JamesTC]

Absolutely love My Name is Earl but I've not seen it for years. I've added it to the queue on Disney+ as they have it in HD. Started watching Raising Hope but fell away early on (through no fault of the show itself) so I need to pick that up at some point.

The most annoying thing about My Name is Earl's cancellation wasn't that it ended on a cliffhanger but rather the fact that it still got pretty good ratings. NBC cancelled several well rated shows in order to make room for The Jay Leno Show which turned out to be a disaster.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Also, given that Lee retired from acting when he was still in his relative youth, I get the impression that around the mid-2000s, Lee got kind of fed up from acting and had emotionally checked out for a few years prior to retiring. He must have made a shit tonne of money from the Alvin and the Chipmunk movies, so he had the means to say fuck off to acting and fuck off to Scientology (which he left around 2016 or so).

Ah nice, last I'd heard he was high up in some pernicious wing of scientology that specifically gunned psychiatry.

[BritishHobo]

I loved My Name Is Earl so much. It's easily up there in my Hall of Fame, all-time-favourite shows. As has been said, it dipped in season 3 with that prison/coma storyline (which felt like a misguided attempt to keep the show 'fresh' by mixing it up - even though what it was already doing worked perfectly well), but did get back on track in season 4. It was just a really lovely, good-natured thing, with its heart in the right place. So much warmth given to each member of the cast, but also every single-episode character we meet. I always loved that it was a show about a man trying to do the right thing, and battling his own desires. Often the right thing to do was the difficult one, and he might try to avoid it, but he would always do it in the end, whatever the consequences for him. Plus I love a show that builds its own little history, always ducking into the characters' backstories - and playing with the narrative to wrongfoot you about what may or may not have happened. My favourite episode was always the Y2K one (one of the too-rare episides with Giovanni Ribsi), where they build a new society in the supermarket.

Raising Hope I enjoyed, but sort-of drifted away from around season 2? Maybe 3? When it felt like it was leaning into the wackiness of Earl season 3. Now it's on Disney Plus I have been meaning to revisit it and see it through to the end. Once again, a nice show with a really warm cast. I loved Bert so much, and it never fails to make me smile whenever I see Garrett Dillahunt knocking it out of the park in aerious, weighty films.

The finale of season one of Raising Hope really affected me at the time, and I still think of it often as a great sitcom moment. The

Spoiler alert

flashback episode where, having mined Mee-Maw's nebulous condition for laughs all season, they suddenly flip it and show Virginia and Bert first becomingaware of her Alzheimers, to great emotional effect. Cloris Leachman really delivering the realisation that her husband has been dead - and Dillahunt has you laughingtwo or three lines later with the crossword gag. 'I told you, I'm not a puzzle guy!'

[close]

Wonderful.

[Bazooka]

All I know is Randy got muscled.

[JamesTC]

Yeah but he still can't see the sailboat.

[dead-ced-dead]

I loved My Name Is Earl so much. It's easily up there in my Hall of Fame, all-time-favourite shows. As has been said, it dipped in season 3 with that prison/coma storyline (which felt like a misguided attempt to keep the show 'fresh' by mixing it up - even though what it was already doing worked perfectly well), but did get back on track in season 4. It was just a really lovely, good-natured thing, with its heart in the right place. So much warmth given to each member of the cast, but also every single-episode character we meet. I always loved that it was a show about a man trying to do the right thing, and battling his own desires. Often the right thing to do was the difficult one, and he might try to avoid it, but he would always do it in the end, whatever the consequences for him. Plus I love a show that builds its own little history, always ducking into the characters' backstories - and playing with the narrative to wrongfoot you about what may or may not have happened. My favourite episode was always the Y2K one (one of the too-rare episides with Giovanni Ribsi), where they build a new society in the supermarket.

Raising Hope I enjoyed, but sort-of drifted away from around season 2? Maybe 3? When it felt like it was leaning into the wackiness of Earl season 3. Now it's on Disney Plus I have been meaning to revisit it and see it through to the end. Once again, a nice show with a really warm cast. I loved Bert so much, and it never fails to make me smile whenever I see Garrett Dillahunt knocking it out of the park in aerious, weighty films.

The finale of season one of Raising Hope really affected me at the time, and I still think of it often as a great sitcom moment. The

Spoiler alert

flashback episode where, having mined Mee-Maw's nebulous condition for laughs all season, they suddenly flip it and show Virginia and Bert first becomingaware of her Alzheimers, to great emotional effect. Cloris Leachman really delivering the realisation that her husband has been dead - and Dillahunt has you laughingtwo or three lines later with the crossword gag. 'I told you, I'm not a puzzle guy!'

[close]

Wonderful.

I really agree with all of this. Greg Garcia has a way of writing characters who aren't in the best place financially who, despite that, for the most part, love each other and want to help each other out.

I love in that same episode of Raising Hope they keep giving Mee-Maw a surprise birthday party over and over again just to see her happy for a few minutes.

[jobotic]

I think I done skinned my pecker.


Must watch this again. Was Jaime Pressly in anything else? I don't watch much American comedy really. As has been said, she was brilliant.

[Better Midlands]

It seemed like Ryan Reynolds stole his thunder.

Ryan Reynolds was doing his smartarse thing in Two Guys and a Girl from 1998, it wasn't bad at the time but the multi camera setup has dated it a bit I'd imagine, he was the standout but it wasn't as good as MNIE.

[RetroRobot]

I've been rewatching it too, first two seasons aside from a few very 00s trans jokes hold up really well.  I don't mind season 3 and 4 either, to be honest. I think my favourite thing about it is the genuine warmth to the characters, even when things get cartoonish, manages to feel real. Especially the brotherly stuff with Earl and Randy.

Just a sitcom aside here, Dinosaurs has finally been put on UK Disney +, been watching that as well. Love how cynical it is.

[dead-ced-dead]

I've been rewatching it too, first two seasons aside from a few very 00s trans jokes hold up really well.  I don't mind season 3 and 4 either, to be honest. I think my favourite thing about it is the genuine warmth to the characters, even when things get cartoonish, manages to feel real. Especially the brotherly stuff with Earl and Randy.

Just a sitcom aside here, Dinosaurs has finally been put on UK Disney +, been watching that as well. Love how cynical it is.

Raising Hope has a few toe curling trans jokes too, but otherwise, is as sweet and warm as Earl.

[BritishHobo]

I remember the nadir of season 3 of Earl being a prison episode where they get conjugal visits, and the woman who comes to visit Earl is actually a man LOL!!!!!!

I was young-ish, and not at all familiar with trans issues, but even then it felt peculiarly mean-spirited, pointing and laughing at someone different. It's a shame to hear that's a running theme, as I've always hoped I was misremembering and that on a rewatch it would look better.

[frajer]

That's a shame. They handled the early episode where Earl revisits the kid he bullied and finds out he's gay pretty decently, from what I recall anyway. Think that was more a comment on Earl being an unwittingly prejudiced clod but one who's trying to learn, rather than any gay panic stuff. But haven't seen it since it aired so hopefully I'm not forgetting some massive clangers.

[Ornlu]

Wakey wakey hands off snakey

[keir]

The warmth of My Name Is Earl really struck me as well. It would be so easy with those sort of characters to be punching down, but it never felt that way.

[JamesTC]

This is what Greg Garcia planned for the last episode before they got cancelled:

I was worried about doing a cliffhanger but I asked NBC if it was safe to do one at the end of the season and they told me it was. I guess it wasn't. I had always had an ending to Earl and I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to see it happen. You've got a show about a guy with a list so not seeing him finish it is a bummer. But the truth is, he wasn't ever going to finish the list. The basic idea of the ending was that while he was stuck on a really hard list item he was going to start to get frustrated that he was never going to finish it. Then he runs into someone who had a list of their own and Earl was on it. They needed to make up for something bad they had done to Earl. He asks them where they got the idea of making a list and they tell him that someone came to them with a list and that person got the idea from someone else. Earl eventually realizes that his list started a chain reaction of people with lists and that he's finally put more good into the world than bad. So at that point he was going to tear up his list and go live his life. Walk into the sunset a free man. With good karma.

Not sure about him tearing up his unfinished list but the rest of it is a rather sweet ending.

[frajer]

Ah I'd read that before but completely forgotten it! Yeah that's very lovely indeed. Rewatch starting this weekend.