I've been going down the road of nostalgia as of late and searching for the odd gems I used to watch on a small square television I had growing up; there were a number of shows that would air in the evenings that I simply could not keep up with. I could never remember which times and days they'd air, or perhaps the channel itself would reorder its schedule alongside frequent licsensing reworks. Sometimes, I simply just missed out on the shows that night.
One show I absolutely loved but forgot about as time passed was My Name is Earl. A show that I never saw mentioned by others anywhere, not even online. It seemed to be a rather niche show few were appreciating, and I feel it's something that was evident with its supposed decline in quality and cancellation a few years later.
While other television shows tend to have a more famous name under its creator, My Name is Earl is created by a Greg Garcia: a film producer and often writer for lesser-known productions. A mere handful of accolades to his name. While I haven't seen his other works, I'd likely assume that My Name is Earl is his best for its unique take on a sitcom narrative.
As is the case with sitcoms, the structure is simple: a few regular characters, a few locations which are used in almost every episode, and an easy to follow set of events. In the case of My Name is Earl, our protagonist, Earl, is a crook that discovers karma after a life of doing no good; with this discovery of karma, he's set on fixing every wrong action of his by writing down a list of each event and crossing it off as he goes.
While the show considers karma to be this entity in which will act upon any good or bad move one does, it actually shows a detailed and very human look at the concept of morality. To live a life free of any wrongdoing is next to impossible, but even so, are there situations in which wrongdoing is actually the right decision? And in the event that a prior action or decision did negatively impact someone, is there really a chance it can be redeemed as time goes on? With some good writing, the show strays far from pushing an agenda. It isn't telling you that you should just be good to all and at every moment, in fact, there's no agenda at all. Earl's situation with karma seems to be rather circumstantial as others go about their lives hardly noticing it.
My Name is Earl is a short, easygoing show that you can pick up instantly and stop wherever. It's one of the early shows that'd now be grouped up into what streaming services would consider 'bingeworthy' for its short episodes and likeable characters. Though, while I love the show, I'd consider it to be rather forgettable, particularly due to its final two seasons which pursue a total rework of the narrative and ruin the core elements of what makes the simplistic narrative so unique and interesting alongside its characters.
Perhaps, if you're to watch it, be aware of the inevitable disappointment that comes as a result of the show's production issues, but enjoy the core of what it tried to accomplish to begin with. You certainly won't regret it, you just might be left with a similar experience to that of Game of Thrones.