"The Frank Factor (My Name is Earl)", 10-11-2007

An epic comedy? The "Lord of the Rings" of television? Who would have thought it?

"My Name is Earl" is not only a comedy, it's a tale of spirtual redemption. For those who have don't watch television, the narrative device is simple, but ingenius. Local petty-thief and ne'er'dowell Earl J. Hickey (played by the earnest Jason Lee) is hit by a car after winning $100,000 from a lottery ticket (he loses the ticket). While recovering at the hospital, his wife leaves him and he learns about "karma" from watching television.

He decides that the loss of his money (and his wife) is the result of karma -- all the awful things he's done are coming back to haunt him. Earl decides that what he needs to do is re-right his karmic balance, and makes a list of every bad thing he's done that he can remember (the list is at least 200 items). He makes it his goal to mark all of those items off his list and set karma straight. While completing his first item, he recovers his missing ticket and sees it as a sign that he should keep working. (The lottery ticket cash provides the means for Earl to work full time.)

Like Frodo Baggins, Earl and his dimwit brother Randy set off on a journey. They don't know where the journey will take them, but they expect to have several adventures along the way.

Season Three begins, however, with Earl paying the ultimate karmic price -- not wanting to see his obnoxious, trailer-trash wife Joy separated from her kids after Joy is moments from being convicted for stealing a truck, Earl takes responsibility for the crime. Earl is therefore sent to prison for the crime Joy committed.

Amazingly, the first four episodes of Season Three take place in the prison setting. In this episode, Earl meets another acquaintance in prison, a man named Frank whom Earl had met seven years earlier, but lost track of. Frank tells Earl his story, and the mystery of what happened to Frank is solved.

For the rest of the episode, the tale goes backwards, knitting together the way that all of the main character's lives have joined at this place and time in the world: Earl, Randy, Joy, Darnell (Joy's husband), hotel maid Catalina -- all are a part of Earl (and Frank's) tale, a revelation of how all of them came together. Even Howie Mandel and Tim Stack show up!

(* * *)

"My Name is Earl" works on two levels: the redemptive tale of Earl Hickey, and on the typical humor you find in situation comedies. One might not think that a morality tale like "My Name is Earl" would make it big in the 21st century, but Earl's triumphs -- and occasional tragedies -- add to the show's compelling charm. Some writers have suggested that the show is a veiled allusion to the healing power of religion (whether or not that religion is Catholism, Scientology or something else). With shows like "Heroes" and "My Name is Earl", we might have the seeds of a new era where television has something positive to say about the human condition.

Of course, it's a great comedy, too. The hits from this particular episode:

* Joy's solution to finding pornographic material for Earl while in prison.
* Randy and Earl's first apartment.
* Why Catalina came to the United States, and what happened to her mother.
* Randy's fascination with the wonderful productions of Sid and Marty Krofft.
* Who worked at the Crab Shack before the "Crab Man".
* How Joy and Earl got the trailer.

Moral redemption and inspired humor? If "My Name is Earl" is a veiled advertisement for Dianetics, I don't care. Keep it coming, NBC. Keep it coming.