My name is Earl
The first season of easily one of the funniest and best series on TV in a good long while came to an end this week. Thankfully it has been renewed for a full second season, so there’s more Earl to come, which is brilliant news.
If you’re not sure what the hell I’m talking about, grab a seat and let’s talk Jason Lee. Without a doubt the greatest asset to all of Kevin Smith’s movies was bringing Jason Lee’s awesome talent to the screen. Easily one of my favourite actors; I generally don’t follow actors as it’s very hit and miss with the kind of roles they choose and the movies they participate in. Jason Lee however is golden in all the appearances he’s ever made (Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Dogma, Almost Famous), so I was very excited about his own TV series.
What’s great about this series is the quality of everyone involved. Even though Earl is a great character, the supporting cast around him make his role that much simpler. Without a doubt my favourite character is Crabman. I want a friend like Crabman. Always looking out for you and has a soft spot for cheese. His brother Randy is easily Ethan Suplee’s best role to date. He’s not had many that I can remember to be honest, but he plays the hapless brother in an extremely great way.
My only complaint would be that the show didn’t really give Catalina a great deal of time; we saw Joy a lot more, which isn’t a bad thing, but I would have much preferred some more airtime for Catalina. If you’ve not given this series a shot, definitely watch it because it’s one of the few feel good shows on the tube right now. It’s easy light watching, that will completely take you away for 20 minutes. It’s not meant to be the smartest series ever made and there are times when it does fall flat, but when it’s on fire, nothing can beat it.
Ethan Suplee has had a fair bit of screentime courtesy of Kevin Smith, too - the guy who couldn’t see the sailboat in Mallrats (”Brenda?!”), queuing for signatures in Chasing Amy (”Your mother’s a tracer!!”), and he was the voice of the Golgothan in Dogma. He was great in American History X as well.
Meanwhile, Crabman is apparently writing, directing and starring in his own film this year…
↓ Quote | 13/5/2006
Matthew Pennell said:
I knew about his involvement in the Smith movies (I can probably quote all his lines) however I’d completely forgotten his stuff in American History X, which was brilliant, now that I remember it.
As for Crabman, that’s brilliant news, I really rate him actually :).
↓ Quote | 14/5/2006
I agree completely. It’s wasn’t just the the actors involved but the excellent stories and the quality of the writing helped make this one of the best shows to hit our screens in a long time.
So news of a second series are definitely welcome!
↓ Quote | 14/5/2006
With this and Scrubs, my life is complete.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006
Is scrubs any good? I’ve never actually watched an episode…then again I’ve only ever watched one episode of Family Guy.
↓ Quote | 17/5/2006