How I Finally Saw My Name Is Earl

You know, as a child, there was nothing better than a snow day. Of course as adults, we really don’t get snow days. Unless you live in Austin, Texas, that is. Yeah. You heard me right. Austin, Texas. You see, it only ices over here once every few years. And snow that sticks on the ground for longer than an hour only happens about once a decade. And when it does, this town, as cool and wonderful as it is, simply doesn’t know what to do with itself. Really. The mayor gets on TV and tells everyone to stay home unless they absolutely MUST travel.

No, really. STAY HOME. Why? Well, if you’ve watched the news at all this week you probably know. You see, this week it iced. It snowed. And it stayed that way for four days. And despite everyone staying home we still had over 300 accidents a day. Me? Hell no was there any way I was taking my P.O.S. 1984 Jeep Cherokee out in that weather. I stayed home. I had snow days. And I parked my little butt on the couch.

Fortunately for me, I think ahead. A buddy had been harassing me to borrow his My Name is Earl season one box set for a while. So I picked it up before the predicted freeze. And man, did it pass the time quite well.

I had managed to catch two episodes of the show as it aired and was never all that impressed. It was cute, but I always found it chuckle worthy rather than laugh out loud like others insisted. And I never found it as laugh out loud as I find its lead, Jason Lee, in films. But my buddy insisted that it was a completely different story on DVD. That the in-jokes stuck, the character comedy developed properly and that the flow of the comedy wasn’t interrupted by commercial breaks.

But this was a song and dance I’ve heard from TV buddies for a while, always when trying to turn me on to a show that never connected with me when I first tried it. This time, however, spurred on by an impending ice storm, I sat down, brewed several pots of coffee, curled up under a blanket, and watched 24 nonstop, back to back episodes of My Name is Earl. All while Austin went to hell in a handbasket outside my front window.

As two-foot long icicles crept over my eaves and a layer of ice turned my canvas porch cover into a solid piece of support structure, I was warm inside consistently laughing my ass off at the white trash antics of Earl, his buddies and his unending quest to pay back Karma. The show really, truly is a series of running jokes best experienced in a run like I took it in under. Minor characters weave their way in and out of the story, and small little bits that seem superfluous to the episode tie in so beautifully to an episode four before it. And it gets funnier and funnier and funnier. Until by the end you’re bummed that you have no more episodes to watch.

I’ve seen a lot of TV on DVD, but I can honestly say that this is the very first time I’ve seen something so radically improved by its movement to another format. If you haven’t had the chance to check out My Name is Earl on DVD, do so at your earliest opportunity. Don’t wait for a snow day.

C. Robert Cargill

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