Just by going by the NBC promos, am I the only one that still doesn't understand what the show is about? If you want the regular public to watch your show, at least give us a good idea what it's about.

According to tv.com, it premieres at 9:00pm on September 1st. My local TV critic (Portland newspaper) says it's the best sitcom of the fall season (AND laugh-track free! Yay!) I hope Jason Lee does well, he usually does. [small voice]I thought he even made Mallrats likeable.[/small voice]

I'm planning on watching this, but NBC is wearing out my patience with the constant flow of commercials promoting it. You can tell how desperate they are for it to become a hit.

I agree about the promos so far being both annoying and impenetrable (I guess he's trying to make amends with people... sounds like a limited sort of premise).

I also tend to prefer Jason Lee looking cleaned-up rather than scruffy-dirty as he does here. But on consideration, he does seem like a perfect choice for a weekly TV series. He was always more of the "likable fun guy" type than the "great actor" type, and that should make him good company on the small screen.

My thoughts were, from th ename of the show and the promos, it's about Earl going through the 12-step program and the wacky hijinks that ensue. You know, "My name is Earl, and I'm an alcoholic", and the promos say something about "all the bad things I've done in the past" or something like that.

I read a review of the pilot that explained the premise a little more clearly (though it's still very convoluted): Earl and his wife are talking about karma, and as soon as they do something nice, they win big on a scratch-off lottery ticket. They do something crappy, and they lose the ticket. Earl does something nice, and they get it back. So Earl decides that, having been a complete asshole his entire life, he best make amends with everyone he ever wronged, if he wants good things to keep happening for him.

I think Jason Lee could easily make this very likeable. Screamie may be ashamed to like Mallrats, but I'm not. I am, however, the only person in America who thinks Kissing a Fool was a good movie, and that's all because of Lee.

I think that 10 years later it's safe to openly like Mallrats because Jersey Girl is Kevin's new flick to get flack. I've loved Chasing Amy's Jason Lee for so long, and paired with Ethan Suplee, I think I may be watching this show.

Based on early reviews, it seems this show is the clear front-runner of all the new shows (along with "Everybody Loves Chris"). I've only heard raves about it, and the critics all seem to be in agreement for once, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Great, just when you think that sitcoms cannot get any worse than it already has, this new show My Name is Earl will give Joey & Will & Grace a run for their money as the worst show on NBC.

I have no idea who Jason Lee is, but judging from what I seen from the previews & on the NBC website, he sucks & he might be a jerk. This show won't come on till the Fall & already I don't like it.

I am really surprised that this show is getting such great reviews because the premise sounds awful and the promos look even worse. The fact that this show is written and exec. produced by Greg Garcia of Yes, Dear fame (or should I say infamy) is a definite minus in my book. However, I do like Jason Lee, so I will probably check out the first ep.

Cornwall - Here's his IMDB bio. You've probably seen one of his movies, or heard his voice in The Incredibles.

This guy was on Jersey Girl? What a loser. No wonder this show is going to suck.

The only Kevin Smith movie he hasn't been in was Clerks.

Isn't this the show getting Scrubs' slot until NBC decides to let that show out of its dungeon in January? One strike against it there (for me, at least).

I used to like Jason Lee a lot a few years ago, but not very much any more. Two words: Pilot Inspektor.

MNiE has an uphill battle in that Tuesday timeslot.

It'll be up against not one, but two proven powerhouses: The Amazing Race and House. Commander In Chief? Not totally sure, but given NBC's mostly disappointing post W&G sitcom track record and ABC's improved latter-day drama pedigree, it may very well outperform MNiE at the very least.

What's more, the fact that another show (Scrubs, NBC's only solid post W&G sitcom---and even that is showing signs of age now) is penciled into MNiE's timeslot at midseason. It could be moot a la Desperate Housewives, but in light of NBC's current primetime woes (especially in regard to sitcoms), I'm not totally sold on this.

Earl may have to change his name to Mud by November sweeps.

One really cool thing about this show: it co-stars Eddie Steeples, a.k.a. The Rubberband Man from the awesome OfficeMax commercials.

I love Rubberband Man, but not in this timeslot.

I've seen the show, and it's hysterical. It's got the same kind of humor and feel that Raising Arizona had - the voice over narration, the matter of fact delivery. I loved it, but I've only seen the pilot. It could get worse.

I loves me some Jason Lee, but if anyone deserves his own show, it's the freakin' Rubberband Man.

The constant promos do not bother me. I love Jason Lee.
Really, I even watched "Dreamcatcher", in the theater, because he was in it.
Jason has a kind of smarmy charm that grows on you. A lovable jerk, not in a Seann William Scott "Stifler" fashion, but a lovable jerk all the same.

My only exposure to Jason Lee is as Syndrome in The Incredibles and his voice alone won me over. Unlike NBC's past promos for "Coupling", "My Name is Earl" actually looks funny. I'll give it a chance, I think.

Word. I've long said that he's underused in Hollywood. So many of his movies just, well, suck. The worst move he ever made was doing all that romantic comedy crap. So maybe a sitcom's just the thing. Hope he keeps the smarm and snark coming in "Earl." Don't know if I'll even watch, but I'm rooting for him! (hey, I'm not a Nielsen viewer anyway)

Uh, and I just saw the Rubberband Man commercial this morning. Damn I love that guy. Maybe I will watch...

Heh. I like Lee fine, but I'm not sure he can carry a show by himself. I think there's a Tubey Award for "Most Redemptive Character/Performer in an Otherwise Sucky Show" in his near future. The premise of My Name Is Earl sounds truly dire.

But if his movies suck, doesn't that mean he's not underused, almost by definition? Maybe he's not so much underused, as used in the wrong way. I think someone in Hollywood wants Lee to be something he's not: he's not a cuddly romantic lead kind of guy, if Kissing A Fool and A Guy Thing are any indication. (Did anyone anywhere see Stealing Harvard?) He's the snarky best friend, the cynical, seen-it-all second stringer; he's Banky Edwards, not droopy Holden Whatshisnose. He's the counter-balance, all vinegary and foul-mouthed, to the hero with the platinum-hearted yearning. There's nothing wrong with knowing your range and working within it.

I might be the only person alive who thought that Jersey Girl didn't suck like a brand-new Hoover, but that might be just because J.Lo-life gets killed off in twenty minutes flat.

I guess I shouldn't have said "Hollywood," cause I think what I meant was that he's underused by good movie producers/directors/writers, whatever. But I shouldn't assume that the terrible mainstream rom coms are the only thing coming his way... maybe he just makes bad choices.

But yeah, misused is prob a much better term :) Sad thing is, there just aren't that many good roles out there for cynical, snarky-ass best pals (those characters are usually in crappy movies)... and Steve Zahn's taking them all anyway (not that he doesn't do a great job!). A sitcom could be good for Lee, but I'm thinking a modern-day Ghostbusters would be the ideal situation. But that type of filmic genius only comes once in a lifetime.

Hee, anywho, the premise does indeed sound weak. We shall see...

I've heard that the critics liked this show, but hadn't planned on watching it (I'm still pissy about NBC's treatment of Scrubs). Then this morning I saw the promo of a little old lady tackling Earl and beating him with a lawn ornament. Now I have to check it out.

His role in Almost Famous was a pretty darn good role, and he held his own pretty well against Billy Crudup.

Bring on the Rubberband Man!! (But I agree with you iMissEthan, this is Scrubs' timeslot)

I've seen the promo a few times during Being Mr. Mom. It looks like a funny show and I'll try it out for a few weeks to decide if I like it or not. If I don't, I'll drop it.

Looks funny to me. I've seen a few clips online and they're all pretty damn funny. How can anyone not like Lee's delivery of "WAHOO!" when he wins the lottery?

True, but it's hard to be sure what your range really is until you've tested its limits a few times. At one time I (like lots of others) assumed Bill Murray was good only for the wisecracking deadpan onlooker who believed in nothing and never got moved emotionally, preferably in a sidekick role (Tootsie being the exemplar, and The Razor's Edge seeming to be "proof" of how ineffective he was outside those limits). But then he came through with a performance in Groundhog Day that, true, started off with his old persona, but went beyond it in unexpectedly touching and varied ways; and at this point I wouldn't dream of putting limits on what he can do.

So, Jason Lee: Yes, he does seem to have a particular range in which he functions best (and even Kevin Smith couldn't get away with casting him outside it: Lee was really blah in Dogma). But I thought he was just fine as the Jobs-type boy millionaire in Mumford (he even felt secure enough to revisit his skateboarding roots), and I can't rule out that his range might have unexpected size. It's up to him to prove it.

True, we can't know. But no actor starts by saying "I think I'll make a piece of crap for the next half year" -- they're choosing from among the scripts they get offered, and trying to pick the best (for some value of "best" at that point in their lives).

I do think that Jason Lee's mild presence is just right for a sitcom; but I'm not sure that this premise is the right one.

I agree. Lee should really be on some HBO/FX/Showtime dramedy-ish thing where he can rant all season long. Seriously, some of the best parts of Mallrats & Chasing Amy (and maybe Dogma) were his looooooong rants.

This is the best new show i've seen so far.

I've been watching a bunch of pilots and I'm not really even a sitcom fan (the only ones I watch are Arrested Development and now Weeds) but I loved this. It's the *only* pilot I've watched that I didn't hit pause at least once.

The premise is that Earl has a shitty life. He's the guy who buys a tall boy and a pack of smokes at the 7-11 at 10 a.m. that you generally avoid. The beginning details in part his shitty existence with his cheating wife, life of petty crime and useless brother who lives on his couch. Then Earl gets a 100k scratch-off and gets hit by a car and loses it 30 seconds later. While in the hospital, his wife has him sign divorce papers so she can be with the father of her second baby (rubberband man) and he sees Carson Daly talking about karma and Earl resolves that he needs to make up for all the shitty things he's done in his life. After moving to a motel (with his brother), his first attempt at making up is to make up for all the littering he's done. he has a very long list that he's written out of the things he needs to make up for. While picking up the trash, he finds his lost scratch off ticket and becomes convinced he's on the right track. The rest of the episode is Earl making up for another thing he's done.

The voice overs didn't bug at all. The music they use is great. And the show is laugh out loud funny. I know I sound over the top here, but it really is the best thing I've seen yet this season. It's a terrible time slot though if it's on vs House, TAR and Supernatural, all of which I like. I think I'm going to have to watch TAR live and record this. If it keeps up as good as the pilot is, I'm going to choose ths show over both House and Supernatural.

Dunno about the best new show, but I found this pilot way funnier than Kitchen Confidential. Both have promise, but Earl has the potential to be the next Scrubs or Arrested Development.

Agreed on the voice-overs and music, both are great. Lee might be a great ranter, but he's also good at narration and truly sells the character.

LOVED his brother and the beer-o-meter of behaviour. Just cracked my shit up.

I saw a preview too and it was hilarious. I was in the "wary but loves Jason Lee" camp, so I wasn't too sure about it. I am now, it was definitely laugh out loud funny.

I'm in a tough spot because I can't give up House and I don't want to give up The Amazing Race. But I really, really want to watch My Name is Earl. I hope NBC is supportive of the show and is willing to move it to a better, less crowded timeslot.

You guys can't have liked the preview as well...I called dibs!

By the way, loved seeing Jan Hooks show up in the pilot.

I haven't seen the preview but I will be there Tuesday Sept 19th 9:30. The show has gotten great reviews and I have liked Jason Lee since Chasing Amy. The state of most of what's on is deplorable. Hopefully this will be a welcome change

I watched the preview clip here: AOL - New Shows and I thought it was hilarious. Really smart and different, and made me laugh out loud. I hadn't really seen anything about it before, but now I am looking forward to it more than any other show. Here's what they said about it on the site linked above:



Woohoo!! I'm so there.

He does seem to have made a career out of taking nominally unlikable characters and making you root for them. I've seen some ads and had my interest piqued.
Yeah, but I hate making it about this show vs that show. If NBC would just dump Will & Grace or Joey, or some other piece of crap there could be room on the schedule for both shows. Heck, given that they're the only single-camera non-laugh-track comedies on the network, they might make great companions for each other.

The only thing I can say is, whenever I see the title, I have this burning urge to write below it, (And My Son's Name Is Pilot Inspektor). What fucked-up dad names his kid that? I mean, seriously?

I love Jason Lee, and all of his smarmy, snickering what-have-I-done-to-deserve-this attitude! I'm SO tivo-ing this!

But yeah, the scruffy get-up really doesn't suit him.

The commercials for this show on the radio are so annoying. They try to make it like it's a regular morning talk show zoo situation and the people in the ad just happen to be talking about My Name is Earl. It makes me less likely to want to see the show. Bad campaign.

?
I downloaded a copy of the pilot about a month ago, but don't recall seeing Jan Hooks in it. I haven't seen the one that came with the EW issue, though.

I watched the preview from EW and I don't remember seeing Jan Hooks

unless:

She's the one who plays the "daytime hooker."

I just read today that the people doing the music on this show are the same folks responsible for choosing the amazing music in Roswell. One more reason to watch this one.

Picked as one of "Bianco's Best New Shows": USA Today (Click on the 6th leave/star to read the review.) He mentions that it's in one of the worst timeslots. I hope it finds an audience.

Relax. Moon Unit, Ahmet & Dweezil all turned out OK. :)

Premiering tonight, but I forgot to set TiVo... Let me know whether it lives up to the hype.

I am actually looking forward to this - please, sitcom gods don't disappoint me....

Shales hates this show. That means I will probably love it.

How is Shales so famous if he continues to get things so wrong? If he thinks Carson Daly's appearance was a cheap plug he sorely missed the joke.

Anyway, GirlCentric gave it a big thumbs up.

That was my first thought, too. I don't particularily care for Raising Arizona, but this seems like it could be good. He looks like Nic Cage, too.

Just watched this, early, in Canada, and it is awesome. Funniest premiere I have seen in years.

But can anyone tell me what commercials the guy who Earl helps is in, it is driving my wife crazy.


Never mind, figured it out, he is Dan The Del Taco guy.

Anyway, great show