At this point I think My Name is Earl really has to go in one of two directions: either Earl needs to get out of prison or the notion of the list needs to be abandoned. From prison Earl cannot really eliminate items from his list. Sure, he started a new list on his pillowcase tonight, but that's part of the problem, not the solution.

The show is overly tied to the notion of the list, and I don't think they have to be. I know that Earl's list is the reason behind the show, it's what started him down the path to righteousness and what so many of the episodes are built around. But, now that Earl is in prison, and it seems as though Earl is going to serve out the sentence and be in prison for a while, the list is pointless.

He can do good without the list as his reason for doing good. What he really needs is an epiphany in one episode that Karma will accept his doing good as his being a good person and will treat him accordingly.

If the show does not put forward a new idea about the list soon (and more than just showing Earl writing out a new one on a pillowcase, which felt much more like a gag than anything else) I think people are going to remain unsatisfied with the show. The only two choices I can see, as stated above, are eliminating the list or getting Earl out of prison.

Look at tonight's episode and the Frank and Billie storyline. I know that Earl wrote down that he made Billie dump Frank, but it wasn't through malice, and that was the whole point of the list. Billie dumped Frank because Frank showed Earl a naked picture of Billie. Earl was dumb enough to tell Billie the truth about this, but that's not evil or wrong, it's just stupid. Why would Karma get angry at Earl for that? When did Karma decide that the truth is evil?

So, tonight, no list was necessary. Earl's putting down Billie and Frank breaking up on the list as his fault was a stretch. Earl ought to have just helped get them back together because he wanted to help the two get back together.

The problem is that he can't just help them get back together because the entire show is structured around the list. If Earl stays in prison he needs to figure out that he ought to help people and do good because it's the right thing to do.

Let's face it though, people won't accept the list going away. People like Earl's list and want to see the things that Earl has put on the list. In the end, I think it would be better for the producers to keep the list, and the best way to do that is to get our hero out of jail. The amount of humor that can be found behind bars via the list is just too limited to keep it going for much longer. I applaud the producers for moving the show in a new direction, but they either need to keep moving or go back, right now they're at an unacceptable halfway point.

Don't get me wrong, there were some great things happening in the show tonight, but they were mainly centered around Joy and Catalina. I don't know if pregnant women routinely "mess themselves," but nobody deserves to have that happen to them more than Joy. Catalina's taking a picture of Joy's accident was not only funny, it prompted a really good storyline. The show actually found a way to use Catalina in something bigger than a momentary joke, and let Joy go off and be mean.

One of the show's biggest strengths throughout its run has been Joy's over the top, insane, anger and downright cruelty. I was actually worried that they were backing off of that anger tonight, what with Joy going soft and putting a laxative into the cookies instead of poison, but after the story finished unfolding, I decided it didn't matter. Joy got back at Catalina in a way that was funny, it humiliated her adversary and taught Joy she could still bake. Who could ask for more?

Here are my top choices for quotes, shout out if you have some of your own:

• Joy to Darnell about Catalina getting to keep the phone, piñata, and stick - "I just got outsmarted by an illegal… I am so voting in '08!"
• Frank, to the camera, making a video for the dating website - "I love kids… but that's not what got me in here."
• Earl to Billie on the wonders of Frank - "The guy can make wine out of shampoo, I'm not even sure if Jesus can do that.

Speaking of lists, I have lists and lists of other things I've written just sitting around at The TV and Film Guy's Reviews. Stop by and give them a gander.

Comments

I just wanted to give mention to the incredible sight gag:

2 bowls of condoms in the hall towards the conjugation rooms - 1) "Ribbed for her pleasure" was completely full; and 2) "Ultra thin for his pleasure" was completely empty.

Also the conversation b/w Earl and the He/She that visited him about the operation. The he/she talking about getting a 'whole' operation (or something to that effect) and Earl commenting that "I thought they'd have a big name for that" mistaking the version of "whole" for "hole" - i.e. talking about operation to turn the he/she into a she. Sorry, I can't remember the character's name.

Rishi | Oct 25, 2007 10:09:08 PM | #

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Dude, stop being hung up on the list... it is so irrelevant. Oh, and I do think stupidity is a crime, so Earl needed to fix what he did, list or no list. This is the funniest adult comedy which looks so innocent, and you got to love it for that if nothing else.

AC | Oct 25, 2007 10:16:57 PM | #

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I would second AC's comment. I get your reason for worrying about the list, but I think you need to give it a rest :)

The show is about the characters and the gags, and it's still working as far as I can tell.

tacitus | Oct 26, 2007 2:37:46 AM | #

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I miss the list, but I don't think the show has suffered for it. I have been as entertained this season as I was on previous seasons.

Earl is still doing good, list or no list.

I do agree that they needed better stories for the people that are outside of jail and last night they did with Joy vs Catalina.

I love Randy as a prison guard

Hector | Oct 26, 2007 5:50:11 AM | #

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First of all, maybe you missed it but Earl did do something new with "The List". He put Frank on it for a stupid reason, or maybe you think that Earl Hickey should be the trancendent Karma master at this point. The writer of the show has said before that not everything Earl does in the pursuit of the list will work out perfectly and this was one of those times. And it ended with him making the exact choice you say he needs to make in prison. He helped Billy because it was the right thing to do as opposed to helping Frank because he was on his list. How did you miss that?

Second, it seems pretty obvious to me that at some point, sooner rather then later, Earl will get out of prison for some reason. A possible seed was planted when he told the Hemale about how he was innocent. The problem, as I see it, is they have to figure out a way to get him off but keep joy out of prison without having them leave Camden County. So i have no fears there and am willing to just let it unfold as the writers see fit and judge it later. Additionally, the episode set up the fact that he is now infatuated with Billy so he has another goal to shoot for, his own personel happiness.

However, to suggest that he should drop the list seems nonsensical to me. It reminds me of another Seinfeld episode, my 2nd reference today as all things can be traced back to Seinfeld. It was the episode when George is back stage at the tonight show and he suggest to George Wendt of "Cheers" that the show should move out of the bar to become better. Love it or Hate it, the list is what this show, "My Name is Earl", is about because the list is what defines his character, who he was and who he's trying to be. It's what gives the show soul and purpose.

Lastly, thought the quoates you mentioned where all great. I also loved when Joy was talking to Catalina on the phone she stoled from her and said, "I don't know who stole your phone"

sac | Oct 26, 2007 6:50:07 AM | #

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Can I point out that I said last week that the imagination episode was hysterical (and it didn't contain the list).

The show doesn't need the list to survive and last night's episode would have been better had Earl not started to create a new one. I am not pushing the list or the idea of the list, the show is.

Josh Lasser | Oct 26, 2007 8:57:15 AM | #

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I found last night's episode to be rather funny, a lot more one liners than in previous episodes. I don't mind not having the list, but I think that creating a new one is a bad idea. If they are going to do a list, it should be the original one, not a brand new one.

Corey | Oct 26, 2007 9:45:07 AM | #

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I liked the line that Joy had about how can she humiliate Catalina. Joy: "People already know the things about her to be embarassed about. She's a stripper. She's a maid. She's a foreigner."

Darius | Oct 26, 2007 10:38:42 AM | #

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Blah blah blah the list. This is not the first time that Earl's put something on the list that didn't come from him doing something malicious. Wronging a person doesn't have to be because of some evil incident or intended malice. It can be from as Earl did, misspoke, or unwittingly did something to adversely affect someone else's life.

This may not be worthy to you of being on a list, but I'm sure it was worth it to Frank. And just a reminder. Karma doesn't just work when you do bad things. It also works when you do good things. So whether or not Earl intentionally set out to hurt Frank, fact is Earl's fixing Frank's problem, and through that, helping Anne get back on the right path is good Karma coming Earl's way. And with Earl in prison for two years (less now thanks to the warden) he needs all the good Karma that he can get.

Looking at the list, the show and Earl's life so simplistically won't ever allow you to fully enjoy the show for what it brings. You're missing the forest for the trees.

Jyoti | Oct 28, 2007 1:31:57 PM | #

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