Heh. My Name is Earl
Oct. 12th, 2005 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shipperxWell, I was busy last night and missed My Name Is Earl, but thank my DVR I had it to watch tonight (after watching Lost).
Hee! I really like this show. It constantly delights me with little details. . .like Puff-N-Stuff! How is it in Earl land, they can always manage to find Syd and Marty Croft 1970s live action Saturday Morning "cartoons"? I noticed in the premiere that Randy was watching Witchipoo. In the latest ep it was clearly Puff-N-Stuff they were playing in the background.
I love the music cues they thow in, too. They are frequently inspired.
And other "dead boyfriend" Dirk reminded me of Dr. Who's Captain Jack! Seriously, there was a strong physical resemblance. The hair was different, but his face was eerily similar.
Tonight's Last Night's episode...
#84 on the list
Earl: "I realize now that faking your death to break up with someone is not exactly thoughtful."
Unfortunately his resurrection inspired the ex-girlfriend's present boyfriend to fake HIS death, which led to Earl trying to drag her out of grieving. So of course she fell for Earl again, forcing Earl to become a bad boyfriend in a vain effort to make her break up with him (because being dumped would hurt her feelings). When that didn't work he blurts out the truth leading her to realize that that two boyfriends had faked their deaths to get away from her. In revenge she (you guessed it) fakes HER death for revenge. And in the "My Name is Earl" twisty logic this is her finally learning to stand up for herself. Having helped her find her backbone, Earl can now cross her off his list.
Randy had many funny moments...
* Walking past the milk cartoons and seeing Earl. "You look just like that little monkey in E.T." (uh...it was more amusing in context...if you watched E.T.).
* Showing up at the ex-girlfriend's, she goes into a screaming fit. Randy: "Whoa! That was just like in E.T. when that little girl first saw the monkey." (Um... again, it's more amusing in context)
* "Add baby's breath. It fills in the gaps with neutral color." (yeah, it's that context thing again)
Though Catalina had a couple of moments herself.
Randy: "Catalina, how often do you clean the bedspreads?"
Catalina: "I don't know. I've only worked here for a year."
And poor Earl had trouble being a 'bad boyfriend.'
Earl: "Thanks to you [Catalina] I'm her nature-hikin'-paper-mache-soft-nose-rubbin-butterfly-knight in shining armor!"
Catalina: "So change. Be a bad boyfriend."
Earl: "It's not that easy. Bein' mean goes against everything I stand for these days."
V.O. "I knew bein' a bad guy was gonna be hard, but since Catalina said it was for her own good, I gave it my all. But this poor girl was so insecure that there wasn't anything she wouldn't put up with."
(I think my favorite "Bad Boyfriend" moment was his walking into the room with tubing wrapped around his arm asking, "Did you throw away my junk?" LOL! (Yeah, yet again with the context).
Strangely this show seems to have found an amusing mix of the cynical and the sweet. The characters do such bad things but are so good natured about it that they all come across as being lovable.
Hee! I really like this show. It constantly delights me with little details. . .like Puff-N-Stuff! How is it in Earl land, they can always manage to find Syd and Marty Croft 1970s live action Saturday Morning "cartoons"? I noticed in the premiere that Randy was watching Witchipoo. In the latest ep it was clearly Puff-N-Stuff they were playing in the background.
I love the music cues they thow in, too. They are frequently inspired.
And other "dead boyfriend" Dirk reminded me of Dr. Who's Captain Jack! Seriously, there was a strong physical resemblance. The hair was different, but his face was eerily similar.
#84 on the list
Earl: "I realize now that faking your death to break up with someone is not exactly thoughtful."
Unfortunately his resurrection inspired the ex-girlfriend's present boyfriend to fake HIS death, which led to Earl trying to drag her out of grieving. So of course she fell for Earl again, forcing Earl to become a bad boyfriend in a vain effort to make her break up with him (because being dumped would hurt her feelings). When that didn't work he blurts out the truth leading her to realize that that two boyfriends had faked their deaths to get away from her. In revenge she (you guessed it) fakes HER death for revenge. And in the "My Name is Earl" twisty logic this is her finally learning to stand up for herself. Having helped her find her backbone, Earl can now cross her off his list.
Randy had many funny moments...
* Walking past the milk cartoons and seeing Earl. "You look just like that little monkey in E.T." (uh...it was more amusing in context...if you watched E.T.).
* Showing up at the ex-girlfriend's, she goes into a screaming fit. Randy: "Whoa! That was just like in E.T. when that little girl first saw the monkey." (Um... again, it's more amusing in context)
* "Add baby's breath. It fills in the gaps with neutral color." (yeah, it's that context thing again)
Though Catalina had a couple of moments herself.
Randy: "Catalina, how often do you clean the bedspreads?"
Catalina: "I don't know. I've only worked here for a year."
And poor Earl had trouble being a 'bad boyfriend.'
Earl: "Thanks to you [Catalina] I'm her nature-hikin'-paper-mache-soft-nose-rubbin-butterfly-knight in shining armor!"
Catalina: "So change. Be a bad boyfriend."
Earl: "It's not that easy. Bein' mean goes against everything I stand for these days."
V.O. "I knew bein' a bad guy was gonna be hard, but since Catalina said it was for her own good, I gave it my all. But this poor girl was so insecure that there wasn't anything she wouldn't put up with."
(I think my favorite "Bad Boyfriend" moment was his walking into the room with tubing wrapped around his arm asking, "Did you throw away my junk?" LOL! (Yeah, yet again with the context).
Strangely this show seems to have found an amusing mix of the cynical and the sweet. The characters do such bad things but are so good natured about it that they all come across as being lovable.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 04:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 04:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 04:13 am (UTC)I keep missing that show, though... I need to doublecheck when it's on here, because it used to be up against something else I was recording, but I don't remember what or if the mystery show is even still on.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 05:22 am (UTC)Wanna know why I've resisted watching? Scientology rumors about him. I think he is one, and it put me off, because I'm stick and tired of cool people I like getting sucked into that cesspool of crazy. Hope I didn't just ruin it for you, too.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-13 03:57 pm (UTC)I'm a bit surprised simply because "My Name is Earl"'s premise seems so antithetical to Scientology which is all about "Clears" can do whatever they want to "non-Clears" because it doesn't matter and "non-Clears" don't really matter. And Scientology is about self gratification and monetary reward.
"My Name Is Earl" has had him win the lottery but it didn't really change his life (though it means he doesn't have to work which is nice). And he's trying to make up for his bad past because "karma is gonna kill him" if he doesn't change.
The cute thing about the series is that he's just so completely clueless about what the "right thing" is. He's sincere enough about it but he ends up doing things like fixing football games, kidnapping little old women (to force them to quit smoking), and "getting caught in bed cheating" on his "girlfriend" in an effort to get her to dump him because dumping her might be mean. Add in his idiot-- but good hearted- brother Randy (who is proving to be quite the scene stealer and who I think also appeared in Kevin Smith films) and the show has snark and sweetness and enough just plain weirdness to be surprising and amusing.
Let's just hope Jason Lee doesn't fall in love with a teenager and go on Oprah.